Spotting

The leaves at this distance do look like a magnolia. Which exact species I can't say. The shape of magnolia trees can vary quite a bit. I've seen some where their lower branches grow down on the ground and you can't see the trunk unless you crawl through the leaves. I've also seen them growing in a more tree like manner, where you have a straight trunk and a nice... tree shape (erm I guess kinda like a rounded mushroom). Hmm, a closer look at the leaves would be helpful... as would a shot that gave us the shape of the tree (of course that can vary on growing conditions).

Oh, dear! Well, looks like we've got ourselves a mystery on our hands.

I don't think it's that. I mean, I took a picture of the Magnolia tree about ten yards away and they didn't look anything alike. That's why I took the pic. :)

Ah, yep, you got it Apryl! Magnolia grandiflora, an evergreen and, for Tennessee, a disjunct species. It's native to more southern parts of the eastern U.S. I'll add that to my list... :)
Great find!

Actually I took the picture today! It's a large tree and home to many a squirrel if that helps you!

some type oops!

Agreed, the leaves look like a laurel - but really the tree is too big. My guess would be sometime time of magnolia.

I want to say American Holly, because I was just in Tennessee over the weekend and it was one of only a handful of trees that were green, but two things throw me off. The bark is the obvious one; holly bark that I've ever seen was always smooth, whereas this is platey and chippy. The other thing is the leaves, as holly almost always has leaves with sharp points on the ends. The other plant I remember with green leaves was the mountain laurel, but I'm pretty certain they don't get quite this big.

The final possibility that I can think of, barring species I'm unfamiliar with (a very very possible possibility!) would be that you didn't spot this February 22nd. Is there any further info you could provide us with? :)