Tennessee Vols coach Jeremy Pruitt, Jaguars coach Doug Marrone keep Boots Donnelly connected

Nearly 20 years after retiring from his successful football coaching career Boots Donnelly remains closely connected to the sport.

Donnelly spent 31 years in the profession, which included building Middle Tennessee State into an FCS (then Division I-AA) national power and setting the stage for the Blue Raiders to make the move to the FBS.

His coaching tree includes many former players, staff members and close associates who followed in his footsteps and are coaches today on every level.

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Some you've likely never heard of, some you may have, and a couple you'll certainly recognize if you've been paying attention lately.

Donnelly is linked not only to new Tennessee Vols coach Jeremy Pruitt, but also to Jacksonville Jaguars coach Doug Marrone. 

Pruitt played for Donnelly at MTSU. Marrone, whose team plays the Titans in the final game of the regular season Sunday (3:25 p.m., CBS) at Nissan Stadium, is Donnelly's son-in-law. Marrone is married to Donnelly's daughter Helen. 

“It does feel good to still be associated in one way or the other,” said Donnelly, who also won the Ohio Valley Conference championship as the coach at Austin Peay (1977) and the state high school championship at Father Ryan (1974) and was an assistant at Vanderbilt (1976). “I am very proud that Jeremy is doing something that is exceptionally special. To see him come up through the ranks like that makes me very proud.”

Donnelly is equally proud of Marrone for different reasons altogether.

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“I’m extremely proud of my son-in-law that he still has a job,” he said. “They haven’t asked to move back in so far; they’re doing all right on their own.”

Donnelly, who became MTSU’s athletics director after retiring from coaching, was not bothered that new Tennessee athletics director Phillip Fulmer did not reach out to him when Fulmer hired Pruitt, who was the defensive coordinator at Alabama.

“Phillip knew what he wanted to do; he didn’t need me to tell him he was making a good hire,” Donnelly said.

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Donnelly expects Pruitt, who played for him in 1993 and 1994 before transferring to Alabama, to be successful at Tennessee even though he inherited a program on the skids.

“He was a good player, a very smart player, tough kid and was extremely mature,” Donnelly said. “And that’s all because of his parents. He grew up in football family. His daddy (Dale Pruitt) must’ve won (283) games as a high school football coach down in Alabama.”

Donnelly holds no ill will toward Pruitt for his decision to transfer to Alabama.

“His mama called; he had to go back to Alabama,” Donnelly said. “He talked to me about it and I told him, ‘Son, if that’s where you want to go, you need to go.’ He was very satisfied at Middle, but he wanted to go see if he couldn’t play at the higher level and he went down, redshirted what would have been his junior year, and it all worked out for him.”

Donnelly was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2013, but said he pays very little attention to college football these days. That's because he and the rest of his family are fixated on the NFL and have naturally become big Jaguars fans.

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“Everybody in the family will be at the Jaguars-Titans game Sunday,” Donnelly said. “I go down during camp. I really enjoy that because I get to watch the individual drills. The NFL amazes me; how big, how fast, how strong all these people are.”

 When asked if Marrone ever calls to ask for tips while putting together his game plan, Donnelly said: “Naw — I just watch it and root for them. That’s about all I do anymore.”

Local players tabbed Collegiate Baseball All-Americans

Vanderbilt pitcher Patrick Raby made the Collegiate Baseball preseason All-America second team.

Raby is a right-hander from Knoxville who posted a 10-4 record with a 2.73 ERA last season.

Vanderbilt first baseman Julian Infante and Lipscomb second baseman Lee Solomon made the third team.

Ex-Mt. Juliet/Tech star receives NCAA's most prestigious award 

Former Mt. Juliet High and Tennessee Tech football player Barry Wilmore, now a highly decorated NASA pilot, is the recipient of the annual NCAA Theodore Roosevelt Award.

The “Teddy,” according to the NCAA web site, is the highest honor given to an individual.
It is named in honor of Roosevelt, whose concern for intercollegiate athletics led to the formation of the NCAA in 1906.

Before his family moved to Mt. Juliet, Wilmore grew up in the Una/Antioch area.

Dewayne Alexander mentioned Wilmore’s accomplishment when he was introduced last week as the Golden Eagles new football coach.

► More:Tennessee Tech football names Dewayne Alexander new coach

After walking on as a defensive end at Tennessee Tech in 1982, Wilmore eventually earned a scholarship and was elected team captain. 

As a senior he recorded 143 tackles, which is the third-highest single-season total in program history. 

Following his Tech career, Wilmore made two space shuttle flights.

While on a 167-day mission in 2014 as a member of the Soyuz crew, Wimore made news when he asked NASA officials to provide a feed of Tennessee Tech and SEC football games so that he could watch from the space station. 

Wilmore is in Tech's Sports Hall of Fame and is a member of the school's board of trustees.

Other recipients of the Theodore Roosevelt award include Jesse Owens (1974), Gerald Ford (1975), Arnold Palmer (1983), George H.W. Bush (1986), Ronald Reagan (1990), Lamar Alexander (1993), John Wooden (1996), Roger Staubach (2000), Eunice Kennedy Shriver (2002), Sally Ride (2005), Robert Kraft (2006), John Glenn (2008), Madeleine Albright (2009), Tony Dungy (2013) and Peter Ueberroth (2016).

Kornet shoots 16 3-pointers

Former Vanderbilt center Luke Kornet is still shooting 3-pointers. Lots of them.

Kornet became the most prolific 3-point shooting 7-footer in NCAA history when he was at Vandy (2013-17).

He is now playing for the New York Knicks’ G-League team Westchester Knicks and took 16 shots from beyond the 3-point line in a game last week.

► More:Vanderbilt's Luke Kornet signs with New York Knicks

Kornet made five 3s, scored 31 points and had four rebounds, two blocks and two steals in a 123-117 loss to the Wisconsin Herd.

Kornet is averaging 15.9 points.

Price putting on special event at Topgolf

Boston Red Sox pitcher David Price, a former Blackman and Vanderbilt star, is putting on an event — An Evening at Topgolf Nashville with David Price & Friends — on Jan. 11 (6-9 p.m.).

It will be an opportunity for fans to meet Price and other celebrities he plans to invite and announce at a later date.

There will be drinks, a buffet of heavy hors d'oeuvres, a silent auction and an autograph/photo session.

Proceeds benefit Front Porch Ministry, which sends inner-city kids to Horton Haven Christian Camp each summer.

For more information call 615-890-8634 or visit project14.org.

Three local players invited to Collegiate Bowl

Middle Tennessee State cornerback Charvarius Ward, Tennessee Tech wide receiver Dontez Byrd and Tennessee State defensive end Ebo Ogundeko have accepted invitations to play in the NFL Players Association Collegiate Bowl.

The seventh annual game is Jan. 20 (Fox Sports 1) at the Rose Bowl.

Ward broke up a team-high 14 passes and recorded 48 tackles. Byrd, a transfer from Louisville, set Tech's single-season record for receiving yards (1,003) with 78 catches and six TDs. Ogundeko recorded 43 tackles, including 7.5 for loss and four sacks,  despite missing two games with an injury.

2018 Fairgrounds Speedway schedule released

The schedule for the Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville, which will celebrate its 61st season in 2018, has been set.

There will be eight Fairgrounds Speedway series races. The first is on March 25.

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After an ARCA Racing Series race — Music City 200 — on April 7, the Fairgrounds series will resume with races on April 21, May 12, June 2, June 23, July 14 and Aug. 4.

The 34th annual All-American 400 will be Oct. 6-7.

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The 2017 pro-late model champion Casey Roderick and super truck champion Chaz Chaffin, along with the other series winners, will be crowned on Jan. 13 at the championship banquet at Wilson Hall at the Fairgrounds. 

For more information visit fairgroundsspeedwaynashville.com.

Leech reunion party set for Jan. 13

A player/coach reunion party is set for longtime Metro high school football coach Bob Leech’s 80th birthday on Jan. 13.

Leech, who played at Litton, began his career as an assistant at Stratford in 1961 and became the defensive coordinator at Goodlettsville in 1970. He got his first head coaching job at Madison in 1976 and then returned to Stratford 10 years later as head coach. He retired in 1992.

The reunion will be at Madison Church of Christ (3-5 p.m.). All players or coaches from Stratford, Madison and Goodlettsville who knew Leech are invited. 

MBA football great Burkholder Jr. dies

Former Montgomery Bell Academy and Kentucky football star Frank Burkholder Jr. died on Dec. 13. He was 81. 

Burkholder was captain of the 1955 state champion MBA football team. He played offensive tackle and made the all-city and all-state first teams.

Later in life Burkholder became very active in the YMCA and one of the area’s top racquetball players.  

If you have an item for Midstate Chatter contact Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 and on Twitter @MikeOrganWriter.

Sports on Nashville TV

The top five local ratings for sporting events from Dec. 18-24:
1. NFL: Titans-Rams, 20.0
2. NFL: Cowboys-Seahawks, 13.2
3. NFL: Vikings-Packers, 8.4
4. NFL: Jaguars-49ers, 5.9 
5. NFL: Falcons-Bucs, 5.3 
Each rating point is equal to 10,307 Nashville homes.
Source: Mark Binda, WTVF-5 senior programming director