With so many movie star ties to Tennessee athletics, ESPN had loads of choices to weigh earlier than choosing Johnny Knoxville because the “Faculty GameDay” visitor picker, however Vols followers had one other selection in thoughts.
Knoxville’s favourite “Jackass” earned 10.6% of the vote and completed third in our ballot asking Tennessee followers who they wished to see on the pregame present earlier than No. 13 Tennessee hosts No. 1 Texas on Sept. 26.
Commercial
Second place with 11.6% of the vote was Peyton Manning, a Vol for Life with cut up allegiance this weekend as his nephew Arch Manning leads the Longhorns into “The Sheriff’s” former stomping grounds.
Get Tennessee vs. Texas tickets
However of the 17 choices we slotted into the ballot − from former “GameDay” visitor Kenny Chesney to Kevin Hart, whose son is a freshman on Tennessee’s observe and area workforce − no one earned extra votes than nation music megastar Morgan Wallen.
The Knoxville native, who earned 35% of the vote, would have made a ton of sense for an obligation that requires “Talkin’ Tennessee.”
Commercial
Morgan Wallen connections to Knoxville, Tennessee soccer
Wallen has woven East Tennessee references into his lyrics for years. “The Manner I Speak,” Tennessee’s former third-quarter tune, preaches “cheering on the Volunteers.” And his tune “865” shares its identify with Knoxville’s space code, which purposefully corresponds to VOL on a phone keypad.
The singer-songwriter launched limited-edition camo merch this week to commemorate the faculty soccer spectacle, main many to invest ESPN had picked the previous Gibbs Excessive Faculty baseball participant as its visitor.
Wallen is one among just some musicians who can declare they’ve carried out at Neyland Stadium after he drew 156,161 followers throughout two Knoxville nights in September 2024. For the second live performance, Tennessee legend Peyton Manning and soccer coach Josh Heupel accompanied Wallen on stage.
Commercial
The night time earlier than, the visitor was Vols baseball coach Tony Vitello who, in main “the actual UT” to its first Faculty World Collection championship, led Wallen to tease the stadium reveals as a homecoming celebration.
Wallen later tapped Vitello in October 2024 for a meals drive at West City Mall benefitting East Tennesseans devastated by Hurricane Helene. “I am going to always remember that,” the musician informed Knox Information final yr.
“So many of us at UT have embraced me and my music,” he mentioned. “And I admire them greater than I can put into phrases.”
Why Johnny Knoxville deserved to be ‘Faculty GameDay’ visitor picker
Johnny Knoxville in entrance of a digital camera traditionally has made for chaotic outcomes. And the Knoxville native, born Philip John (P.J.) Clapp, has a protracted historical past with Tennessee soccer.
An April 2000 episode of “Jackass” on MTV featured Johnny, wearing a full Tennessee uniform, returning punts 11-on-1 towards USC’s soccer workforce. Twenty-five years later, he helped hype up a rowdy Neyland Stadium crowd for Tennessee’s night time sport towards Oklahoma.
Commercial
Johnny is from South Knoxville and is an alum of South-Younger Excessive Faculty earlier than it merged with Doyle Excessive Faculty within the early ’90s. He visited South-Doyle Excessive Faculty earlier this yr to unveil a brand new weight room funded by the gross sales of specialty merch mixing the “Jackass” and South-Doyle manufacturers.
Knox Information caught up with Johnny in early 2026 and talked about his son, Rocko, a highschool baseball pitcher in California.
“I am attempting to sing him the praises on the Tennessee Vols,” Johnny mentioned. “What an exquisite program.”