There’s more to Tennessee receiver Jalin Hyatt and that Peyton Manning photo than you know
Jalin Hyatt recalled the lessons he’d learned from Peyton Manning, lifted a hairbrush handle to his mouth and started his postgame interview.
Hyatt was 6 years old, mind you.
But it was never too early for the Tennessee junior wide receiver to start practicing for stardom.
“We raised Jalin on Peyton Manning, and we weren’t even Tennessee fans,” Hyatt’s dad, Jamie, said. “We’d watch Peyton do interviews, and Jalin would try it. It was all in fun, and we couldn’t get through it because we were laughing so much.
“But Jalin would practice to know what to say after he had a big game.”
Fifteen years later, Hyatt’s interview after a record-breaking performance against Alabama was delayed by a cigar-smoking celebration with Manning, the Tennessee legend.
Their encounter produced an epic photo in the Tennessee locker room.
Hyatt held up five fingers for his SEC-record five touchdown catches in the field-storming win over Alabama. A puff of smoke drifted from his cigar as the Vols basked in their first victory in the rivalry in 15 years.
Manning, who had beaten Alabama three straight times in the 1990s, stood tall beside him with a posture of pride. For a moment, the upstart wide receiver and Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback appeared as equals.
Chad Johnson was fixated on Hyatt from underwater resort
About 15,000 miles away, former NFL All-Pro wide receiver Chad Johnson was on social media writing about his newfound fandom of Hyatt from an underwater luxury resort in the Indian Ocean.
“I don’t care if I’m on vacation & it’s 2:18 in the morning, I stayed up just to see young boul (sic) after he caught my attention last week,” Johnson tweeted.
Two weeks later, Johnson waited eagerly on the Tennessee sideline to meet Hyatt in person before the Vols played Kentucky.
“He’s taller than I thought,” said a starstruck Hyatt. “Those are the things you can only dream of.”
The smoky photo, the shoutout tweets and the celebrity meetings would’ve seemed impossible a few months ago. But Hyatt has been busy breaking records and impressing legends.
No. 3 Tennessee (8-0, 4-0 SEC) plays at No. 1 Georgia (8-0, 5-0) on Saturday (3:30 p.m. ET, CBS) in the biggest game of the season. College football fans are being introduced to Hyatt, a Biletnikoff Award candidate with Heisman-caliber stats and a charismatic personality.
Hyatt is a contradiction, a combination of swagger and humility that can be easily misunderstood. He predicts his touchdown catches to teammates but deflects questions from reporters about his success.
He looks like a star in his flawlessly tailored suits before games. But he calls teammate Cedric Tillman the best wide receiver in college football.
It only makes sense if you know Hyatt’s talent, background and upbringing.
Hyatt was a big-game performer long ago
Hyatt’s victory cigar photo with Manning went viral. Athletes loved the swagger and accomplishment it symbolized, and Hyatt has plenty of both.
When it reached the Clemson baseball locker room, the photo struck a familiar chord with pitcher Ty Olenchuk.
“My first thought was, ‘Yep, that’s Jalin.’ And my second thought was, ‘That’s the coolest picture I’ve ever seen,’ ” said Olenchuk, Hyatt’s high school quarterback at Dutch Fork in Irmo, South Carolina. “But the fact that he had five touchdowns in such a big game didn’t surprise me.
“Jalin has always wanted the ball in the biggest moments.”
In the 2019 South Carolina state title game, Hyatt caught three TD passes from Olenchuk. On the final play of their high school career, they connected on a game-winning 10-yard TD pass in overtime.
“Once they put single-coverage on Jalin, that game was over,” Olenchuk said. “You can’t cover that guy one-on-one − not then and not now.”
Hyatt already has broken Tennessee’s single-season record with 14 TD catches. That’s the most of any player in college football and more than 65 FBS teams, and he’s got four regular-season games and the postseason remaining.
Hyatt has 45 receptions for 907 yards and a 20.1 yards-per-catch average. Those stats are comparable to Alabama’s DeVonta Smith through eight games (72 receptions, 1,074 yards, 12 TDs, 14.9-yard average) during his 2020 Heisman season.
And Hyatt’s seven TD catches against current Top 25 opponents dwarfs the competition.
Speed came from mom, stamina from dad
Hyatt’s mom, Enevelyn, should appreciate those numbers because she was his statistics teacher in high school. She was also a former all-state sprinter and his track and field coach.
Jalin inherited her quick burst of speed.
He clocked 4.31 seconds in the 40-yard dash at a recruiting combine in high school and raced past NFL-caliber defensive backs this season. His nine receptions of 40-plus yards are more than 117 FBS teams.
Hyatt’s dad was an all-state quarterback, AAU national champion high jumper, Division II basketball player at Newberry College and a pro elite cyclist for 20 years.
Jalin inherited his dad’s stamina.
It’s been tested in coach Josh Heupel’s up-tempo offense, the fastest operating unit in college football. And Tennessee wide receivers coach Kelsey Pope saw it finally come to fruition this spring, when Hyatt broke out as a go-to receiver.
“There was a drive where he’s tapping his chest, and he wants to come out. But I’m telling him, ‘No, you’re going to stay in,’ ” Pope recalled. “In that two-minute drive, he caught four or five balls even though he was tired. I thought the kid was turning the corner.”
Home state snub and meeting Hendon Hooker
Hyatt’s success isn’t surprising. He was a 4-star prospect who drew scholarship offers from several SEC, Big Ten and ACC schools. But South Carolina, located 17 miles from Hyatt’s high school, was not among them.
Depending on who you ask, the Gamecocks snubbed the 6-foot Hyatt because he was too small, or it was to save face because he was expected to sign elsewhere.
Bryan McClendon, the South Carolina assistant coach who evaluated Hyatt, will see him up close Saturday because he’s now Georgia’s wide receivers coach.
Hyatt could’ve caught passes from Hendon Hooker at Virginia Tech. Hooker, then the Hokies’ starting quarterback, hosted Hyatt on a recruiting visit in 2019. Hyatt committed to Virginia Tech but ultimately signed with Tennessee.
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Two years later, Hyatt hosted Hooker as a transfer visiting Tennessee. He joked that Hooker didn’t have enough arm strength to match his breakaway speed.
Now they’re the best deep-passing duo in the country, and Hooker is among the Heisman frontrunners.
Why Hyatt caught 1,000 passes in one day
Hyatt had a solid freshman season under former coach Jeremy Pruitt and a disappointing sophomore season under Heupel. He suffered a concussion, struggled in the new offense and lost his confidence.
It was Hyatt’s first bout with adversity. He had always played football above his age level, and no one could catch him in the open field.
When Hyatt was 8, he scored a string of uncontested touchdowns in a flag football game. Fathers of opposing players demanded that Hyatt’s coach bench him to slow down the scoring, and a fist fight broke out at the local YMCA.
Hyatt won a state title in all four years of high school. And he lost only one football game from 5 years old to the day he enrolled at Tennessee.
So when Southern Cal transfer Velus Jones Jr. supplanted Hyatt at slot receiver last season, it was a shock to his system.Jones was desperate for a big season. He seized the opportunity and turned himself into a third-round NFL Draft pick for the Chicago Bears.
Before he left Tennessee, Jones pulled Hyatt aside for a pep talk.
“Velus knew I was going through stuff,” Hyatt said. “He told me what I could do in this offense, and we watched film together. That’s why I say this is a brotherhood because that’s something a lot of people wouldn’t do.”
Pope challenged his receivers to catch 10,000 passes on the Jugs machine over the summer. Hyatt caught 14,000, including 1,000 in one evening. He buried himself in film study and gained almost 20 pounds in the weight room.
“Last year, I felt like I didn’t get everything out of every day,” Hyatt said when preseason camp opened. “But I’ve been locked in every day this year. When I wake up, I’m circling that first game.”
Hyatt told teammates that he would score the first TD of Tennessee’s season against Ball State, and he did. Then he predicted in a text message to his dad that he’d score twice against Akron, and he did.
Hyatt told reporters he’d quit revealing his predictions. But it was obvious his swagger had returned.
What Hyatt’s flashy suits say about his state of mind
There were other not-so-subtle hints that Hyatt’s confidence was back when he turned Vol Walk into a red carpet show.
Before the season opener, Hyatt wore a posh purple suit as he strolled through fans. Before the Florida game, he donned a vest that featured his own image in the print. A classy black suit and open-colored shirt was his wardrobe before beating Kentucky.
During the offseason, Hyatt landed a name, image and likeness deal with Anthony Mason Custom from Roswell, Georgia, to design his suits. His look is inspired by the sleek style of Conor McGregor, the charismatic UFC champion and a longtime favorite of the Hyatt family.
But don’t misunderstand Hyatt’s motives. He’s not hungry for attention, but his outward appearance symbolizes his inward confidence.
“Jalin always had some drip,” Olenchuk said. “In high school, he had crazy shoes. But I’ve seen on social media that he’s big on suits now.
“That is Jalin’s swagger coming out. Once he gets that mojo, he’s dangerous.”
Hyatt’s suits are just a small part of his NIL portfolio, which exploded after the Alabama game. On3.com projected Hyatt’s NIL valuation increased from $276,000 to $642,000, and endorsement offers poured in.
Some of Hyatt’s deals go through Spyre Sports, the primary NIL collective for Tennessee athletes. Others are diverted to Hyatt’s dad, who knows how to manage sponsorships from his pro cycling career.
“Things got crazy after the Alabama game, and Jalin’s phone was inundated,” his dad said. “There are sharks in the water, so I told him to send everything to me to vet them. Jalin is focusing on school and football.”
Fans bought his No. 11 jersey and a shirt that displayed a Hyatt caricature and announced the return of Wide Receiver U. And an instant classic was the “Gimme 5” shirt, which celebrated Hyatt’s five scores with an homage to John Ward’s classic touchdown call of “Give him 6!”
There also are Hyatt autographed photos, canvas prints and more projects in the works.
What Peyton Manning taught Jalin Hyatt 15 years ago
Swagger can be a double-edged sword if not directed properly. But humility has always been part of Hyatt’s preparation for this stage.
Now rewind 15 years to Hyatt rehearsing those Manning-inspired interviews with a hairbrush handle and his dad delivering the hard-hitting questions.
There was a lesson amid the fun.
Hyatt’s dad showed him how Manning accepted blame or deflected praise, depending on the circumstances.
So when reporters asked Manning to boast about his stats and records, he instead credited his teammates, coaches and fans. Hyatt’s dad paused the tape and replayed it again and again until his son recognized the pattern.
“Do you see how Peyton answers the reporters after a big game?” he asked Jalin. “If you lose, you say I. If you win, you say we.”
Once the cigar smoke cleared after the Alabama game, Hyatt and three teammates sat down at the press conference in a room packed with reporters to reflect on the biggest Vols win in a couple of decades. The first question was for Hyatt, which offered him latitude to boast about his jaw-dropping performance.
Hyatt shrugged his shoulders and smiled. Then he leaned away from the microphone and paused, as if he just realized his moment had arrived.
“I’m just happy Vol Nation came out. I’m proud of our coaches, the players and (Hooker) for getting (passes) to me in the right spots,” Hyatt said. “There’s a lot that goes into it.
“This is not about me. I’m just blessed to be here.”
Follow Adam Sparks at adam.sparks@knoxnews.com and on Twitter @AdamSparks.