Screenshot taken from MTSU’s football Instagram page
Screenshot taken from Vols football Instagram page
College football season has started and two Tennessee universities will be honoring Dolly Parton on their uniforms this season.
It was announced on Friday that Middle Tennessee State will be wearing a patch on their jersey featuring Parton’s signature and her birth and death years. The patch will be worn for MTSU’s opener against Murray State on Saturday. Middle Tennessee State Athletics Director Chris Massaro said the first of the game worn jerseys will be donated to the Center for Popular Music, one of the world’s oldest and largest research centers devoted to the study of American popular music. The center’s collection includes artifacts from Dolly’s career.
On Monday the Vols head coach Josh Heupel announced that for the whole 2026 season the University of Tennessee will wear a sticker honoring the late east Tennessee native on the back of their helmets. Coach Heupel told the press, “A lady that was extremely proud of her roots. You look at her impact, just her ability to give back, make an impact to people, certainly here in East Tennessee. She means a lot to people across this country, but certainly here inside the state of Tennessee, too.” The Vols will start their season Saturday as well playing Furman in Knoxville with coverage airing on 102.5 WOW Country.