K'Rojhn Calbert ready 'to do anything' for OL coach Walt Wells

K’Rojhn Calbert has a well-documented rags-to-riches recruiting story, as Tennessee's offensive line signee was one of the satellite camp success stories of the last cycle.

Following a pair of serious knee injuries, the Warren County (Tenn.) product had all but given up football until his high school offensive line coach Brandon Thomas convinced Calbert — and his dubious grandmother Willie Mae Martin — to give the sport a final chance last summer.

It was the right decision.

Despite an obvious rawness as a prospect, the absurdly athletic 6-foot-6, 310-pound offensive tackle immediately flashed at multiple camps in 2016, going from zero offers to earning scholarships from Florida, South Carolina, Kentucky and others on the spot. Ultimately, an introduction to then-Tennessee’s offensive line assistant Walt Wells changed Calbert's life.

“No disrespect on coach (Don) Mahoney, but coach Walt is my (guy),” Calbert said. “Coach Wells, him seeing the true potential in me at first sight, was amazing. I was at Tennessee State University. He walked up to me and asked me where I was from. He said, ‘I’m going to keep an eye on you.’ And he did. He told me, ‘Keep on working, but I’m going to work for you.’”

From that sweltering summer day in May to mid-November when Calbert committed to UT, the offensive tackle had two thoughts in mind:

I want to play for coach Wells.

I want to play at Tennessee.

Calbert worked hard, stayed healthy and eventually earned a UT offer last fall. Now, with Wells his new position coach, he's eager to get to campus to prove Wells’ judgements were right all along.

“Walt Wells, I’d do anything for that man,” Calbert said. “He just really just believed in me, was confident that he saw something in me. He knew what he was bringing to Tennessee, or what he could bring to Tennessee.

"Him being so honest to me means a lot, because I wasn’t looking for no BS. I was looking for the straight-up truth because I was looking for the next five years of my life. “He was straight up honest with me. He told me, ‘K’Rojhn, if I feel like you’re not going to get the offer, I’m going to let you know and tell you where your best interest might be.’ But then maybe a month after that, he said, ‘I think it’s coming.’”

Eventually, it did. While Calbert credited his grandmother, coach Thomas, as well as Warren County head coach Tom Moore and receivers coach Cameron Bond for helping him get to this point, without Wells, he never ends up at Tennessee.

“If I learned anything (about the recruiting process) it’s don’t regret anything. It only takes one,” Calbert. said.

"I'm excited to get to work."

More with K'Rojhn Calbert...

Did Wells ever say where you ought to go if not Tennessee?

“No. We never got to that point. It just wasn’t that place down south (laughing). Just not Florida!”

What’s the funniest thing coach Butch Jones ever told you?

“He said he could beat me in the 40-yard dash. (Calbert clocked a 4.9-second 40-yard dash at 300 pounds last summer). Yea, no way, coach.”

One person you’d most like to meet?

“LeBron Jones. No doubt. I love LeBron. I know coach Butch jones has the hookup. Maybe I’ll be able to meet him (laughing).”

If they made a movie about your life, which actor would play you?

“The guy who played Michel Oher (Quinton Aaron) in The Blind Side. People have told me that before.”