Kesling leaves a lasting legacy at Tennessee

A long time ago, on the TV show M*A*S*H, Corporal Klinger was stressing over replacing Radar as company clerk.

Radar’s clerical skills were legendary and Klinger never thought he’d measure up. Col. Potter told him not to do Radar’s job but to make it Klinger’s job.

And so it was for Bob Kesling. In 1999, he was tabbed to replace the legendary Voice of the Vols John Ward. It’s hard to step into the shoes of an icon like Ward, but this was an opportunity Kesling embraced. He was the sports anchor for WIVK TV in Knoxville while moonlighting as a sideline reporter for Jefferson-Pilot. But Kesling, a Tennessee grad, kept his eye on the prize and earned the job as Ward’s successor.

Kesling announced a couple of weeks ago that his time behind the Big Orange microphone had an expiration date. He’d be stepping down as the Voice of the Vols in April of 2025.

The long-time announcer said he’d planned on retiring when he turned 65, but he said he felt good at that age and took it year-by-year after that. This past year, the Vol Network said it didn’t want to do year-to-year contracts anymore.

“They said they wanted a three-to-four-year commitment and I didn’t know if I could commit to that,” Kesling said. “I talked to my wife, who wanted me to retire a few years ago and we thought this was a good time.”

The Keslings are expecting another grandchild and this will afford the on-air personality time to spend with his grandkids.

Kesling lamented that the announcement came prematurely. He wanted to announce it at the end of basketball season. But the early announcement would allow the university to honor him on the field during football season.

In 1999, Kesling assumed the job, vacated by the retiring John Ward, a broadcast icon in Tennessee and the south. Twenty-six years later, the curtain is coming down on Kesling’s tenure.

“This whole thing has gone by incredibly fast,” he said. “It seems like yesterday that I arrived here, playing freshman football. I’ve been incredibly blessed.”

His association with Tennessee football has opened a lot of doors to Kesling. He says he’s immensely fortunate to have rubbed elbows with Tennessee broadcast legends like Ward, George Mooney and Lindsey Nelson. When Kesling was tabbed as the Voice of the Vols, Mooney, who lived in the same retirement community as Kesling’s parents, took the new announcer under his wing in 1999.

“I was nervous. George said, ‘Rookie, they told me 31 years ago that there’d never be another George Mooney,’” Kesling said. “Just go in there and do the best job you can.”

After several years, Tennessee fans didn’t know who George Mooney was, but they were well acquainted with Ward’s voice. Kesling said that he spoke to a broadcast class at UT and asked how many had heard of John Ward.

“Not one person raised their hand,” Kesling said. “Whoever follows me will have his own legacy.”

Kesling worked in local Knoxville television, did sideline reporting for Jefferson-Pilot, called football, basketball and baseball games as well as doing local radio. One day, it finally hit Kesling that he had arrived.

“One day in 1992, I was at Rupp Arena getting ready to cover basketball,” said Kesling. “They came up to me and said an announcer could call the game and I was asked to do it.”

There he was, rubbing elbows with Ward, legendary Kentucky announcer Caywood Ledford and his color commentator was former Kentucky and Denver Nuggets’ star Dan Issel.

“I thought, ‘how unbelievable that I’m able to do something like this,’” Kesling said. “I’ve had a lot of people help me through the years.”

There was a lot of turmoil within the football program when Kesling took over. During Ward’s tenure, Tennessee had four football coaches: Doug Dickey, Bill Battle, Johnny Majors and Phillip Fulmer. Since Kesling put on the headset, the Vol football program has had five coaches: Fulmer, Derek Dooley, Butch Jones, Jeremy Pruitt and Josh Heupel. There have been highs and lows.

Still, Kesling said there’s a common thread among all the coaches.

“All coaches are the same, but different. They have the skills of a CEO and they can delegate,” he said. “The one’s who are really good can keep it spinning. It’s a tough job. Even in basketball, the expectations are very  high. You can’t lose a game. You have to have a good quarterback. You have to All-Americans. All these coaches have similar traits.”

Kesling said when he got the job, the first guy he thought of to do color commentary was Huntingdon product Tim Priest. He and Kesling worked a pre-game and post-game show on radio. In addition, Priest helped coach the freshman team, along with Jackson-Northside standout and former UT-Martin coach Don McLeary.

“I knew Tim when I played on the freshman team,” Kesling said. “It’s tough to find someone who can commit to all those games. Tim loved it and he loved football.”

When Priest stepped down a few years ago, former Vol and NFL quarterback Pat Ryan stepped in. Ryan had filled in for Priest at times when Priest wasn’t available.

“Pat and I went to school together and I covered him when he played here,” Kesling said. “You know, since 1968, every Tennessee broadcaster was from the University of Tennessee.”

There were some great moments during Kesling’s tenure. He lists the five-overtime game where Tennessee defeated Arkansas in 2002. He recalled the six-overtime game at Alabama.

“Beating Florida in The Swamp (2001) was big,” said Kesling. “In basketball, knocking off Memphis to become the No. 1 team in the country. Being around Chris Lofton, Grant Williams, Ron Slay, people like that. I’ve been blessed to be around so many people.”

Kesling said he was blessed to work with people like Nelson, Mooney, Ward, Fox personality Tim Brando, Pat Summitt and others.

“I’ve been so fortunate and blessed. So many doors have been opened for me,” Kesling said. “It’s crazy to think about how many people have helped me along the way. It’s hard to believe the journey I’ve had.”

Kesling said the sky’s the limit for what he will do once he steps down at UT. He said he wants to travel and learn to play piano.

“My wife tells me she’s going to limit me to one hour of Seinfeld a day,” Kesling said with a laugh. “I don’t see myself getting back into broadcasting, though I wouldn’t rule out doing some TV on occasion. I want to travel. I’ve never been to Europe and I want to go to Normandy. I feel good and my health is good. I’ll find something to do.”