Thursday was an exciting day for Tennessee fans as the announcement was made that Mike Keith would replace soon-to-be retired Bob Kesling as the Voice of the Vols beginning next fall.
Kesling will finish UT men’s basketball campaign before officially retiring. Keith will assume play-by-play responsibilities on the Vol Radio Network for football and men’s basketball while also adding additional programming that will announced at a later date.
For Keith, it’s a special appointment.
“It’s other worldly almost,” Keith told Volquest in an exclusive interview. “To think that only four other people have had the job and I respect the four of them so much. To be in that classification now is almost other worldly.”
Football and men’s basketball broadcasts were a given, but many fans also wondered if Keith would play a role in Tennessee baseball radio productions. The UTK graduate and former Vol Radio Network employee was the Voice of the Tennessee baseballteam from 1992-1998, calling games involving several dynamic players and coaches – such as Todd Helton and Rod Delmonico – along with the 1995 College World Series appearance.
That won’t be a part of the deal for Keith, at least not on the radio side of things for now. Why? Well, the baseball team has a legend of their own as a broadcaster.
“Nothing changes. John Wilkerson is Vol Baseball. Nothing changes,” Keith said of Wilkerson. “I mean, he’s the best. And so, there’s no way that I get in his way in any way, shape or form.”
The two worked many baseball broadcasts together as a team in the 90s and spent time together hosting Sports Talk, that is still on the air today via The Sports Animal. Keith and Wilkerson are friends and have a longstanding working relationship. Keith joins Sports Talk weekly – which is still hosted by Wilkerson – for a hit on the NFL and the Tennessee Titans.
