Tennessee tight ends and brothers Ethan Wolf and Eli Wolf will play together one last time Saturday against Vanderbilt. It's senior day for Ethan. Blake Toppmeyer/News Sentinel
Butch Jones told Ethan Wolf during stretching before a preseason practice to prepare to face his brother, Eli, in Tennessee’s "Circle of Life" drill.
When the brothers lined up across from each other later that day in the one-on-one contact drill, Jones and offensive coordinator Larry Scott kept moving the Wolfs farther and farther apart.
“I’m like, ‘All right, here we go,’” Ethan said.
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They were ready to slam into each other when Jones blew the whistle, drawing everyone to a halt.
Jones announced the surprise that neither Wolf knew was coming. Eli, after spending two years at Tennessee as a walk-on, was being added to scholarship.
“It was exciting. I was beside myself,” Eli said.
It became one of many moments the brothers will cherish from their years playing together.
The Wolf brothers, who each play tight end, will share the field once more Saturday (4 p.m. ET, SEC Network), when the Vols (4-7, 0-7 SEC) host Vanderbilt (4-7, 0-7). It’s senior day for Ethan and his classmates.
“I’m going to try to enjoy this last little bit that we have as much as I can, because we’ve been doing it for so long, you don’t really realize it’s all going to come to an end eventually, and that eventually is almost here,” said Eli, a sophomore.
Baseball was Ethan's first love
Shelly Wolf hung black curtains in her oldest son’s room when he was a child to try to get him to sleep longer.
“He was up with the sun,” Shelly said.
Once, when Ethan was about 5, Shelly came out of the house just in time to see Ethan zoom down a hill on his bike and launch himself into the creek behind their house. Shelly dragged her son out of the creek and asked what he was thinking.
“I wanted to see if I could jump it,” Ethan told her.
What he wanted to do more than anything was practice baseball.
When the bus dropped off Ethan’s older sister, Delanie, after school, she could expect to see her mom in the front yard, pitching to a young Ethan.
Shelly remembers finding an 8-year-old Ethan on the couch at 6 a.m. in full uniform. His game was 10 hours away.
Wolf was the starting catcher his sophomore year for his high school team in Minster, Ohio, that repeated as state champions.
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But while baseball was Wolf’s first love, football was where he garnered high-level college attention. By his junior year, he had 20 Division I offers.
Although Minster is in the heart of Big Ten country, Ethan felt drawn to the SEC.
“I wanted to go and play Alabama, LSU,” Ethan said. “I wanted to go and have those games every week and play against the best of the best.”
A four-year starter, Ethan ranks third all-time among Tennessee tight ends in career receiving yards with 958. With another 61 yards against Vanderbilt, he would move past Mychal Rivera and into second place.
Eli took a chance with UT
Eli was known for his speed in high school. He qualified for four state events in track his senior season.
In football, Eli was a late bloomer. A wide receiver at Minster, he busted loose as a junior and rewrote the school record books in his final two seasons. He earned scholarship offers from Eastern Michigan and Jacksonville State.
In Eli’s senior year, Minster scored two touchdowns in the final two minutes of the state championship game to erase a nine-point deficit and win the title. Eli had 145 yards receiving and three touchdowns in that game. That included the winning score, in which he caught a short crossing route, broke a tackle and raced down the sideline for a 51-yard touchdown.
The week before that game, Eli’s friend and track teammate, Austin Brackman, was killed after being struck by a vehicle. Brackman was a pedestrian.
Eli was a pallbearer at the memorial service.
His friend’s death made Eli reflect on a lot, including his college plans.
He had committed to Eastern Michigan, but he gathered with his parents one night and told them he’d been doing some thinking about Tennessee.
“He said, ‘No. 1, family is important, and Ethan is down there. No. 2, I think I can do it. If I don’t try, I’ll always wonder,’” Shelly said.
Eli told his parents he wanted to accept the Vols’ preferred walk-on offer.
“It’s in my nature to always try to bite off a little bit more,” Eli said. “I shot for a little bit bigger, and obviously Ethan being at Tennessee was a big reason I came here.”
Ethan knew his brother would need to put on some weight, but he thought, given time, Eli would blossom at UT.
Eli admits his redshirt year was a struggle.
“It’s not fun being on scout team blocking Derek Barnett while I’m at 210 pounds,” Eli said, referring to the standout UT defensive end who is now in the NFL.
Eli, who’s up to 225 pounds, appeared in six games last year and continues to emerge this season. He’s caught three passes this year.
“He’s not biting off more than he can chew,” James Wolf said of his youngest son. “He’s not. He belongs here.”
Representing Minster
James Wolf swells with pride when he talks about Ethan and Eli, and not just because of their accomplishments on the field.
James owns a sporting goods store in Minster, a town of 2,800 in western Ohio. People around town often stop him to ask about his sons.
“There’s not a day that goes by where someone doesn’t tap me on the shoulder at the pub when I’m at lunch. ‘Hey, just want to tell you, I think the world of your boys,’” James said.
Minster and Ohio State shirts always have been popular apparel choices for Minster schoolkids. These days, there’s also homage to the Wolfs.
“Now, when you go, there’s (kids in) Tennessee clothes running around,” Shelly said. “It’s kind of fun to see.”
Earlier this fall, while Ethan was home for a couple of days, he went to Minster Elementary to read to a first-grade class that includes Charley, the youngest of his four sisters. After that, he was whisked off to a second-grade classroom to wish a student happy birthday.
Before Tennessee’s game last week against LSU, Jack Jones sought out James at the tailgate at Circle Park. Jones, a UT offensive linemen, had to medically retire from football this season.
“He said, ‘I just want to tell you, Ethan is awesome. He calls me. He is a leader. You raised him right,’” James said. “This is a college kid, giving me a hug at a tailgate.”
One last time, together
Ethan has a theory why Eli is faster than him.
“He’s so much faster than I am because he was always running from me,” Ethan said.
In truth, fights were rare between the brothers, who are separated by 16 months.
The past two seasons, they’ve been roommates at the team hotel on nights before games.
“To have some family down here is awesome,” Ethan said.
Tennessee senior tight end Ethan Wolf previews facing Vanderbilt Mike Wilson/News Sentinel
Saturday will end Ethan’s UT career, but he has NFL hopes. Earlier this month, WalterFootball.com’s senior draft analyst Charlie Campbell projected Wolf as a possible late-round pick.
With Ethan and fellow tight end Jakob Johnson set to depart, Eli could be in line for a bigger role next season.
Neither brother is thinking much about what awaits.
They want to relish their last game together.
“It’s going to be a little emotional for both of us – and I’m sure for my parents, too – to be out on the field together one last time,” Eli said.
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Tennessee senior tight end Ethan Wolf previews facing Vanderbilt Mike Wilson/News Sentinel
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