'We Matter Now': Hendon Hooker looks back at his Tennessee career in Players Tribune

Hendon Hooker said goodbye to Tennessee fans and recapped his time with the Vols with a post in the Players Tribune published on Friday, ahead of the Capital One Orange Bowl Friday night at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. 

Hooker, a Virginia Tech transfer, starred in Josh Heupel’s offense in his two seasons at Tennessee, accounting for 7,126 total yards and 68 touchdowns in just 24 games. 

He passed for 3,135 yards and 27 touchdowns in 11 games this season, before he tore his ACL in the loss at South Carolina last month. He led the Vols to an improbable 8-0 start and a No. 1 ranking in the first College Football Playoff ranking of the season.

“I won’t sit here and pretend this season is ending how I hoped it would end” Hooker wrote, “… but I’m still very proud of what we accomplished. And when I try to think of a way to put that in words, we matter now is what I keep coming back to. 

“It’s like: If you’re trying to tell the story of this season, you can’t leave Tennessee out. We weren’t unbeatable — but we were most definitely undeniable.”

No. 6 Tennessee (10-2) faces No. 7 Clemson (11-2) in the Orange Bowl Friday (8 p.m. Eastern Time; TV: ESPN) looking for its first 11-win season since 2001. The Vols won 10 games in the regular season for the first time since 2003.

Hooker took over as Tennessee’s starting quarterback in Week 2 last season, when Joe Milton, who had won the starting job in fall camp, injured his ankle in a home loss against Pitt. Hooker never let go of the job, throwing for 2,945 yards and 31 touchdowns, with just three interceptions, in his breakout season.

“I remember when I first joined the team,” Hooker wrote, “it’s funny, but right off the bat my teammates were skeptical. I think it’s that “SEC confidence” they all had. It’s like they couldn’t imagine how some dude from the ACC could actually ball.” 

Hooker led Tennessee to a 7-6 record in 2021, before everything changed this season. The Vols won at Pitt in overtime in September, then beat Florida at home. They went to LSU and made a statement with a 40-13 win, then took down Alabama in a thriller at Neyland Stadium, 52-49.

“It’s been the year of my life,” Hooker wrote. “There’s so many memories that stand out. Beating Pitt in OT when they were higher ranked than us. Beating Florida when we’re both undefeated and with GameDay in town. Beating LSU in Death Valley. And it felt like every week, more people were noticing. More and more people were saying, “‘Oh, this is the Tennessee we’ve been hearing about. They’re looking like a great program again.’”

Hooker described the Alabama game as the one he was most proud of. It fell on his father’s birthday, he noted, and Heupel asked him on the final possession if he wanted to settle for overtime or go for the win.

“There’s 15 seconds left,” Hooker wrote, “so everyone assumes it’s going to overtime, right?? But Coach Heup, he walks up to me and he says, “Do you want to take it to OT? Or do you want to go for it right now?” And I just give him one of those looks and I tell him, ‘Let’s go end it right now, Coach. I’m HUNGRY.’”

No. 6 Tennessee vs. No. 7 Clemson, Orange Bowl, 8 p.m. ET, ESPN

Hooker also wrote about the moment everything changed, when he tore his ACL in the 63-38 season-altering loss at South Carolina. 

“It’s been incredibly tough … it was a devastating injury,” Hooker said. “But my mentality from the jump has been 1. I’m going to handle my business with surgery and then rehab, and 2. I’m going to get back to my team, and be the leader they need.”

He’s still in a leadership position, helping Milton, his roommate, prepare for Tennessee’s season finale against Clemson in the Orange Bowl.

“I’ve been talking to (Milton) a lot this season about how badly I want to win a bowl game for the first time. I’d be like, “Man … ALL THESE YEARS I’ve been in college!! And I’ve never won a bowl,’” Hooker wrote. “So Joe knew better than anyone how much frustration I was feeling inside, not getting that chance to finally win one. And the first thing he said to me, after my surgery — he looks at me and he goes, “We’re about to get you that bowl win, Hook.” This last part of the season hasn’t been easy, but that meant a lot.”

Hooker wrote that Tennessee isn’t where he started or ended his football career but where he “figured out” his football career.

“It’s been an honor to wear the Power T,” Hooker wrote.