Kesling joins an exclusive list of previous honorees with Tennessee Athletics and Vol Radio Network ties.
Knoxville, TN (UT Sports) July 27, 2024 Vol Network announcer Bob Kesling will be inducted into the Tennessee Radio Hall of Fame tonight (Saturday) in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Sponsored by the Tennessee Association of Broadcasters, Kesling joins an exclusive list of previous honorees with Tennessee Athletics and Vol Radio Network ties.
For more than 25 years, Kesling has served as the “Voice of the Vols” on radio and television. The Tennessee graduate and versatile multimedia host represents Tennessee Athletics in various on- and off-air capacities as Director of Broadcasting. He is a four-time recipient winner of the “Sportscaster of the Year” award for the state of Tennessee. With an association dating back 50 years, he is the longest-serving member in the history of the 75-year-old Vol Network.
Kesling was named lead announcer on the Vol Radio Network in 1999. He is the play-by-play voice for Tennessee football and basketball on the 60-plus stations that make up the Vol Radio Network – one of the largest networks in collegiate sports. Kesling also serves as the host for “Vol Calls”, the weekly coaches call-in radio show and the “Big Orange Hotline” during the football season. He also hosts the “Josh Heupel Show” and “Rick Barnes Show” on the Vol Television Network.
Kesling began his association with the University of Tennessee as a walk-on fullback on the 1972 freshman football team. His broadcasting career began in 1974 as a film editor for the “Bill Battle Show” on the Vol Television Network while he was a student at the University of Tennessee.
Beginning In 1976, Kesling became the spotter for John Ward on Vol Network radio broadcasts. He sat beside the legendary “Voice of the Vols” for 15 seasons in the Vol Network booth spotting and handling pre-game, halftime and post-game interviews.
Kesling also has a long history with the Lady Vol basketball team. He served as the radio play-by-play voice from 1978 through 1999 – calling Pat Summitt’s first six NCAA National Championships.
WIVK Radio in Knoxville named Kesling its sports Director in 1976. In 1980, Kesling was named Sports Director at WBIR-TV in Knoxville and was Channel 10’s 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. anchor.
During his time at WBIR-TV, Kesling also worked for Jefferson-Pilot Sports on its SEC Television package. He joined the basketball network serving as pre-game host and play-by-play announcer in 1989 and joined the football broadcasts as a sideline reporter and play-by-play announcer in 1992. He remained with WBIR and Jefferson-Pilot Sports until he accepted the Vol Network position in 1999. During his extensive broadcasting career, he has been a longtime member of the SEC Radio Network and also broadcast various sporting events on CBS/Westwood One Radio, FOX Sports, FOX SportSouth and the SEC Network. He also called Knoxville Cherokees hockey, Knoxville Blue Jays baseball and Nashville Sounds baseball.
Active in the community, Kesling serves on the board of directors for Goodwill, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, the Knoxville Sports Hall of Fame and was the 2013 United Way Campaign Chairperson. He is also a 2015 inductee into the Greater Knoxville Sports Hall of Fame and the Tennessee Boys and Girls Club Hall of Fame in 2020. A 1977 Tennessee graduate, Kesling and his wife, Tami, have two daughters, Allison, and Melissa.
The original Vol Network announcer Lindsey Nelson (1948-50) and the legendary “Voice of The Vols” John Ward (1968-98) were members of the inaugural Hall of Fame Class in 2012. In 2013, another Vol Network announcer George Mooney (1952-67) was inducted. Others include UT public address announcer Bobby Denton (1967-2013) and Vol Network basketball analyst Lowell Blanchard (1966-68), both enshrined in 2015 and Mike Keith, a former member of the Vol Network crew and Titans lead announcer in 2020.
