The award-winning “Coaches Corner” program presented by Hamilton-Ryker began its new season Aug. 17. The 90-minute live sports talk show airs Saturdays at 8:30 a.m. on WCMT Talk and News You Can Use (92.7, 96.1, 99.7, 100.5 and 103.3 FM and 1410 AM) and Mix 101.3 FM.
Paul Tinkle, the “Voice of Weakley County Sports” and three-time Hall of Fame inductee, serves as the show’s host. He talks with coaches from across the Ken-Tenn area as they promote and provide insight into their teams. Wendy’s on University Street in Martin is the show’s broadcast location this year.
“Coaches Corner” began in 1975 with Tinkle as moderator since its inception and is believed to be the longest-running local sports show in West Tennessee and West Kentucky. The program airs 33 weeks each year bringing the total number of installments over its 50-year span to more than 1,600 shows.
History of ‘Coaches Corner’
The predecessor to today’s “Coaches Corner” program began on WCMT-AM in the 1960s with sports director Brooks Oliver as host. The 30-minute show originated from the Gateway Restaurant in Martin, owned by then-Mayor Cliff and Virginia Weldon. Football coaches Jim Graves and Jim Dunn joined Oliver for conversations during “The Streak” of 42 consecutive wins by the Martin Panthers and Westview Chargers.
The current iteration of the show debuted in the fall of 1975 when Tinkle began “Coaches Corner” on Union City’s WALR (now KYTN 104.9). The broadcast aired live from John D’s Restaurant in Union City, owned by popular television personality and later WPSD-TV general manager John Dixon Williams.
Coaches from Union City, Obion County Central, South Fulton and Kenton high schools were weekly guests with Tinkle to talk about their teams. Featured among the coaches on the show’s first season were Union City’s Larry Shanks, Danny Truett and Harry Ferguson; Obion Central’s Charles Akers and Elvin Hatch; South Fulton’s Kerry Curling, David Brann and Ray Wilson; and Kenton’s Marty Sisco.
In 1976, Tinkle moved to WYMC in Mayfield and added “Coaches Corner” to the station’s Saturday morning lineup. Holiday Inn in Mayfield was the location for the show. There, Tinkle hosted coaches from Mayfield, Cuba, Fancy Farm, Farmington, Lowes, Sedalia, Symsonia and Wingo high schools for the discussion of sports in Graves County. Mayfield’s Jack Morris was the lone football coach in the county and on the program, while the other schools were represented on air by their basketball coaches.
Tinkle returned to WCMT in 1981 and worked to enhance the sports coverage on the stations with games from Sharon, Palmersville, Dresden, Gleason, Greenfield and Westview. He revived the “Coaches Corner” program that fall. The 30-minute show broadcast from The Hearth Restaurant in Martin, owned at the time by Joe and Sue Bell.
Coaches’ voices heard on that first season at The Hearth included Westview’s Gary Capers, David Byars and Clennon Dailey; Dresden’s Scott Hewitt and Chuck West; Gleason’s Bob Dilday; Greenfield’s Jerry Diviney, Bill Colwick and Don Durden; and Palmersville’s Robert Richards. Jimmy Grooms joined the show when Sharon High School reopened in 1982.
As more area coaches began attending the show, “Coaches Corner” became an hour-long program to allow for the additional interviews. So many coaches came to the show there was not enough time to get all of them on the air, and the broadcast later expanded once more to its current 90-minute format.
In 1985, Sylvia Thweatt and her three sons, Mike, Marvin and Doug, purchased The Hearth and continued the relationship with “Coaches Corner.” The Thweatt family hosted the show at their eatery until retiring in 2022. The Hearth was the program’s location for 41 years.
Following a transition, “Coaches Corner” originated from Blue Oak Oyster Bar and Grill in downtown Martin for the 2022-23 season. Currently the program broadcasts live from the locally-owned Wendy’s on University Street in Martin.
While inclement weather sometimes challenged the coaches’ ability to attend “Coaches Corner” in person, there has never been a program that did not have at least one in-person guest. Tinkle remembers one winter Saturday when the roads were treacherous, and he planned to do only phone interviews. However, former Dresden coach Phil Meeks braved the conditions and traveled to The Hearth, keeping intact the show’s streak of an in-restaurant guest.
The show has been preempted only once. “Coaches Corner” did not air on Dec. 11, 2021, the day after an EF-3 tornado struck Dresden, Mayfield, Samburg and other parts of the listening area, allowing the stations to broadcast live from the Weakley County Detention Center. During the time “Coaches Corner” would have normally been on the air, thousands of residents were able to hear about the devastation from county officials who shared on WCMT what had happened the night before.
In addition to the hundreds of high school coaches and players who appeared on the program through the years, some notable guests include Cal Luther, Anthony Stewart, Bob Carroll, Bettye Giles, Lin Dunn, Mike Keith, Bob Kesling, Ralph Hacker, Chad Clifton, Popeye Jones and Justin Harrell among others.
In his 50 years as host of “Coaches Corner,” Tinkle has missed only six programs. Two of those missed shows were due to his presence in Nashville broadcasting the inauguration of Governor Ned McWherter.
‘Coaches Corner’ Today
“Coaches Corner” remains the area’s most listened to and talked about Saturday morning sports radio show. The program regularly features interviews with coaches from Weakley, Obion, Lake and Fulton counties and beyond.
Tinkle was the recipient of the 2022-23 TSSAA A.F. Bridges Sportsmanship Award as contributor of the year for Northwest Tennessee. The award is given in recognition for displaying the high ideals of integrity and ethics and for the examples of citizenship and sportsmanship.
Tinkle is a member of the Weakley County Sports Hall of Fame, Tennessee Journalism Hall of Fame and Tennessee Radio Hall of Fame.
