Former Tech gridder Jake Hoot wins NBC's The Voice

By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information

LOS ANGELES, Calif., and COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – It all started with one turn of a chair.

On Tuesday night, Jake Hoot went from turning a single judge's chair in Kelly Clarkson's to turning heads as he won over the voters nationwide, winning Season 17 of NBC's The Voice.

Through the course of the contest, Hoot, a former Golden Eagle football player who helped Tech win an Ohio Valley Conference championship in 2011 before earning his degree in Interdisciplinary Studies two years later, was consistently the most streamed artist on Apple Music, which helped push him ahead of the stellar competition.

Hoot sang songs that meant a lot to him, relating his own personal experience into song, even performing his own song, "Better Off Without You." It resonated with not just the Cookeville and Upper Cumberland community who turned out in droves for watch parties at the Hooper Eblen Center and Life Church, but online, including an online presence on Facebook that surpassed 30,000 fans, or "Hooters" in the preferred parlance.

For a while, Cookeville has known Jake Hoot was a winner. Now, the rest of the country knows as he finishes this chapter and takes the next step into making his dream come true.

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A look back at Hoot's journey to The Voice's championship:

When Jake Hoot stepped out on the darkened stage, it was a different experience.

Sure, he had been on numerous stages over the years, whether it was the turf at Tennessee Tech's Tucker Stadium, the stage at The Backdoor Playhouse on campus or concert setups throughout the Upper Cumberland.

But this was new. As he entered the sound stage to compete on NBC's The Voice, the environment was solemn, quiet.

Hoot readied his guitar and started to play.

Jake Hoot came to Cookeville and Tennessee Tech in 2009, looking for an opportunity to play football. He hadn't played organized ball as he grew up the son of traveling missionaries.

In his youth, he went from Corpus Christi, Texas., to Haiti to the Dominican Republic. He played some backyard ball growing up but wanted to try his hand at the college game.

"I always wanted to play football," Hoot said. "So when I moved back to the U.S., I looked at Tennessee Tech's football program as well as Cumberland's. I went and visited both, and, at the time, Cumberland was where (Tech head coach Dewayne) Alexander was at, so I talked to him. I thought the world of him – he may not remember that, but I got a chance to talk to him there.

"But there was just something that drew me to Tennessee Tech. I called Coach Sam (Williamson) and I told him I'd like to walk on, and he said to come on by. I had a really good conversation with him and he said to come on by and try out, work out with the team. So I did – they put up with me. I ended up moving this way."

With his 6-6, 305-pound frame, he looked the part. He joined the Golden Eagles, walking on in 2009, then worked his way up the depth chart.

"I played for a few years," Hoot said. "I played for the Ohio Valley Conference championship team in 2011. Coach (Watson) Brown – that man is a patient man to put up with me the way they did because I was green. Greener than anything. I remember my first practice playing offensive line and they asked me to pull. I asked the coach, 'Pull what?' I didn't know what was going on.

"But they put up with me. I ended up earning a partial scholarship toward the end there, so it was a great time. I made a lot of great memories and great friends and family from it."

With as inexperienced as he was with the game, he had some help learning with the support of his teammates.

"That was rough," Hoot said. "I don't know if it was as much self-taught as it was the people on the team that helped me and took me under their wing – Scott Schweitzer, Slade Adams, Ryan St. John, Ryan Weeks, Malcolm Jones and I think Calvin Smith was still here at the time. He was here in my first year. Those guys, with as green as I was, they took me under and said this is how you do it, these are the steps you take. Without them and Thomas Cox as an offensive line coach and them being incredibly patient with me, I wouldn't have been able to play because I didn't know what I was doing. I'm very grateful."

If it wasn't for his football days at Tennessee Tech, Hoot might never have been on the stage competing on The Voice.

"I think it was my sophomore or junior year," Hoot said. "It was a couple of my teammates who convinced me to go play open mic nights at The Backdoor Playhouse here. Andrew Smith, who's an English professor here, was hosting it, so I started going over there and playing. I listened to a video of it the other day and it was atrocious. I don't know how anyone would want to listen to me sing, but I started playing there and it just progressed.

"I played at a couple different open mics while I was in college, but it wasn't until after I graduated, that I started playing out and about. I talked to Andrew yesterday, but that's when I started to play out there. I'm very grateful and I owe a lot to everyone who'd come out and listen and support. That's where it all started -- at The Backdoor Playhouse."

His experience at Tech also formed a sense of pride in the community as it helped shape his personality and beliefs, taking an unselfish stance to do what he could to make the community proud. He learned so much during his Tech days and it continues to be a guiding light to this day.

"Honestly, I know playing football helped," Hoot said. "The camaraderie with all of the other students at Tech, the people in the community. I don't know if you really can pinpoint one certain thing that helped push me into that direction. If I had to answer, obviously there's the discipline you learn from playing a sport and the sense of family in this area, not just at Tech, but in the Upper Cumberland.

"I just want to make everyone proud here. Being part of the OVC Championship team in 2011, we were able to bring some pride back here for the football program and just build on that. You just want to make this area as proud as you can."

Hoot continued, "But the discipline plays a big role. I know it looks easy standing up on a stage and playing a guitar or whatever, but there's a lot of prep that goes into it, a lot of focus and determination to go up there.

"And I haven't even mentioned Spankies – I've been playing there for years and years. It's kind of scary because I used to know everyone who walked through the door because I played there so much. Now, I hardly recognize anybody. It's awesome to see so many familiar faces when they come through every once in a while, but I start thinking, 'Man, I'm getting old.'

"Tennessee Tech, Cookeville, Putnam County – everybody's kind of taken me in as their own. That's been the most special thing to help push me along. That's why I still live here. A lot of people, not everybody, but a lot think when they graduate, they're going to up and leave. I was one of those people until I got to know everybody around here, got to know the area. It's just a great place to live."

It's a common thread from so many people around the community and campus, but Cookeville, once you're there for any length of time, it becomes home.

"It is home – absolutely," Hoot said. "I tell everybody. They ask me where I'm from and I say Cookeville. I was born in Corpus Christi, Texas. We moved to Oklahoma City, and we moved to Haiti before moving to the Dominican, but if there's one place I'd call home, it's Cookeville. There's no question about it."

As Hoot started playing those first few notes, strumming out Luke Combs' "When It Rains, It Pours," it was the culmination of months of auditions, just building up level by level.

When he played, it wasn't just for him. It was for his family. It was to make all the friends and family back home proud.

As his daughter, Macy, waited in the wings watching on, Hoot remembered that this all started with her.

"So I did a thing called bath tunes for a long time," Hoot said. "I posted videos of me singing to my daughter while she's taking a bath. It doesn't show anything but me singing, and I was so used to singing to her all the time. That gained some popularity and some noticeability on social media.

"They actually found me. The show's social media team reached out to me, and, at first, I thought it was fake. I thought, 'OK, this isn't real.' I ended up going to Nashville and auditioning there back in February. You go through a bunch of different steps before you ever get to the stage for the blind audition, just to make sure you're cut out for it.

"It started in Nashville and it just built up from there to where it's at now."

When he finished the first round, there was still a small degree of skepticism, wondering if all of this was just an elaborate prank or joke. But as he went further and further, it all started to become so real.

"Honestly, it was a shock," Hoot said. "I think at the time I still didn't believe it was real. I thought, 'OK, we'll see,' because that's what I thought every step of the way. They said they were going to fly me out and I just kept thinking I'd believe it when I see it. Then they send you the itinerary and then it's finally like, 'Oh, gosh, this is real. This is happening.'

"It was pure excitement. Just to be included in a group of people like that, if you've seen any of the episodes, everyone is just so talented. To even be considered to be a part of that is an incredible thing. Pure excitement, pure joy, shock – a lot of different feelings."

When he finally stepped onto the stage, nearly pitch-black and eerily silent, it was a foreboding presence. All Hoot could see was the four chairs and hoped he'd see one of them turn around.

"Ooh, I'm glad they didn't show how nervous I was," Hoot said. "I was shaking like a leaf up there. I tell everyone that's asked me that it's incredibly quiet in there. There's a ton of people that you're singing to, the backs of chairs for four legends of music ranging from country, R&B, rock, pop – you name it, they own it.

"But it's incredibly quiet. When they announce your entrance, they don't even announce your name, just that the next performer is coming out, and you can hear a pin drop. All I could hear was my boots walking on the floor and up the steps. It was incredibly nerve-wracking. I've played for a lot of years and I've played for some big crowds and a lot of people, but nothing prepares you for that moment. It's just a whole different ball game."

Hoot continued to play, showing the audience there what he has shown so many audiences locally time and time again. His song choice, Luke Combs' "When It Rains, It Pours," was a natural fit for his sound.

"I love Luke Combs," Hoot said. "I think he is – and I'm not bashing any kind of country music whatsoever – he's bringing back a kind of country music that hasn't been played in a long time. I love his stuff and I've actually had the pleasure of meeting him on multiple occasions. I met him in Nashville before Hurricane was released and that was his first Number 1.

And Hoot felt a connection to Combs, making the song an irresistible choice to perform.

"He is just a down-to-earth guy and you kind of feel familiar with him, especially being a bigger guy. He's not the pretty-faced, tight jeans and whatever," he said. "I love listening to him and I know it was an honor to get to sing it. I don't think I did it justice, but I gave it my best shot."

He was given 90 seconds to perform and it probably felt like an eternity. Once Kelly Clarkson turned around, you could see the excitement on his face, but the memory is a little bit of a mystery.

"I blacked out," Hoot said with a smile. "You sing 90 seconds of the song and you're thinking, '90 seconds, that's not long.' A lot of people can hold their breath that long – I can't. It seemed like 15 minutes, but when she finally turned around, I really don't remember finishing the song.

"Somebody told me that you could see my face light up. I'm sure it did, but I'm grateful for the opportunity. I'm glad that she turned around. It was such an incredible experience."

Then to have, Clarkson, Gwen Stefani, John Legend and Blake Shelton – all, pardon the expression, legendary musicians in their right relay their compliments to the performance was just as unbelievable.

"Was that a pun on John Legend's name?" Hoot joked. "It was unreal. Like you said, they're legends in their genres, legends in the music industry. Even if you don't like pop or R&B, everybody knows John Legend. Everybody knows Gwen Stefani. Everybody knows Kelly Clarkson and, even if you don't like country, everybody knows Blake Shelton.

"To hear Blake Shelton say that I was the real deal, from someone that I have just respected for such a long time and covered so many of his songs – I probably play his songs at every show I play – it just meant so much. Not only that but for Kelly to turn her chair, then have some nice things to say, that was special."

Now, a couple of days after the performance aired on TV, it's still surreal.

"For me, it's incredibly awkward to see myself on TV," Hoot said. "You do so much filming and they condense it down to such a small portion. They had to show the shot of me tearing up with the tear rolling down my cheek. It might not have been my best moment, but the whole thing was just surreal to see it.

"Every step of the way, it's like it may happen, it may not happen. For you to see yourself on national television, I was lucky to share that moment with my girlfriend and our girls and some close friends and family. I had to turn my phone off because I wanted to enjoy this and see everybody's reaction. It was just a great moment."

The toughest thing may have been resisting the temptation to tell anyone just the slightest bit of information from the show before it finally aired Monday night.

"Oh, my gosh, it was probably one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life, just because I can talk to a brick wall," Hoot said. "I can talk to anybody and I consider myself a pretty friendly guy. It's hard when you're going from playing two or three shows a week to not playing any for long periods of time. People catch wind of it and they start asking you. Now you don't want to lie, but, at the same time, you're like, 'I can't talk about it.'

"That was hard because I want to be able to tell everybody. I want to tell them this is going on. There were a lot of people who pressured me – not in a bad way because they're excited – but I am so glad that it's out now because that's a huge weight lifted off your shoulders. Now people can talk about it."

Since the episode aired, it's been a whirlwind for Hoot as it's opened up a whole new world with all the attention the performance has garnered.

"It has been really cool, but it has also been something that you can't mentally prepare for," Hoot said. "I knew it was a nationally televised show. You know that they've won big awards, but I don't think the reality sets in until after you make the appearance.

"Social media goes nuts. I turned my phone off, and when I got up, I had more than 200 unread text messages. I still haven't gotten to all of them. I turned all the notifications off for my social media, so I can just open the app and see them all. I don't know how many exactly, but there were thousands of friend requests. I'm super grateful, but there is just nothing that can prepare you for that. When I released my single ("Better Off Without You"), my social media spiked, but it wasn't anything like thousands and thousands. It's really cool, and for the people I haven't responded to, I feel terrible. I want to respond to them, but I'm getting there. It's a process."

The journey is far from over for Hoot as there's still much more to do before the competition ends.

"I think there were six total episodes of blind auditions," he said. "So there's probably another week of those before battles start. That's the next step. Each coach has 12 people on their teams, so there are 48 total people. So Kelly will pit me against someone else on our same team and we go on stage and have a battle."

Hoot joked, "Fortunately it's not physical because there's probably enough people there that could whup my rear end."

As the battle intensifies, all Hoot has to do is think of his motivation.

"That's an easy one," he said. "My girlfriend and my two girls. For a while, it was just me and Macy, my daughter, now it's my girlfriend, Bekah, and her daughter, Hadley. We've been dating for a little over a year now. Everything I do, I do it for them. It doesn't matter what stage I'm on, what I'm doing in life, at the end of the day, I want to make sure they're taken care of, I can better provide for them and I want the girls to see me chasing my dreams and use that as inspiration later on in life."

It's certainly a dream come true and there's still so much that can happen. It's also proof for Tech's current and future football players that anything is possible if you put the time and effort in to chase your dreams.

"To keep it plain and simple, just do it," Hoot said. "It's like when you're getting ready for a game, whether you're favored to win or not, it's a huge task that you're about to take on. You prepare for it, prepare and prepare. I remember coaches telling me it's as much mental as it is physical, and I firmly believe that. As soon as you get beat mentally, you can't play anymore. It's easy to get in your head and say, 'well, I'm not going to be able to do this right' or 'I'm not going to be able to pursue this.'

"All I can say is to keep with it. Surround yourself with people who are going to better you. You look at your team – you're all there to accomplish the same goal. In life, you want to do the same thing. Don't listen to the white noise or outside noise. Surround yourself with people who truly care about what you are doing."

Hoot continued, "It's not easy. Not by any means. Everything is a battle. Just get out there and rock and roll and Wings Up."