Mattingly: Favorite football season about to begin : govolsxtra.com

It's been a long time since spring practice, an even longer time since the Kentucky game. For University of Tennessee football fans, the wait is almost over. Find the binoculars, make sure you know where the tickets are, and get the tailgate ready.

The start of the 2009 football season is upon us Sept. 5.

As Russ Bebb ("Vols: Three Decades of Big Orange Football, 1964-93") once wrote, "The season never ends. A year is divided into four parts: the football season, recruiting season, spring practice and preseason practice."

He might not have had the four parts in their exact temporal sequence, but all of us have apparently survived recruiting season, spring practice, and preseason practice.

"It's time," as the new orange shirts say.

The media have been buzzing with activity, dissecting nearly every possible exigency in excruciating detail. Discussion on the talk shows has been lively. The chat boards have been full of sound and fury, in what has been charitably called a robust, uninhibited, and lively forum.

The venue is called Neyland Stadium for a reason. Bob Neyland's record of 173-31-12 is testimony to his influence. It was named in the general's honor and memory in 1962. Neyland, then a captain, signed on in 1926, became a major before he coached his first game, and returned from World War II as a brigadier general.

The stadium dates to 1921, when seating capacity was 3,200, all on the west side. It has grown steadily over the years, cresting at 104,079 in 2000, with capacity of 100,011 this season. Two renovations since 2000 have caused a net loss in seating capacity.

The 2009 season marks the 113th season of Tennessee football, harking to the 1891 game against Sewanee. The record over those years is 776-327-53 overall, 311-158-19 in the SEC.

Lane Kiffin is the 21st head coach in Vol history, in a lineage that goes back to J.A. Pierce in 1899-1900. The names of Neyland, Bill Britton, John Barnhill, Harvey Robinson, Bowden Wyatt, Jim McDonald, Doug Dickey, Bill Battle, John Majors, and Phillip Fulmer are firmly entrenched in Tennessee history.

The Vols have compiled a record of 422-104-17 on Shields-Watkins Field, but the statistics do not tell the entire story. Beyond the statistics, this is University of Tennessee football, and, to all Vol fans, the future is now.

The Western Kentucky game thus offers a new beginning in a grand and glorious tradition, one that is still building, still evolving.

That's why Vol fans, dressed in the unique shade of Tennessee orange, will head toward Neyland Stadium from all the nooks and crannies of the Volunteer State. You'll see cars in the parking lots from a great many other states as well.

There's nothing like the opening game, scheduled two Saturdays hence in Neyland Stadium. It's much better than in faraway California where it's been the past two seasons.

There's also special excitement with the debut of a new head coach, in this case Lane Kiffin, who seems to have restored the "swagger" among Vol faithful and has given every indication he's going to be successful.

The campus takes on a sense of excitement as game day approaches. Tennessee alums have walked the gently rolling hills of this campus for many years, and find great solace in returning home each football Saturday.

If Kiffin thought the "Vol Walk" was impressive at the spring game, wait until the multitudes gather on Peyton Manning Pass and the team approaches from Volunteer Boulevard. That will be impressive.

The band's journey to the stadium will be equally impressive. If fans aren't ready for kickoff by then, better check their blood pressure.

The stadium will fill rapidly as game time nears. Fans will check out their favorite players during warm-ups and will no doubt wait anxiously for Kiffin's first appearance. Look for a major ovation as he takes the field for the first time.

After the band presents its traditional pre-game show, the excitement builds as one of the great moments in all of college football approaches.

When the "T" opens and the Vols take the field, fans will savor the moment as Tennessee tradition comes alive for another year. It's a "keeper" moment.

Then it will come time for the contest with the Hilltoppers. Listen for innumerable renditions of "Rocky Top." Please keep count.

After the game, coaches, players and news media of all stripes will attempt to make sense of what just happened on the field. Kiffin will do his first radio and television shows, with the possibility of a few new wrinkles being added, according to those in the know.

During all of this, the voice of the fan will definitely continue to be heard, on radio, television, and in the blogosphere. That's the state of college football as the 2009 season begins.

Tom Mattingly is the author of "The Tennessee Football Vault: The Story of the Tennessee Volunteers, 1891-2006" (2006), now available in second edition at fine bookstore everywhere, and "Tennessee Football: The Peyton Manning Years" (1998). Send comments to tjmshm@comcast.net. His News Sentinel blog is called "The Vol Historian."