TIMELESS GRIT

THERE'S NO WAY TO experience what it was like on that consequential cross-country train ride the 1899 Sewanee Football team took through Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi, but as the 2023 team’s motor coach rolls out through the gates of the Domain on a classically foggy Franklin County morning, one is surely given an inspiring approximation. As you may have seen, the recent documentary Unrivaled does so much to remind Sewanee faithful about the University’s remarkable gridiron history. So too is there an important chapter being written right now, which is why I find myself with a bag of cameras sitting behind Head Coach Andy McCollum aboard the team charter on the way to Fulton, Missouri.

Who among us wouldn’t want to go back in time to see and know more about those determined personalities and the Sewanee they lived in a century and a quarter ago? That’s impossible, of course, but we can choose to behold how good this new Sewanee story is as it unfolds. And we can document that story in a photo book, which is the very thought that struck me last February when McCollum, a highly accomplished coach whom I’ve respected for decades, was hired to lead the team.

In a prior career, I coached high school lacrosse for 16 seasons, and from those experiences I developed deep admiration for people who embrace the hard work that comes with great undertakings. With that in mind, I’ve come back to the Mountain looking for evidence of the building of this Sewanee team, the effort being put in, and the sacrifices being made. In this distracted and disjointed, artificially intelligent digital age, nothing is more important to me than people of character choosing others over themselves as they work to make something greater together than they possibly could alone. And that’s precisely what I’ve seen so far from this group of motivated student-athletes and the exceptional coaches who lead them. Theirs is an energy I haven’t been around in a long time, and it’s a sure indication of great things happening now and more to come.

The photo book, which will span the entire season from fall camp to the final game, is being shot entirely on black and white film—it seemed only fitting. While it’s still way too early in the season to know precisely how everything will play out, my hope is the photos that follow will offer some sense of the direction we’re headed and encourage you to come see for yourself the history being made.

The team warms up under the close watch of Offensive Line Coach Tom Hall.

Sewanee Defensive Coordinator Mike Pelton coaches up the defensive line.

All the way to the line—there are no shortcuts.

“The ball is the program.” Senior defensive back Kaleb Seay swats the ball to a teammate in the “program drill.”

Senior defensive lineman Quinn Johnson rips past the goalpost in the “violent hands drill.”

Coach Andy McCollum teaches the art of the linebacker.

Focused: Junior linebacker Stewart Buchanan.

Sure-handed wide receiver Ethan Gillespie catches another pass.

Associate Head Coach and Defensive Secondary Coach Drew Gaither teaches form tackling.

The team “pounds the rock” on the way to McGee Field to take on Maryville in the season opener. Coach McCollum and his wife, Debbie, had this rock placed and a Sewanee “S” affixed to emphasize the team mantra of unyielding persistence.

Junior safety Kason Holder refuels on the sideline after yet another interception against Maryville.

Coach McCollum and senior Quinn Johnson embrace after Sewanee defeats Westminster College, marking the team’s first road victory in five years.

The Sewanee sideline erupts as Tucker Kirk sacks the Millsaps quarterback on fourth down to seal the Tigers' first conference win in five years. The Sept. 16 victory was also Sewanee’s first over Millsaps in 18 years.

Half of the net proceeds for Hight’s forthcoming photo book will be donated to the University.