Smokey: The True Story Behind the University of Tennessee’s Beloved Mascot by Thomas J. Mattingly and Earl C. Hudson

Reviewed by Jeanne

When I saw there was a new book out about Smokey, the University of Tennessee’s Bluetick Hound mascot, I thought, “About time!” For fans of the University of Tennessee football, there’s one team member who never disappoints:  Smokey, the Bluetick Coonhound who has been the symbol of the Vols since 1953.  Even if the game isn’t going the right way, there’s always Smokey to watch for on the sidelines, his bay soaring about the noise of the crowd.

The Smokeys aren’t just window-dressing either. They’ve actually been a part of the action at times.  Just ask Alabama.

The choice of a Bluetick hound seems obvious now, but for awhile there was a strong move to have a Tennessee Walking Horse as the mascot. Tom Siler, the UT Alumni president at the time, worried that a hound dog would just reinforce the idea that Tennessee was a “hillbilly school.”

But the Pep Club voted for the hound, and soon there was a contest to select the very first mascot.  The winner was “Blue Smokey,” a fine purebred Bluetick owned by Rev. Bill Brooks.  It was the start of a tradition that has seen Smokey become one of the best known school mascots.  You can buy Smokey backpacks, Christmas ornaments, flags and large inflatables.  When Mattingly and Hudson brought Smokey to the campus bookstore for a “paw-tograph” session, the lines were out the door.

However, Smokey: The True Story Behind the University of Tennessee’s Beloved Mascot by Thomas J. Mattingly and Earl C. Hudson is more than the story of the dog who represents the Vols; it’s also a good brief history of the Tennessee football program from the 50s onward.  I found it very informative, and gave me some insight into the people I knew primarily as names on buildings, not to mention some of the fan rituals.

I will confess that I was more interested in the Smokeys, though.  There have been ten dogs to serve as mascots, with Smokey X being introduced just this year.  The Smokeys have all been family dogs, too, though they aren’t all from the same bloodline.  They’ve had their share of adventure—one Smokey was dognapped by Kentucky fans—and have delighted fans for generations. As the book points out, there are many dogs who have represented sports teams, from the bulldogs at Georgia and Mississippi State to Jonathan the UConn husky, but in all of sports there is just one Bluetick Coonhound:  Smokey of Tennessee.

This book would be a great introduction to Tennessee football for a new fan wanting to learn more about the grand traditions of the Vols.  I will admit, however, that I was just a bit disappointed that there weren’t more pictures of Smokey.  I certainly understand why photos of early Smokeys might not have been available, but certainly there should be plenty of the more recent incarnations. Truth to tell, I was probably a bit spoiled by Damn Good Dogs by Sonny Seiler & Kent Hannon, which is a tribute to Uga and is filled with pages of photos to delight a dog-lover’s heart—even if that dog lover isn’t a Georgia fan. I thought Smokey deserved a book just as colorful.