Tennessee Football has a new song to start the fourth quarter at Neyland Stadium
After more than five years of Tennessee’s Neyland Stadium swaying and singing along to Garth Brooks’ ‘Friends in Low Places’ at the end of the third quarter, the Vols introduced a new song Saturday night as they hosted rival Florida.
Tennessee’s new tune, played between the third and fourth quarter, is ‘The Way I Talk’ by country music star and Corryton, Tenn., native Morgan Wallen.
According to sources, Tennessee made the decision to change songs back in the summer but wanted to wait and introduce it after Wallen’s concert weekend in Neyland Stadium.
Morgan Wallen played two sold-out shows at Neyland Stadium in September
Saturday’s contest was the first football game in Knoxville since Wallen played two sold-out shows on September 20 and 22. The video to go with the music featured highlights from Wallen’s two Knoxville shows.
The two sold-out shows at Neyland Stadium drew a combined crowd for 156,161 fans. It reportedly broke the record for the largest crowd at a Neyland concert weekend since 1984, when the Jackson 5 headlined at the stadium.
Wallen has referenced Tennessee Football in lyrics in numbers songs including ‘Had Me by Halftime’ and ‘Tennessee Fan’. In ‘The Way I Talk’, Wallen references the Vols in this line: “And gets louder when I’m cheering on the Volunteers”
Wallen fandom has always been there, but he’s been more visible around the Vols in recent years.
He was in Knoxville for games with Peyton Manning in 2022 and was at the College World Series in Omaha with Manning, Josh Heupel and Rick Barnes back in June.
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As a former high school baseball player, Wallen and Tony Vitello have struck up a friendship. Vitello hung out with Wallen when he played a private show at Gibbs High School in 2022 and he did the walk out with Wallen for the start of his opening night show in Neyland Stadium last month.
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Heupel along with Nico Iamaleava, Bru McCoy and Manning, who was in a full Tennessee Football uniform, led the walk out with Wallen for the Sunday night show following Tennessee’s win at Oklahoma.
Heupel called the experience great and had high praise for one of country music’s most popular singers.
“He’s been awesome,” Heupel said. “You know, obviously a huge fan. He loves coming back whenever he can. I told him he better be back for a couple ball games here as soon as he gets off tour. (He is) somebody that cares about the program, follows it and he does (love it) 100%.
“Whenever he gets an opportunity, it doesn’t matter what sport, basketball, baseball, football, he’s going to be at anything that he can. It’s just cool to have somebody like him to be a great ambassador for our program.”
