Most Vol fans look back at the year 1998 with fond memories of a season full of compelling stories, lucky victories and iconic moments that culminated in a perfect 13-0 season and a National Championship. Yet at the time, fans viewed the ’98 season with skepticism.
“I remember thinking everybody here was kinda down because Peyton was gone,” said John Norwood, a University of Tennessee alumnus and author of “Rebuilding Year,” a novel centered around a boy whose parents divorced before the 1998 season. “Fans thought ‘If you can’t win the National Championship with Peyton Manning, how are you going to do it with this Tee Martin guy?’
“The fans didn’t think they would be able to do anything, and they thought it was going to be a rebuilding year.”
Norwood was raised in Greenville, South Carolina, and grew up a Georgia fan. But once he moved to Knoxville, he instantly became a Vol fan, maintaining that he “bleeds orange now.” Norwood noted the city of Knoxville had a different atmosphere during the 1998 season than it has in the last decade.
“The whole city was as up as it’s been down the past few seasons,” he said. “When they were winning that year, everybody got along because everybody got around that team.”
It wasn’t until years later after he graduated from UT and was writing screenplays in Southern California that he first got the idea for “Rebuilding Year.”
“I had this idea of a kid whose parents were splitting up just before the season, and his sister goes off to college, and it’s really torn his family apart,” Norwood said. “The story fits thematically with the football season because it looks like things are only going to get worse, not better.”
Charlie, the story’s protagonist, is taken to UT games every weekend by his father after he purchases season tickets in order to bond with his son. After the third chapter, every chapter is a game in that season, and both Charlie’s and the Vols’ stories interweave.
Norwood’s novel has garnered significant attention in the Knoxville area, as he has appeared on local sports talk radio shows hosted by Jayson Swain, Tony Basilio and Dave Hooker. He’s even made an appearance on the local news station WVLT.
“The support from Tennessee has been remarkable,” Norwood said. “I’ve been rooting for the Vols my whole adult life, and now I feel like they’re rooting for me.”
While the current Tennessee team is far from the ’98 team, Norwood sees potential in current head coach Butch Jones and envisions an upward climb coming. He “believes in the process” and thinks Jones and his team will take their first step this season and make a bowl game.
John Norwood went from hating his job in Hollywood to writing “something he truly wanted to write” in “Rebuilding Year.” He currently has a sequel in the prewriting stages, but he intends to enjoy the success of his first novel as much as he can.
“It’s just been a whole lot of fun,” Norwood said. “I love writing and I love Tennessee football. It’s really made me feel more a part of the university and the culture.”
