Mattingly: ‘Good Mitch' left mark on UT's athletes

One of the honest-to-goodness good guys is leaving Big Orange Country.

Rev. James Mitchell, known to nearly everybody as “Mitch,” is headed to a position on coach David Cutcliffe’s staff at Duke.

As team chaplain since 2003, Mitch cast a long shadow across the Tennessee football program. You probably saw him on the sidelines, counseling and encouraging Vol players in good times and bad.

He’s been a positive influence on everyone he’s met. He’s been a father figure, a voice of reason and empathy to uncounted student-athletes, and to a great many other people as well.

Here’s a story of Mitch’s influence.

There are times a team can win a game before it actually starts, in those moments as the teams arrive at the stadium and come out for pre-game warm-ups. There are times that the seemingly “little things” no one else sees definitely make a difference.

That was the case Nov. 8, 2003, when Tennessee showed up at the Orange Bowl for the first time in more than 35 years, to play Miami. The Vols had twice played Oklahoma here, both on New Year’s Day, winning 17-0 (1939) and losing 26-24 (1968).

For whatever reason, maybe a 26-3 loss a year earlier, many Vol fans had mentally chalked up this game as a probable loss.

What happened was the Vols surprised everybody but themselves with a 10-6 win. James Wilhoit knocked home a second-quarter field goal, and Derrick Tinsley scored on a fourth-down, two-yard run before halftime, as coach Phillip Fulmer disdained a field goal, going for the TD instead.

What was the winning edge? Consider what happened when the Vols arrived at the stadium at 10 a.m. or so, preparing for a 12:30 kickoff. Upon their arrival, several of the players formed a prayer circle in the end zone just outside the dressing room to help prepare them for the game.

It was something Mitch had started, and it grew into something impressive. I remember watching from a discreet distance as the whole drama unfolded.

“The fans were already, can we say, indulged into the spirits,” Mitch said. “Our guys were trying to pray, and those guys in the stands were cussing, yelling and screaming at them. I’m over there chuckling. As they walked off the field, I said, ‘Guys, what do you think?’ ”

When no answer was readily forthcoming, Mitch was prepared.

“I told them that was a great example of spiritual warfare. That was a great challenge for them not to move to the other end zone, but to stay right there and be committed to what they were doing. That’s the way the game went.”

It was all part of Mitchell’s role as spiritual adviser for the Vols, as he described early in his tenure.

“I try to develop relationships with the players and minister to that aspect,” he said. “This manifests itself by being at practice, being in the weight room, and having an office here. I’m everywhere. I find them if I need to, or they find me.

“It takes time to build trust. Having the players know I’m going to be here every day makes a difference. The players have my cell phone and my home number. I’m available 24/7 for whatever comes up.”

He left the game motivation to the coaches, emphasizing the things of the spirit in his Friday night chapel sessions.

“I deal strictly in the spiritual aspect, asking them to look at their life, considering that football happens to be one avenue, one part of it. Football and life go hand-in-hand, with ups and downs, consistency, dedication, and discipline. Chapel is time for spiritual awakening. The motivation to win a game is not my job. I don’t want that pressure.”

He said he didn’t consider his work in the Neyland-Thompson Center a “job.”

“This is the best position God could have created for me,” Mitch said. “I love coaching, I love coaches, and I love young men. I’m in a position to make an impact. I couldn’t have planned anything any better.”

The Vols took the lessons Mitch taught to heart and made a number of statements that day and on many other days, on and off the field. On this day in November 2003, they were tough enough to take an upset win, one that had its origins just moments after the team bus arrived at the stadium. Those are the type victories UT fans enjoy years later.

“They didn’t back up,” Mitch said. “They finished it. It was a great learning experience.”

Mitch never backed up. Knowing him was a great learning experience.

That’s why, around our house, he’s known as the “Good Mitch.”

This is yet another case of a man defining the moment.

And the moment defining a man.

Tom Mattingly is the author of “The Tennessee Football Vault: The Story of the Tennessee Volunteers, 1891-2006” (2006), to be published in second edition in 2009, and “Tennessee Football: The Peyton Manning Years” (1998). He may be reached at tjmshm@comcast.net. His News Sentinel blog is called “The Vol Historian.”