The morning after the football team returned home from Arkansas, offensive tackle Dayne Davis jumped in a car packed to the roof with groceries to drive home to northeastern Tennessee and lend a helping hand to others.
“We were obviously sore about the loss from the Arkansas game, but I felt a need to go help people,” says Davis.
He and his girlfriend made the two-and-a-half-hour drive with $4,500 worth of groceries to Johnson County, Tennessee, which the week before had been devastated by Hurricane Helene.
Dayne Davis, Vols offensive tackle, unloads groceries at a supply donation drop off point in Northeast Tennessee.
There the family of one of Davis’s best friends lost four houses on a family farm. The homes were destroyed when a creek, normally only six feet wide, flooded.
All told, Davis raised nearly $12,000 to help people affected by the hurricane.
That money has not only bought groceries but also helped people put in new driveways and replace insulation and drywall in their damaged homes.
Davis recounts the story of a man who saw the house that he was born in, the same house his mother had been born in, washed away by the creek.
“That hits you hard as a person, but to be able to help those people—to see the smile it puts on their face and the joy that it brings—it brings me joy if I see just one person smile from it,” he says.
As Davis graduates this month with his master’s degree in management and human resources from the Haslam College of Business, he says he knows how blessed he is to have had the opportunity to compete and study at UT, so he’s using the platform he’s been given to help those who need it.
His time at the university has not only prepared him to enter the upcoming NFL draft but has also given him the experience he needs for a career outside of football.
As an undergraduate, he earned a degree in supply chain management, completing an internship at Eastman Chemical Company back home in Sullivan County, Tennessee. He worked as a supply chain representative with the specialty plastics department, learning about the international company’s logistics.
Dayne Davis takes a selfie with other UT students during the Big Orange Combine at Super Bowl LVII in Phoenix.
In 2023, Davis was able to blend football and academics into a unique learning experience through the Big Orange Combine program, which gives students a behind-the-scenes look at how sports, marketing, and broadcasting come together to produce the Super Bowl.
“It was cool seeing it from a business perspective—how much goes into getting it ready—and from a player’s perspective,” says Davis. “Obviously, that the biggest goal for all of us who play. So being around that environment as a player and a student was truly inspiring.”
Davis has a full-time job offer from Eastman and feels his master’s degree will help him should he step into a management or HR role within supply chain.
“I’m still going to pursue my dreams and get ready for the NFL draft,” Davis says. “We’ll see where that goes—and if it doesn’t work out, I’m prepared for what’s next.”
Offensive lineman Dayne Davis inside the Tennessee football locker room. Photo by Steven Bridges