La Follette native Mack Orick (above) and his Big Orange Bug have been featured on ESPN, CBS, has run through the T and even made the front page of VIP Knoxville Magazine last September. (PHOTO CREDIT MARCY ANDERSON SANFORD VIP KNOXVILLE MAGAZINE)

(VIDEO COURTESY OF CAZZY’S CORNER GRILL)

By Jim Freeman

LAFOLLETTE, TN (WLAF)- “There it was, a 1978 VW Super Beetle, up on a crane, fixin’ to be mashed, and I just had to have it,” said Mack Orick. Orick’s legendary orange Volkswagen was neither legendary nor orange when he saved it from the car crusher years ago at Lambert’s Auto Parts at Powell.

“I don’t know who is counting the days, but it’s 78 days until Football Time in Tennessee,” laughed Mack Orick as he said to me back in June. Orick took some time to share his story with me about how he became the biggest Vols fan.

Tennessee opens its season Saturday at Neyland Stadium with Furman.

Mack Orick ahead of a homecoming parade

“My brother was with me when I bought the VW, and he said ‘Don’t you get that. You’ll never get it on the road.’ And I showed him,” said Orick.

The La Follette native has been featured on ESPN, CBS, has run through the T and even made the front page of VIP Knoxville Magazine. If there is a more loyal and bigger fan of Tennessee Volunteer Athletics than Mack Orick, now is your time to step up and state your claim.

What an honor to be on The Rock

Orick has been a Tennessee Vols fan since he delivered newspapers during his junior high and high school days at La Follette. He’s been a season ticket holder for Vols football games since 1963, and that has to be some kind of record. The 2026 season marks Mack’s 64th season of holding season tickets.

As a teenager, he had a paper route in La Follette, and going to Vols games began by winning the most Knoxville newspapers sold. “I won a trip to the Sugar Bowl played on January 1, 1957, at New Orleans.

Coach Johnny Majors and Mack Orick

“I think I was probably the smallest offensive lineman in the state,” chuckled Orick, who played football and ran track at La Follette High School. The legendary Cotton Jackson was his football coach sophomore season forward. The 84-year- old was popular in those days, too, being elected as a class officer for three years.

At The Royal Lunch in Mack Orick’s hometown

Orick drove to Athens back in June to provide newlyweds with a get-a-way in his famous car. “It plays Rocky Top, and as I started driving, they were kissing to the song,” said Orick.

A look at part of Mack’s Museum at his home

The Vietnam Veteran has his own personal Big Orange museum in his west Knoxville home. Orick, a regular hiker, retired from K-25 and says he’s just now getting warmed up. “Heck, I even danced to Rocky Top at that wedding,” said Orick.

Then Vol Baseball Coach Tony Vitello and Mack Orick

“I park in the G-10 parking garage, and every Saturday, I can’t find my car after the game. Because there are so many people around it,” Orick said as he laughed.

It’s a Super Beetle for all occasions from
a wedding to a ball game

“I worked on the car for two and a half years, and I had one of Harry Galbreath’s jerseys. You know he played on the 1985 Sugar Bowl team. I took his jersey to the paint shop, and I said ‘match it’. They did, and they did a very good job on it,” said Orick.

From Pat Kerr Field at La Follette to
Neyland Stadium, Mack Orick still loves football

“Right now there’s 102,000 people who go to the football games, and I think everyone of them has had their picture taken with it; the Big Orange Beetle,” said Orick. And that’s a taste of some Big Orange-La Follette Owl history.

(WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED-09/04/2026-6AM-PHOTO CREDIT MARCY ANDERSON SANFORD VIP KNOXVILLE MAGAZINE-VIDEO COURTESY OF CAZZY’S CORNER GRILL)

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