Nolan McGill, a fifth-grader at Rivermont Elementary in Chattanooga, Tenn., is a big fan of Gunner Stockton and the Bulldogs.
www.nytimes.com
Meet the viral Georgia fan who refused to sing ‘Rocky Top’: ‘It’s just a bad song’
By
Grace Raynor
Dec. 19, 2025
Nolan McGill is only 11 but he understands when the time is right to take a stand. So the fifth-grader at Rivermont Elementary in Chattanooga, Tenn., concocted a plan.
“Nolan had come home a few times saying, ‘I’m not singing Rocky Top,’” said his mom, Kelsey, of the famous bluegrass song that has become the University of Tennessee’s unofficial anthem. “And I was thinking, ‘Why on earth would you sing Rocky Top?’”
Then Tuesday night — the evening of the school’s holiday concert — rolled around and things started to click for Kelsey as she sat proudly in the audience.
After Nolan and the school’s third, fourth and fifth graders all sang three lovely holiday songs together, so began the beginning notes to the famous Tennessee tune.
Ah. That’s what Nolan had meant.
“I didn’t realize (‘Rocky Top’) was actually in the lineup,” she said. “He actually was telling me that’s part of the show.”
Kelsey immediately whipped out her cell phone and knew she had to film what was coming next. Nolan, an avid Georgia fan, wanted zero part of participating in the Vols’ song. So instead, he crossed his arms, abruptly stopped singing and shook his head in disgust as his Tennessee-loving best friend belted out the words next to him. Kelsey, who can be heard cackling on the recording, posted the video to Facebook on Tuesday night, then made her first-ever TikTok on Wednesday.
The video now has 3 million views and counting on social media — the college football world (sorry, Vols) loving every second.
“It’s just a bad song. I’m a Georgia fan,” said Nolan, whose favorite Bulldog is quarterback Gunner Stockton. “Georgia’s just better than Tennessee.”
Nolan said his class first started rehearsing “Rocky Top” more than a month ago, on Nov. 10, when his music teacher told students that they’d be singing four songs for Tuesday’s holiday program. Nolan had no beef with the first three — happy to vibe right along with the rest of the group with a big smile on his face. But when he found out the fourth song was “Rocky Top,” he decided he had to stick to his principles and set some boundaries.
“We practiced that song 100 times, and even in class I’m just sitting there not singing,” he said. “(My classmates) kept saying, ‘Nolan, it’s your favorite song! Come on, sing it!’
“You couldn’t pay me to sing that song.”
Nolan’s fandom comes from his father, Seth, despite Kelsey’s dad graduating from Tennessee and hoping his grandson would join him as a member of Vol Nation.
But even grandpa thought Nolan’s viral video — in which Seth can be heard saying, “That’s my boy!” — was hilarious this week, as did both the elementary school and the entire internet.
When Nolan went to school on Wednesday, the video had about only 4,000 views. But it blew up between Wednesday night and Thursday, especially when fan accounts and reporters on X got a hold of it.
“The school thinks that it’s hilarious,” Kelsey said. “The assistant principal commented on my Facebook post and was like, ‘I saw this as it was happening and was really hoping someone was recording it.’
“Good job in enemy territory.”
Nolan, a very polite preteen, said he’d do all it over again and has embraced his newfound fame at school. One of his teachers showed the entire class the video. Everyone from kindergarteners to second graders have come up to him with excitement — ‘You’re on the video! You’re on the video!’ The school’s principal even asked for a selfie with him this week so she could tell people she knew him. And he’s got a new nickname among the third, fourth and fifth graders: “Mr. Famous.”
“He’s an 11-year-old kid,” Kelsey said. “With everything going on in the world in these times, let these kids have fun. Let this little boy protest ‘Rocky Top’ if he wants to protest ‘Rocky Top.’”