Tennessee will open its 2024 campaign against Chattanooga at Neyland Stadium on Aug. 31.

In anticipation of the season opener, VolReport is highlighting a former Vols player whose jersey number matches the amount of days until kickoff.

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With 23 days to go, Tommy West, who played baseball for two seasons and was on All-SEC tight end at Tennessee in 1973-75, is selected.

West played at Gainesville High School in Gainesville, Georgia and was drafted by the Chicago Cubs as an outfielder in the fourth round of the Major League Baseball Draft before ultimately signing with Bill Battle's Vols program as a freshman in 1972.

He made limited contributions mainly as a tailback and on special teams during his sophomore season, but was more of a factor in Tennessee's offense the following year in 1974.

Just days before the Vols hosted Kansas in week 3 that season, the coaching staff moved West to tight end and by the seventh game against TCU, he was starting at the position.

West had 14 receptions for nearly 250 yards, and though he didn't score, he was on the receiving end of one of the longest non-scoring plays in program history--an 81-yard gain on a pass from Condredge Holloway in a 21-21 tie with Vanderbilt.

West totaled 575 yards and four touchdowns on 16 receptions in three seasons, finishing among the most productive tight ends in program history.

West split his time between football and baseball in 1974-75. He batted .367 during his senior season and was named All-SEC.

West was selected by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers--then a new expansion team-- in the 16th round of the 1975 NFL Draft and returned to Tennessee to coach walk-on players in 1976.

West was later hired by Ole Miss, serving as a running backs coach for one season, then spent two years as a wide receiver and tight ends coach at Appalachian State. He has a number of other assistant coaching stops at Clemson, Tennessee and South Carolina before getting his first head coaching job at Chattanooga in 1993.

He took over at Clemson in 1993 and coached five seasons there. West was the head coach at Memphis from 2001-09 and coached the defensive line at Middle Tennessee State from 2014-23.

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