History lesson,
East Tn mostly sided with the Union and tried to secede from west Tennessee over it. Before the war even started they had to bring up troops from Georgia, and Alabama to try and control east Tennessee against it's will. West tn men went to the south and joined the Confederacy, but as many in East Tn went north and joined the Union. Many who stayed here were apart of gorilla warfare efforts and burning bridges and otherwise destroying infrastructure. Look up the "Bridge Burners" sometime... Crack a history book. East TN = Appalachia = Union, West Tennessee = Plantations = Confederacy. Early on in football tradition this was part of the angst between Tennessee and Alabama, People in the 20's and 30's still knew the family stories.....it was still a apart of fighting that old war.