Russell Smith Podcast

Congressman John J. (Jimmy) Duncan Jr. spent over 30 years in Washington representing Tennessee's 2nd congressional district. During his time in the House of Representatives, Congressman Duncan made a name for himself as a fiscal conservative and one of the few republicans to oppose the 2003 War in Iraq. He retired from politics in 2019. 

Tim Priest is the football color analyst for the Vol Network. He is also a partner at a Knoxville law firm. As a player, Tim still holds the all time record for career interceptions at UT.

Mark Packer is a longtime Knoxville TV personality. In addition to his work on WVLT, Mark owns and operates a production company that televises the popular "Rivalry Thursday" high school football broadcasts in East TN.

Madeline Rogero is the 82nd mayor of Knoxville, TN and the first female mayor in city history. In December of 2019 she will leave office after serving two terms as mayor. Here she discusses how she became mayor and reflects on her 8 years in office. 

Jabari Davis played running back at the University of Tennessee from 2001-2004. He was the subject of an intense recruiting battle between Tennessee and Georgia. During his time at UT he went 3-1 against Florida (2-0 in the Swamp) and was a part of 2 SEC Eastern Division championship teams. He now works with high school football players and their families all over the country.

Eve Thomas is the first female police chief of the Knoxville Police Department. A KPD veteran of over 25 years, Eve was sworn in as chief in June of 2018. Here she discusses her climb through the KPD ranks as well as her vision for the future of the department.

Mark Nagi is a community relations officer for TDOT. For years, Mark was a fixture on the Knoxville TV scene as a sports anchor at WATE. In 2018 he published "Decade of Dysfunction," a book about UT football's post Phillip Fulmer malaise. 

Mike Keith is the play-by-play voice of the Tennessee Titans. Before that he hosted Knoxville's first sports radio call-in show. This is the story of Mike's journey from Knoxville to Nashville. 

Randy Sanders was an important figure in one of the most successful eras in Tennessee football history. He was a part of 5 SEC Championships and the 1998 National Championship. After stints as an assistant at Kentucky and Florida State, Randy got his first head coaching job at ETSU in 2018.

Joan Cronan was Director of Women's Athletics at the University of Tennessee for nearly 30 years. A close friend of the late Pat Summitt, she will be inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in June of 2019. 

Todd Howell came to Knoxville in 1993 to work at WBIR-TV. Since 1996 he has been WBIR's Chief Meteorologist. Like Russell, Todd is originally from South Carolina and loves a good sporting event in addition to the weather. 

Terry Fair is a former University of Tennessee and NFL defensive back. From 2010-2012 he was Russell's co-host on The Drive. In 2013 he got into coaching and eventually made his way back to Knoxville as UT's cornerbacks coach in 2018. 

Bob Kesling just finished his 20th year as the University of Tennessee's play-by-play man for football, men's basketball and several other sports. Bob came to Knoxville as a walk-on fullback in 1972 and has blazed an impressive trail ever since. This is the story of how Bob went from walk-on to "Voice of the Vols."