Tennessee Volunteers to honour late Dolly Parton with helmet sticker this season

The Tennessee Volunteers will be honouring Dolly Parton with a helmet sticker this season, coach Josh Heupel announced on Monday.

Parton, a Tennessee native, died on Tuesday, Aug. 25 after a brief battle with cancer. She was 80.

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

The iconic singer grew up in Sevierville, roughly 50 kilometres east of Knoxville, where the University of Tennessee is located.

“You look at [Dolly’s] 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,” Heupel said. “We’ll be wearing a sticker patch on the back of our helmet to recognize her accomplishments and everything that she’s meant.”

Parton often spoke about her upbringing as one of 12 children in what she described as a “dirt poor” family. Inspired by her youth, Parton led several initiatives to give back to her hometown, including her nonprofit Imagination Library, which provides children with access to free books.

The sticker, in the Volunteers’ signature orange, features a butterfly similar to the one in the Dollywood logo, with “Dolly” written in white at the centre.

Tennessee, ranked No. 20 in the AP Top 25 preseason poll, hosts Furman in its season-opener on Saturday.