Tennessee's 'Rocky III' hype video powers Vols to Sweet 16

Tennessee basketball staff created a viral video featuring a movie clip and the team's defensive highlights to motivate the players.

Mar. 23, 2026 at 9:00am

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Tennessee basketball's coaching staff put together a hype video for the Vols ahead of the NCAA Tournament that featured a clip from the movie "Rocky III" and highlights of the team's stifling defense. The video, which included the song "Let's Go Get 'Em" that has become the team's postgame anthem, resonated with the players and was played repeatedly during their run to the Sweet 16.

Why it matters

The hype video helped inspire Tennessee to upset No. 3 seed Virginia and advance to the Sweet 16, continuing the Vols' strong season. The creative video production and use of popular culture references to motivate the team shows the innovative approach of the Tennessee coaching staff.

The details

Tennessee associate head coach Justin Gainey came up with the idea for the hype video, which featured a clip from "Rocky III" where Rocky Balboa's trainer Apollo Creed tells him "there is no tomorrow." Gainey wanted to capture the team's "there is no tomorrow" mentality heading into the NCAA Tournament. Tennessee managers Julian Lucas and Bryce VanHuss put together the video, which blended the "Rocky III" clip with highlights of the Vols' best defensive plays from the season and the song "Let's Go Get 'Em" that had become the team's postgame anthem. The players loved the video and asked for it to be played before every film session and game in Philadelphia, where they used the "there is no tomorrow" mindset to upset Virginia and advance to the Sweet 16.

  • The video was first shown to the team on the night before their NCAA Tournament opener against Miami (Ohio).
  • Tennessee continued to play the video before each game during their run to the Sweet 16.

The players

Justin Gainey

Tennessee's associate head coach who came up with the idea for the hype video and its "Rocky III" theme.

Julian Lucas

One of Tennessee's team managers who helped put the video together, including adding the team's postgame song "Let's Go Get 'Em."

Bryce VanHuss

Another Tennessee team manager who worked with Lucas to select the best defensive highlights from the season to include in the video.

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What they’re saying

“It was perfect for the mentality that we need to have — the there is no tomorrow mentality.”

— Justin Gainey, Tennessee associate head coach

“We just put together the clips as something for the guys to see what we do — we bring energy and effort on defense and that is our identity. We wanted the guys to just see that and able to try to use that.”

— Bryce VanHuss, Tennessee team manager

“Schap baked it. We just put the ingredients together.”

— Julian Lucas, Tennessee team manager

What’s next

Tennessee will face No. 2 seed Iowa State in the Sweet 16 in Chicago, and the coaching staff is already working on creating another hype video to motivate the team for that game.

The takeaway

Tennessee's creative hype video production, featuring a popular movie clip and the team's defensive identity, helped inspire the Vols to an upset win and a Sweet 16 berth. The video's success shows the innovative approach of the Tennessee coaching staff in connecting with their players and building team chemistry through unique motivational tactics.