End Zone Design

The end zone design at Tennessee is an orange and white checkerboard. This design was instituted by Head Coach Doug Dickey in 1964 and was used until 1968 when artificial turf was installed. It returned in 1989. In a 2007 article on ESPN.com, Ron Higgins quotes Dickey as saying: “I got the idea to use checkerboard when I saw it in a magazine, maybe in an ad. The design caught my eye and I thought we needed to dress up the stadium. It was drab and we needed some color. People liked the checkerboard end zones, and it’s nice to have an identifying product that’s lasted over the years.” The checkerboards were removed in 1968 when the Vols installed artificial turf. New artificial turf was placed down in 1989, and the checkerboards returned. When the Vols went back to natural grass in 1994, the checkerboards got a fresh design. Prior to the checkerboard end zones, the word Tennessee was used in the end zones.