What to know Smokey XII, prepared for Tennessee soccer video games in 2026

There’s a brand new canine on the University of Tennessee campus, and he is carrying the Volunteer custom on his little bluetick coonhound shoulders. Meet Smokey XII!

The new Smokey will make his debut April 11 on the 2026 Orange and White spring soccer sport. He joins an extended custom of hounds taking over the identify Smokey, with UT studying in regards to the 2-year-old hound (initially named Neyland) by way of phrase of mouth from the East Tennessee bluetick coonhound rescue group. The unique house owners might now not present the care Smokey XII wanted, and a “devoted dog lover stepped in” to seek out him a house, based on a information launch. UT’s “Smokey search team” checked him out and noticed the mascot potential inside him.

He isn’t associated to different canine who have been dubbed Smokey lately.

He is being fostered by an worker of UT’s College of Veterinary Medicine, and that point with the foster household and the vet workforce has already helped the brand new Smokey alter to giant crowds and noisy environments.

“Neyland, aka Smokey XII, might just be Vol Nation’s most heartwarming walk-on success story,” mentioned Paul Plummer, dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine, in a UT news release. “This beautiful bluetick coonhound has found his forever family on Rocky Top. With training support from devoted students and expert guidance from the nation’s best veterinarians, Smokey XII is ready to meet his new Volunteer family and bring excitement to fans everywhere he goes.”

UT works with the Hudson household to coach every technology of Smokey, and the Knoxville-based handlers work intently with the college, together with within the seek for Smokey XII. During sport days, the Alpha Gamma Rho agricultural fraternity members will deal with him.

Smokey XII is lifting the burden off Smokey XI’s shoulders. The earlier pup needed to retire earlier than the top of the 2025 Tennessee Volunteers soccer season on account of a “reserved temperament” that made the bluetick coonhound uncomfortable showing in public. He was launched earlier than the Vols’ 2022 soccer season and had a tough time adapting to the noisy Neyland Stadium ambiance. His dad, Smokey X, got here out of retirement at occasions to fill the mascot position when the youthful Smokey wasn’t ready.

“Neyland has a big personality and playful spirit,” mentioned his veterinarian, Zenithson Ng, in a information launch. “Through reward-based training, he is learning essential commands including sit, stay and down. The upcoming Orange and White game presents an ideal opportunity to more fully evaluate his readiness for game day excitement ahead of the 2026 football season while giving him the chance to connect with fans and handlers in an authentic setting.”

The new hound continues the time-honored custom in place since 1953 when a bluetick coonhound grew to become UT’s mascot. The UT Pep Club held a contest throughout halftime of a soccer sport in opposition to Mississippi State. Students voted from a lineup of 10 canine and cheered loudest for the Rev. W.C. “Bill” Brooks’ prize-winning bluetick coonhound, “Brooks’ Blue Smokey,” who instantly won over fans with a howl after his introduction.

Now, the twelfth member in UT’s tradition of beloved hounds will enact his mascot duties by greeting fans, howling for the Vols on the sidelines and running through the Power T formed by the Pride of the Southland Marching Band to kick off each home game in Neyland Stadium.

Keenan Thomas is the upper schooling reporter for Knox News. Email: keenan.thomas@knoxnews.com.

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