By Ryan Tipps
D3sports.com

MARYVILLE, Tenn. -- In a corner of the region where the University of Tennessee's iconic orange T is commonly plastered on bumpers, headwear and bar windows, a smaller school just down the road takes the field in a less resounding -- but no less intense -- way.

Maryville's football team has been the project of coach Tony Ierulli for more than five years. He commands the practices as well as the games with authority. But his short stint in this position belies a much deeper loyalty to the program, one that only a graduate can understand.

Ierulli was a linebacker for Maryville in the late '70s. He is proud of his team, quick to point out strengths and eager to remedy its weaknesses. He is proud of his stadium and the traditions that surround it, especially the Captain's Walk, where the names of past stars are permanently etched. And he's proud of the future, of the way the school honors its players and of the newly dedicated monument marking the school's four core values: commitment, pride, team and honor.

At Maryville, football past and present collide -- a fact that did not go unnoticed when Ierulli was hired.

Bill Seymour, a vice president at the college, noted that Ierulli channeled memories of Maryville's last golden era.

"Back when I played in the late '70s, Maryville College had come off a 0-9 record," Ierulli said. "The program was down for about three or four years. And (then) we got a group of guys -- a lot of them from Tennessee, Florida and Georgia -- that came together, and we were very successful. … We were nationally ranked, and we had a lot of guys who were very tough, physical guys."

The Scots back then notched a couple of seven- and eight-win seasons. And even though that was three decades ago, Ierulli and his family keep that history alive, especially at home.

One room is dedicated to the player and coach that Ierulli was in the past, and the coach that he is in the present. Dozens of photos line the walls and shelves, cataloging his career across divisions at such places as Shippensburg and Missouri. The biggest portrait shows a tired and sweaty No. 90 standing with his future wife after Ierulli's last collegiate game as a player. Ironically, that game was against Centre, the same school that the Fighting Scots bested over the weekend.

Tony Ierulli inherited a team that had gone 0-10 and is 23-28 over the past five-plus seasons. Photo by Ryan Tipps, D3sports.com

Ierulli, a 50-year-old who was born in Illinois but spent much of his young life in Florida, signed on to coach at his alma mater in January 2003, tasked with a challenge remarkably reminiscent to the one he and his teammates undertook in their undergraduate days. In 2002, Maryville was winless on the gridiron. It was in need of rebuilding.

"When I came over and became the head coach here, it was very similar (to the late '70s)," Ierulli said. "Maryville at that time had gone through a 0-10 season. They weren't having very much success in the previous years. What I try to do is relate back to this in how we were able to turn it around."

He has created a stable foundation in the Scots program, earning a 7-3 record last season and coming within sight of a USA South championship. But mediocrity is something he wishes will never again befall his alma mater: "My goal is to have Maryville College be a team that is consistently challenging for the USA South title. … I don't want Maryville College to ever be viewed as an average program." 

Building upon his own loyalty to the school, Ierulli surrounds himself with other Maryville graduates. Roughly half of his staff has played on Honaker Field with "that Fighting Scot, that Braveheart mentality," as Ierulli puts it. His ties run even deeper in his own home, where his wife and three kids have all been Maryville students.

He said the administration knows his heartfelt affection for the school.

"I think the school is doing everything it can to help make Maryville College (football) successful, because football is very important, not only to the college but to the community. … They know how much I love Maryville College, and they understand to me this isn't just any ol' job. Maryville College is very dear to me. When we had the dedication before, I had tears rolling down my eyes. I'm so wrapped up being a part of this school."

Current Scots players see how Ierulli's passion for the school manifests itself -- sometimes as a voluminous voice across the field, other times as listener who looks out for his players.

"He's definitely intense. … He makes us work really hard, but he does everything with a purpose with that intensity that he tries to instill in us," linebacker Kyle Chewning said.

Running back Rommel Hightower adds to that sentiment.

"A lot of people think he comes on as an aggressive coach, but at the same time … he has that open-door policy," Hightower said. "If anything were to happen, he'd be right there to have our backs, but at the same time he has that authority about him where people are going to listen. That's good because everyone respects him."

Touching on the elements of the past, Ierulli said he preaches to his own athletes about capturing character and toughness in several aspects of life. In his playing days, Ierulli had a strong relationship with his coaching staff, noting that despite his being only 5-9 and 205, his coaches took note of his toughness come game time. 

"I know what it's going to take for us to be successful," Ierulli said, "and it's these tough kids who are relentless and who buy into our program not only on the football field but off the football field."

Maryville tied the all-time series with Centre in the teams' 59th meeting. Photo by Ryan Tipps, D3sports.com

These are students who probably didn't dream about playing football at Maryville; they dreamed about playing at Tennessee or Florida State or Georgia. But with small colleges come big values, as are echoed across all of Division III. "We try to teach them how to do things the right way, how to play with class," Ierulli said.

Since his return to the sidelines, Ierulli's supporters have been many. Players show their respect -- even as they try to stay on his good side during practices and games. And fans smile broadly when they talk about him, pointing to how well he connects with the campus community. 

"What's the one big thing, except for maybe graduation, that brings alumni together?" Ierulli asked, the answer already obvious. "It's usually football games, the homecoming festivities. We've got so many former football alums, and alumni in general, who know who I am and see me as the face of Maryville College football. And they're coming back. I sit down with guys who never came back since they graduated until I returned. … They're taking interest in the football program and in the school itself. That's where the benefits are of having a football program and an alum as a head coach, you get that draw back and others wanting to be a part of Maryville College."

He is also quick to point out improvements to the facilities and his comfort working with the college's president.

"I think they have gone beyond my expectations in terms of what they have done since I've been back here," Ierulli said.

And if he has his way, he won't be giving up this gig anytime soon: "My goal is to coach here until they don't want me anymore or I drop dead on the practice field some day."

As long as the bagpipes are played, the cannon fires and the Maryville flag soars on the sidelines, Ierulli wants no other place to call home.