A new Volunteer family tradition?
The University of Tennessee has been trying to find their end of 3rd quarter song for a while now, going through a few different options over the past few years for the song that’s played ahead of the 4th quarter in Neyland Stadium.
For a long time, the Volunteers went with “Friends In Low Places” by Garth Brooks to hype up the crowd at the break. But in 2024, the university replaced Garth’s song with Morgan Wallen’s “The Way I Talk,” a nod to the Vols fan and east Tennessee native.
Both Brooks and Wallen are among the handful of artists who have played at Neyland Stadium in the past, so it makes sense to honor friends of the program, but neither of those choices really provided the same effect as “Dixieland Delight” at Alabama (which should be Tennessee’s song, because it’s about Tennessee and not Alabama, but that’s beside the point) or the most iconic 4th quarter song in college football, “Callin’ Baton Rouge” at LSU.
Of course there are plenty of football programs with iconic songs. Florida has “I Won’t Back Down” by Gainesville native Tom Petty, Michigan went with the bizarre choice of cheating anthem “Mr. Brightside” by The Killers, and of course West Virginia sings “Country Roads” after every win in Morgantown.
And while Tennessee has “Rocky Top” as their anthem, they’ve never quite been able to figure out their fourth quarter song.
Earlier this year, the Volunteers played Dolly Parton’s “My Tennessee Mountain Home” between quarters, a nod to the late country legend after her death. It didn’t last long though, because just a couple weeks later the university was back to ol’ faithful and just having the marching band play “Rocky Top” again at the break.
And honestly, as much as I love that Dolly song, and Dolly Parton in general, “My Tennessee Mountain Home” really isn’t a song that gets you hyped in the middle of a close game.
101,915 people singing “Family Tradition,” though? That’ll get you fired up.
This past weekend, with the Volunteers fighting for their spot in the College Football Playoff and the #6-ranked Kentucky Wildcats in Knoxville, a wild scene unfolded in Neyland when they queued up the Hank Williams Jr. classic:
Sounds like all 101,915 even knew all the filler words too. It’s perfect.
And just like that, Tennessee fans are convinced they’ve found their 4th quarter song and begging the university to keep using the Bocephus song in the future:
Gotta be the third quarter song now. Nothing has gotten that kind of participation.
— Mustard Vol (@MustardVol) November 8, 2026
4th quarter song…..NOW!
— Jason Hammer (@jasonalanhammer) November 8, 2026
New 4th quarter song. Don’t think too hard about it. Hear the fans singing? Yea lock it in
— Craigg Gurd (@CraiggGurd) November 9, 2026
Now, I don’t have a dog in the fight, but all of my football teams are absolutely dogs–t right now so this is the happiest I’ve been watching a video from inside of a football stadium all season. Seems like it’s only logical at this point to make the Hank Williams Jr. classic a new Volunteer family tradition.
Don’t screw this one up. I want to see that every weekend in Neyland.
