No. 16 has a history at Neyland Stadium. Peyton Manning made it his own during his Tennessee career, and the number eventually became part of the stadium’s history. Now another Manning is bringing it back although in burnt orange. There is a strange detail, though. 

Arch Manning has never played at Neyland. In fact, he had never even been to Knoxville before this week. His first visit comes with Texas unbeaten, ranked No. 1 and walking into a 101,915-seat stadium for its first SEC road game of the season. But the noise inside Neyland may not be the only thing Texas has to prepare for.

President Donald Trump is expected at Saturday’s game, and in a Thursday Zoom call with reporters, Steve Sarkisian said his team could suddenly lose its coach-to-player communication when the President moves around the stadium. As per Sarkisian,

“The one thing that you have to be aware of when the president goes to any game is that anytime he enters the stadium, leaves the stadium or changes locations within the stadium, they cut all communication.. So they cut your headsets. They cut the headsets to coaches. They cut headsets for coach-to-player communication. So you have to have a plan for that, if and when it happens, and you get no warning. It just gets cut out.”
And Sarkisian already knows what that sudden silence can look like.

According to Sarkisian, Mario Cristobal’s Miami lost communication late in the fourth quarter during its national championship game against Indiana. After Sark’s comments, Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti told ESPN that even the Hoosiers briefly lost headset communications.

Cignetti said the outage came with about 6:45 left in the fourth quarter, including Miami’s touchdown to Malachi Toney with 6:37 remaining. “We couldn’t hear [on the TD], then it came back,” Cignetti told ESPN’s Pete Thamel. “It came back before kickoff. We both had communication from that point on.” The interruption, then, was brief, but it gives Sarkisian a recent example of what can happen when a president’s movements affect game-day communications.

Sarkisian also has a more personal reference point. He was Alabama’s offensive coordinator when Trump attended the Crimson Tide’s game against LSU in 2019, during Trump’s first term. He now expects Texas to be ready for the same possibility, whether Trump arrives early, leaves late or simply changes locations during the game.

“You have to have a plan to adjust if and when he comes in the middle of the first quarter, leaves in the fourth quarter, or decides he’s got to use the restroom, whatever that looks like,” Sarkisian said. “You’ve got to be prepared to have no communication for a short amount of time.”

The issue is particularly interesting for Texas because Saturday will be the Longhorns’ first trip to Knoxville since joining the SEC. They are heading into Neyland Stadium for a matchup that already draws plenty of attention, and now both teams have to account for something unrelated to the actual game plan.

There is more history sitting behind this matchup than the SEC label suggests. Texas and Tennessee have met only three times, and all three games were played at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. Their last meeting came on Jan. 1, 1969, when Texas won 36-13. Saturday will be their first regular-season meeting and the first time Texas has played Tennessee in Knoxville.

Manning and the rest of the offense are going to need their assignments locked in well before kickoff. If those headsets cut out mid-game, Sarkisian can’t just radio in a new call to his quarterback like normal.

Texas has already been giving Manning a taste of what that environment will sound like. The Longhorns have reportedly been playing Tennessee’s “Rocky Top” on repeat during practice this week, trying to make the song, and the atmosphere that comes with it, less unfamiliar before the real thing arrives. Manning’s response was telling: “Yeah, we played it a lot this week. (It’s) not bad.”

That puts Texas in a tough spot, too, since they can’t lean on their usual sideline communication in a place that’s going to be loud no matter what. Neyland Stadium holds over 100,000 people, which only adds to the challenge for a Longhorns team that hasn’t even played a true road game yet this season.

Manning, though, is not pretending the noise is something Texas can avoid. “I’m definitely excited to play in a hostile environment, SEC road game,” he said. “That’s what it’s all about.”

That attitude matters because this is not simply another stadium Manning has to learn. His uncle Peyton spent his college career at Tennessee, and Arch grew up with that connection without ever actually visiting Knoxville. He also had a Tennessee scholarship offer coming out of Isidore Newman in New Orleans, but never made a recruiting visit to the Vols before choosing Texas.

There is another small Tennessee connection that makes the first visit a little special. Manning spent time with current Vols quarterback George MacIntyre at the Manning Passing Academy this offseason. Now, months later, the two will be on opposite sides of the same field.

Trump’s planned appearance was first reported on Wednesday by Clay Travis of Sport & State. Tennessee has since adjusted its game-day operation around the visit. Neyland’s gates are scheduled to open at 9 a.m., with fans urged to arrive significantly earlier than normal because Secret Service personnel will conduct enhanced screening at every stadium gate.

The President is not expected to appear on ESPN’s College GameDay, according to Front Office Sports, although ESPN plans to show him from his luxury box during the broadcast. The show itself will still add another layer to the scene, with its final hour coming from inside Neyland and Johnny Knoxville serving as the celebrity guest picker.

Trump has turned into a familiar face at big sporting events lately. He’s shown up to UFC fights, sat courtside at Game 3 of the NBA Finals between the Knicks and the Spurs at Madison Square Garden back in June, and then made it to the FIFA World Cup final between Spain and Argentina at MetLife Stadium in July, where he handed Spain the trophy after their win.

Now, Texas is coming off a dramatic comeback victory over then-No. 1 Ohio State on Sept. 12, while its following game against UTSA was considerably quieter. The Longhorns won 30-6, with Manning completing 16 of 32 passes for 161 yards and two touchdowns.

The UTSA game also exposed why the Tennessee trip matters beyond the spectacle. Texas’ defense allowed only 143 total yards, but the offense had stretches in which it struggled to create explosive plays. UTSA’s defense held Texas’ longest play to 24 yards, making Saturday’s first true road test a very different challenge from the controlled setting of the previous week.

ESPN’s College GameDay in Knoxville has actor Johnny Knoxville announced as the guest picker. The choice has an obvious connection to the city, as he attended high school in Knoxville in the late 1980s before becoming famous and later appearing in movies such as Men in Black II and The Ringer.

He will be making his picks during a particularly busy weekend for the SEC. The No. 1 Longhorns and No. 14 Volunteers are both 3-0, and the game is part of a weekend that includes four ranked-vs.-ranked SEC matchups.

All of that will surround the Tennessee-Texas game, but once kickoff arrives, Sarkisian will want his players focused on football. That includes Manning, who has had plenty of noise surrounding him over the past two weeks.