KNOXVILLE, Tenn.—On Wednesday nights in the fall, Calhoun’s On The River is the place to be.
Nestled on the banks of the Tennessee River, the 34-year-old barbecue joint hosts the weekly radio call-in show for Tennessee’s football coach, whoever it may be. From 2009 to ’20, four different people came here each week during the season to talk about the Volunteers. There was brash and bold Lane Kiffin, Derek Dooley and his country twang, Butch Jones’s brick-inspired clichés and Jeremy Pruitt’s monotone musings.
But within the restaurant, its walls covered in Big Orange sports memorabilia, there is little to no mention of those coaches.