The first answer was no. Jonathan King didn't find the timing to work.

When the University of Tennessee called a second time, offering King a spot to be its director of graphic design and branding, King left his office in Tuscaloosa, Ala., at the University of Alabama to check out what the Vols had to offer.

When King's Alabama home ultimately closed the same day he and his family took possession of their Knoxville home, King --- a man of faith --- knew he had made the right choice.

"When I came for my interview, they had just moved into the new building," King recalled. "I called my wife that night and said, 'You better get ready.' This place had it all, and I kind of looked at it --- and I don't want to offend anyone here --- but I kind of looked at it like a blue-chip stock that you were buying at a great price. This place has it all, tradition, facilities, everything to succeed, and there's tremendous potential here."

Now nearly six months later, UT's moving forward with King at the forefront of the design elements.

That Pat Summitt banner now hanging in Thompson-Boling Arena? King.

Those 2013-BE A Champion T-shirts -- the 3 in the calendar year also forms the B --- the Vols' football players now wear for every weight-lifting session? King again.

The upcoming season football tickets, with the checkerboard elements, Butch Jones on the first one and an "I Will Give My All For Tennessee" design on another? Yep, King.

Oh, and reinforcing the 'Power T' image and helping spur along the RiseToTheTop.com Web site? King helped with those items as well.

In short, the Vols are rebuilding a football program under Butch Jones and pressing forward with their athletics imaging, and King is right in the middle of it.

"While some can refer to a situation as X-Y-Z hit the ground running, Jonathan King came in at an all-out sprint and instantly jumped on board to further strengthen our creative efforts," said UT's Jimmy Delaney, the school's assistant athletic director for sales and marketing. "When you look at how talented our broadcasting folks are, or our photographers and our Web team, who runs our digital front door of www.utsports.com … it only made sense to add a guy of Jonathan King's caliber."

Though the Vols' athletics department has largely transitioned seamlessly into its new $45 million Anderson Training Facility component to the Neyland-Thompson Sports Center, the walls have yet to be outfitted in their full graphic treatment. King will handle that, and having someone of King's caliber in-house --- rather than having to contract out every item to an off-campus creative agency --- ultimately saves the Vols from a fiscal standpoint.

Moving forward, it's possible King could be asked to corroborate with adidas should Tennessee ultimately make changes to its uniforms; this past season's Alabama basketball uniforms were largely designed by King, who began with the Tide's athletics program and worked his way up from a position doing film cut-ups for the women's basketball program. Eventually King worked hand-in-hand with Buddy Overstreet, creative director for Crimson Tide Productions.

Perhaps King's most visible contribution --- certainly on the social media landscape --- thus far was the promotional photo of Mike Tomlin, the Pittsburgh Steelers' Super Bowl-winning coach after Tomlin endorsed Jones' program as one to which he would send his own sons.

"Our marketing/branding efforts are never-ending, which is exactly how we like it --- and a guy like Jonathan is a welcomed addition to our creative team. We have a group of folks that are not only big-picture visionaries," Delaney said, "but can also put boots on the ground to get it done and he's cut from that same cloth."