KNOXVILLE – The Big Orange Caravan has been a little slow getting fueled up, but the annual fan event will still roll through Chattanooga in 2017.
Tennessee athletic director John Currie wrote in a letter posted to utsports.com Wednesday night that the event will come to Chattanooga this year at a date that “we will announce soon.”
Media reports surfaced earlier this week indicating the event was unlikely to occur this year. An athletic department source told the Times Free Press on Monday that Tennessee still planned to host events in Chattanooga and elsewhere in the state this year, but the source acknowledged the planning process was proceeding slowly this year and that the event may look different than it historically has.
The Big Orange Caravan has existed since the early 1990s. The event has historically afforded fans in cities across the state and region the opportunity to meet and interact with prominent Tennessee coaches during football and basketball off-seasons.
The Chattanoogan Hotel hosted the event on May 5 last year. Football coach Butch Jones and men’s basketball coach Rick Barnes attended.