Tennessee honoring Condrege Holloway with new alternate uniform
Tennessee has unveiled their uniform combination for the week as the Vols will wear this year’s version of the Smokey Grey against Austin Peay.
The new edition pays homage to former Vol quarterback Condrege Holloway as Saturday marks the 51th anniversary of Holloway becoming the first African American to start a football game at quarterback in the Southeastern Conference.
Holloway, who passed on a pro baseball contract coming out of high school, played for Bill Battle and earned fame as a freshman quarterback, wowing fans who came to watch him play freshmen games when they heard about the Alabama native.
Nicknamed ‘The Artful Dodger,’ Holloway instantly became a fan favorite when he became the starter on September 9, 1972, when Tennessee beat Georgia Tech in Atlanta 34-3 in a game televised on ABC.
The Smokey Grey Series
In August 2022 Tennessee announced the return of the Smokey Grey alternate uniform, which was first worn during the 2013 season but was not worn between 2018 and 2021.
The Vols announced the return of the alternate uniform while also adding that the look would be worn at least once over the next four seasons and that there was “potential to scale beyond those years.”
The ‘Smokey Grey Series’ will also include a variation of the Smokey Grey alternate each season.
Tennessee introduced its initial black alternate uniform in 2021, the first season under Josh Heupel. The uniform paired black jerseys with black pants and a white helmet with a black facemask and an orange stripe and orange Power T trimmed in black. The black helmet was added last season.
Tennessee’s Uniform Variations
Uniform variations — four different helmets and two alternate uniforms — were a constant during Tennessee’s 11-2 season a year ago.
Top 10
- 1
Updated SEC title game scenarios
The path to the championship game is clear
- 2
SEC refs under fire
'Incorrect call' wipes Bama TD away
- 3
'Fire Kelly' chants at LSU
Death Valley disapproval of Brian Kelly
- 4New
Chipper Jones
Braves legend fiercely defends SEC
- 5
Drinkwitz warns MSU
Mizzou coach sounded off
The Vols opened in their traditional home uniform, beating Ball State 59-10 at Neyland Stadium. They were in all white in the overtime win at Pittsburgh on September 10 and wore orange jerseys and orange pants in the 63-6 win over Akron on September 17.
It was back to the traditional orange-on-white look in the 38-33 win over Florida on September 24. Tennessee brought back its Smokey Grey alternate for the 40-13 win at LSU — the Tigers wore white helmets, white jerseys and white pants at home — in Baton Rouge on October 8.
Tennessee wore its traditional home uniform in the 52-49 win over Alabama, wore all orange in the 65-24 over UT Martin on Homecoming on October 22 and debuted its Dark Mode alternate uniform — black helmets, jersey and pants trimmed in orange — in the 44-6 win over Kentucky on October 29.
The Vols wore white jerseys and orange pants in the 27-13 loss at Georgia on November 5, orange jerseys and white pants in the 66-24 win over Missouri a week later and brought out a new orange helmet at South Carolina, paired with white jerseys and white pants.
Tennessee wore all white in the 56-0 win at Vanderbilt in the regular-season finale and wore its traditional home uniform in the 31-14 win over Clemson in the Orange Bowl in December.
