University of Tennessee Athletics
Vols Caravan Paints Bristol Orange
May 18, 2015 | Men's Basketball
Every Christmas, Josh Gilreath presents dozens of gifts to homeless veterans as part of the Second Tour Campaign, a mission started by the veteran of three tours of duty in Iraq and his wife.
Monday night, he made another presentation and received plenty in return.
At the Big Orange Caravan stop in Bristol, Gilreath presented Butch Jones with the Tennessee state flag that flew over his bed at a military hospital in Germany while he recovered from injuries suffered in the line of duty. The flag followed Gilreath through 21 countries on his way back to East Tennessee.
Tennessee administrator Mike Ward helped facilitate the meeting.
"He and his wife wanted to give the flag back to the state through Coach Jones," said Ward. "They felt it was the right place for it to be."
Jones intends to display the flag in his office at the Anderson Training Center. In turn, Jones presented Gilreath and his wife with autographed memorabilia and spent a few minutes with the couple prior to the event.
By Brian Rice
BRISTOL, Tenn.
UTSports.com
Butch Jones and Rick Barnes headlined the event in the infield, hosted by the Vol Network's Bob Kesling, the fourth of five stops for the annual event that brings coaches and fans across the state together.
The night provided one of the most unique settings for a Caravan stop in the event's history, under the lights at one of the most famous venues in American sports.
Though it is over a year away, with the 2015 season still ahead, walking through Bristol's gates had Jones ready for the meeting with Virginia Tech on September 10, 2016.
"When you come down and see the magnitude of this place, it's really exciting when your imagination starts to flow in terms of what it's going to look like in a football setup," Jones said. "It's going to be exciting for our fans, it's going to be exciting for our players. You have the opportunity to make history."
The night provided Barnes with his first look at the speedway, a place the longtime racing fan had always wanted to see. Tennessee's new men's basketball coach has attended races for much of his life after growing up in Hickory, North Carolina, a hotbed of NASCAR.
"I've always wanted to be here and when we turned that corner, I was blown away," Barnes said.
The event capped back-to-back days of football talk at the speedway after director of athletics Dave Hart, offensive coordinator Mike DeBord and defensive coordinator John Jancek joined staff members from Virginia Tech for a roundtable discussion on the game at the speedway.
Hart was encouraged by the passion of Tennessee fans, who turned out in big numbers for both events.
"It's very gratifying," said Hart of the turnout each night. "To back it up tonight with a Big Orange Caravan, it has brought a lot of excitement and exposure and it has been very good to see the level of enthusiasm of our fan base. It's pretty special."
The Battle at Bristol has the current Volunteers and future student-athletes excited about being a part of a team that will make history in front of what is anticipated to be the biggest crowd to ever see a football game live.
"It's going to be a tremendous opportunity for our players," Jones said. "You talk about the Tennessee football program and being able to set the world record for overall attendance to watch a football game, not just college, not just professional, but for the entire game, it's very, very special. That's what we're building at Tennessee. Individuals want to be a part of that."
The only disappointment on the night came for Barnes, who wanted a few hot laps around the famed high banks.
"I was hoping that I would have a car," Barnes said. "You know, I can do this, I don't need a driving school or anything, I can do this."
