Tennessee held a seven-game winning streak over Alabama from 1995-2001.
During that stretch Alabama quarterback Andrew Zow won the 1999 SEC championship, but went win-less against Tennessee during his career with the Crimson Tide (1997-2001).
Zow has since launched his high school coaching career in Alabama, serving as head coach at Montevallo (2012-15), Calera (2016-18), Bessemer City (2019) and Sylacauga (2020).
Ahead of Tennessee’s matchup with No. 2 Alabama Saturday at Neyland Stadium (3:30 p.m. EDT, CBS), the first-year Sylacauga head coach reflected on his time playing the Vols.
“I am probably a little more bitter towards Tennessee than I am with Auburn,” Zow said on the show “Tennessee Two-A-Days.” “I never had a chance to beat them. When we won the SEC championship, we lost to them. Shaun (Alexander) and I had high ankle sprains in that game, so we were half men at that time.
“Tennessee is one of those games that they dress the freshmen up in orange. When I redshirted, they had me as Peyton Manning my freshman year. It was Rocky Top blaring throughout the week, everything you ate could have been orange. You hear that song and it is sort of psychological and brainwashing where you grow to hate Tennessee before you get to the game.”
Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt launched his coaching career as a graduate assistant during Zow’s first year at Alabama in 1997.
“It is one of those things that you get to see guys move on and do great things,” Zow said of Pruitt serving as Tennessee’s head coach.
The entire show with Zow can be listened to here or below.