Russell Smith Podcast

Bert Bertelkamp has been the Vol Network basketball color analyst for 20 years. A Knoxville native, Bert has been around the basketball Vols all his life. In addition to his work with the Vol Network, Bert runs Bertelkamp Automation in Knoxville. 

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.