Tennessee football will honor Dolly Parton with

Dolly Parton might have been a worldwide musical icon, but she shared a particular connection with her home state.

Parton died last week at age 80 after a temporary battle with cancer. And now the University of Tennessee will honor that particular relationship with the singing celebrity with a helmet decal to be worn by Volunteers gamers all season.

Coach Josh Heupel announced the tribute Monday while speaking to reporters forward of his No. 20-ranked group’s opener against Furman this weekend.

“I’d be remiss if I didn’t also talk about the passing of Dolly Parton — all that she’s meant across the world, this country, and certainly, the queen of East Tennessee and a lady that was extremely proud of her roots,” Heupel said.

“You look at her impact, you know, 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, so we’ll be wearing a sticker patch on the back of our helmet to recognize her, her accomplishments and everything that she’s meant.”

The sticker will function a butterfly — an image that Parton had long used in her logos — with the singer’s first identify in her handwriting in the center, all in Tennessee orange and white.

Parton grew up in Sevierville, Tenn., roughly 30 miles east of the college’s Knoxville campus.

While she didn’t attend faculty, Parton was introduced with an honorary doctorate of humane and musical letters from Tennessee in 2009 following her graduation handle to the graduating class of that 12 months. She also acquired an honorary doctorate degree of letters from Carson-Newman University in Jefferson City, Tenn., in 1990.

In 2023, Parton was escorted onto the sphere by legendary Tennessee quarterback Peyton Manning to lead the gang in singing “Rocky Top” following the first quarter of the Volunteers’ sport against the Georgia Bulldogs. The Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback paid tribute to Parton following her Aug. 25 death.

“There was only one Dolly and I feel lucky to have known her,” Manning wrote in an Instagram post that also included a picture of the 2 of them at the 2023 event. “We’ll miss you, Dolly. Tennessee won’t be the same without her!”

Last week, Middle Tennessee State University announced its football group would put on a patch honoring Parton during its home opener against Murray State on Saturday. In addition, the Blue Raiders will show QR codes on the scoreboard screen for donations to Parton’s book-gifting program, the Imagination Library.