How Parker Henry went from Vols equipment manager to walk-on starter to SEC award winner

Parker Henry insists his success hasn’t been a product of him creating opportunities but rather taking advantage of opportunities presented to him.

But perhaps Henry doesn’t give himself enough credit for seizing opportunities others wouldn’t see.

Like a rainy day.

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Henry was Tennessee’s equipment manager during preseason football practice in 2015 when rain rolled in. UT’s wide receivers headed into the indoor facility. The quarterbacks stayed outside to work in the rain.

Henry, a former high school quarterback, was stationed with the QBs during practice as part of his manager duties. They needed someone to throw to. Henry volunteered.

He ran routes and caught passes from Joshua Dobbs, Quinten Dormady and Sheriron Jones. Then Henry heard a voice over the loudspeaker.

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“Man, you have great hands. You need to walk on,” coach Butch Jones joked, with a hint of truth.

Jones didn’t know it, but Henry, then a sophomore, had been considering auditioning for a roster spot.

“I took that as a sign that, hey, someone is trying to kick me in the right direction,” Henry said.

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Henry showed up for a 6 a.m. walk-on tryout later that month. He made the team. After spending the 2015 season on the scout-team defense, he was the Vols’ starting holder the past two seasons.

“Parker is the most determined person I’ve ever known,” said Riley Lovingood, UT’s long snapper and Henry’s roommate. “He’s up for any challenge.”

Last week, Henry was a recipient of the H. Boyd McWhorter Award as the SEC’s male scholar-athlete of the year. The honor comes with a $20,000 postgraduate scholarship. He became UT’s seventh recipient of the award, given annually since 1986, and the first from the football program. Previously, Henry received a $7,500 postgraduate scholarship from the NCAA.

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Henry, who holds a 4.0 GPA, will depart UT this month with degrees in finance and political science. He’ll pursue a master’s of finance from Vanderbilt. He wants to be an investment banker.

“If anyone ever meets Parker, they can tell there’s something special about him, and he’s going to be going places, for sure,” said Seth Reagan, a former UT holder himself and the executive director of development for UT’s Haslam College of Business.

How Henry saved an undefeated season in high school

When Lovingood recounts Henry’s senior football season for Beech High School in Hendersonville, it brings to mind images of Chip Hilton, the do-it-all protagonist of Clair Bee’s sports novels. In Henry’s case, it was no tale of fiction.

During Henry’s senior season, he was Beech’s starting quarterback, safety, punter, punt returner, kick returner, holder and backup kicker.

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Oh, and Beech’s coach didn’t signal in plays, so Henry retrieved each play call between snaps.

“He ran from the huddle to the sideline and back to the huddle after every play and never took one play off the whole game,” said Lovingood, Henry’s former Beech teammate. “After the games, I’d walk into the weight room, and Parker would be in there bench pressing.”

When Henry was a junior, Beech went undefeated and won a state championship.

Running back Jalen Hurd starred for that team, but the perfect season was thanks in part to Henry. In Week 8, Beech trailed Wilson Central 14-10 in the fourth quarter. With Wilson Central in the red zone, nearing what surely would have been a game-clinching touchdown, Henry intercepted a pass. Beech converted the turnover into a touchdown and a 17-14 victory.

“That saved our whole season. We went 15-0 and won state because of that pick,” Lovingood said. “He always would come up clutch.”

Henry planned to go to Vanderbilt on a preferred walk-on offer. But after coach James Franklin left Vandy for Penn State following the 2013 season, Henry reconsidered. He grew up going to Tennessee football games with his dad, a season-ticket holder. He decided to go to UT.

Henry had no connection to the football team his first semester, but he started to think about ways to get more involved on campus.

Henry talked with Lovingood about joining the football program in some capacity. Lovingood’s dad, Jeff, had been a team chaplain, and Lovingood’s brother, Trevor, and uncle, John, were team managers.

The second semester of Henry’s freshman year, he became a manager. The job ranged from doing laundry to assisting the QBs during practices. He signaled in plays to wide receivers during the spring game.

“Equipment manager is a lot of what you think it is, but also a lot more,” Henry said.

“I absolutely loved it. I just loved being around the guys, being with the team, but I always just kind of felt like there was a little bit more.”

How Henry became Tennessee Vols holder

Henry contacted Reagan last fall. He’d done his homework. He knew Reagan, who played for UT from 1998-02, was a former Vols holder who had thrived in the classroom.

They met and talked about football and academics. Reagan had been a nominee for the McWhorter Award, and he told Henry about that and other scholarships for which he thought Henry would be a good candidate.

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Henry peppered Reagan with questions and took notes as they talked.

“The way he carries himself and his work ethic, it’s very impressive,” Reagan said.

Lovingood says Henry is the most precise person he’s ever met. Such a quality came in handy as a holder.

“He wanted to hit every single spot and had the laces out every single time,” Lovingood said.

As dedicated as Henry was to his craft on the football field, academics remained the top priority. Lovingood said it wasn’t uncommon for Henry to be up late studying for exams as game day approached.

“He was never going to rest until he had everything perfect,” Lovingood said.

The day after Henry played his final game in November, he posted a tweet that included two photos. In the first photo, he’s a freshman manager wearing a black-and-white official’s shirt standing next to Dobbs. In the second photo, Henry is a senior standing with his family. In front of them sits a frame housing Henry’s No. 31 jersey and photos of him holding kicks.

“This doesn’t happen very often,” Henry said. “Sometimes you just sit around and think about, ‘Wow, I’ve gotten lucky.’”