SMOKEY IV SERVES 2 YEARS AS UT MASCOT

SMOKEY IV SERVES 2 YEARS AS UT MASCOT
                                  

Knoxville, TN  (HOUSEOFNEYLAND) SMOKEY IV, a.k.a. "PR Blue Smoky Joe" became the VOLUNTEER mascot on September 24, 1973 & served under Coaches Bill Battle & Johnny Majors.

SMOKEY IV saw his VOLS compile a 12-10-1 record.

The reason for the short reign as UT's "top dog" was, Tom Mattingly & Earl C. Hudson tell us, his "valiant fight" with cancer.

SMOKEY IV died just before the VOLS were headed out to Houston for the Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl.

He passed away on December 4, 1979.

Unfortunately, unlike SMOKEY I, SMOKEY IV had no offspring, so 'the bloodline was broken.'*

*There is a great picture in the new book "Smokey" of SMOKEY IV with his handler SAM HUFFAKER.

SOURCE

"SMOKEY:  The True Stories behind the University of Tennessee's Beloved Mascot," by Thomas J. Mattingly & Earl C. Hudson, The University of Tennessee Press, 2012.