Jon Gruden may or may not have been dining at a Knoxville restaurant

College football writer

Sun, Nov 19, 2017, 2:29 AM

College football coaching search season has officially gone off the rocker, and there is still one week left in the regular season.

Former NFL head coach and current ‘Monday Night Football” analyst Jon Gruden has some connections to the University of Tennessee, so every time the Vols head-coaching job comes open, fans go crazy about the candidacy of Gruden, whether there is any legitimacy to it or not.

UT officially moved on from Butch Jones last weekend, so naturally the GRUMORS have intensified throughout the week. At one point, some UT fans were even staking out a private plane at a local airport following “reports” of athletic director John Currie allegedly flying to meet with Gruden.

On Saturday, with the Vols hosting LSU, there were reports that Gruden was spotted at Calhoun’s On The River, a restaurant less than a mile down the road from Neyland Stadium, with UT legend Peyton Manning.

Calhoun’s management confirms with me that Jon Gruden was at their Calhoun’s on the river location earlier and that he requested privacy.
— Dan Harralson (@danharralson) November 18, 2017

My college roommate is a manager at Calhoun's on the river. He confirms Gruden and Manning were there tonight.
— Patrick Murray (@PatMurrayWBIR) November 18, 2017

#Gruden and #Manning together at @calhouns tonight? Now that's interesting. #Vols #SportsSource
— The Sports Source (@SportsSourceTV) November 18, 2017

GRUDEN TO TENNESSEE CONFIRMED, RIGHT?

Maybe not.

Calhoun’s released a statement, saying staff members “weren’t so sure it was” Gruden.

We’d like to take a moment to clear things up as well as apologize. We got excited- like everyone. Please read: pic.twitter.com/AIyVvmppKC
— Calhoun's (@calhouns) November 19, 2017

That tweet came after the Calhoun’s Twitter account was retweeting various people saying Gruden was at the restaurant.

Oh, and ESPN says Gruden is in Seattle (the Seahawks host the Atlanta Falcons) preparing for “Monday Night Football.”

For all those wondering, Jon Gruden is actually 2,500 miles away from Calhoun's … in Seattle prepping for #MNF. Production mtgs w/ the Seahawks this afternoon. https://t.co/vWwPfnhkg6
— bill hofheimer (@bhofheimer_espn) November 19, 2017

What a world.

And you know things will only get goofier as we inch closer to the end of the regular season. Look how much these people want Gruden!

Look at his reaction to this. We got Gruden boys. pic.twitter.com/bOP563ESA3
— Titan Up (@RollTitanz) November 19, 2017

We will welcome all GRUMORS, but there’s very little chance it actually comes to fruition.

Here’s what our Pete Thamel is reporting:

For the record, when Yahoo Sports asked a source earlier this week if they were “one billion percent” sure that Gruden wasn’t going to Tennessee, they responded, “What’s higher than a billion? A trillion. I’m a trillion percent sure.” It isn’t happening, folks, spread the word from Maryville to Pigeon Forge.

Pat Forde says the same: