Mike Keith, the new Voice of the Vols, sits down with Volquest

The Tennessee Vols have their new voice, and it’s a familiar name as the University of Tennessee graduate, former Vol Network member and 27-year-old voice of the Tennessee Titans, Mike Keithreturns to Rocky Top.

Keith began his broadcasting career in Knoxville while a student at the University of Tennessee. After graduation, he would go on to be the voice of Tennessee Baseball and host of Sportstalk, a daily afternoon sports talk show in Knoxville. He also hosted a late-night television talk show for a time. Keith also had a role on the Vol Network’s football and basketball broadcasts.

In 1998, Keith left Knoxville to join the Tennessee Titans, who were the Tennessee Oilers at the time. Keith was to lead the creation of Titans Radio and over the past 27 years has grown it into a successful multimedia network with television programming, podcasting, streaming content as well as game broadcasting.

For Keith, a lifelong Tennessee fan, the opportunity to be the Voice of the Vols is truly a dream come true.

“It’s almost otherworldly,” Keith said when asked in an exclusive meeting with Volquest how it feels to accept this role. “To think that only four other people have had the job, and I respect those four so much. To be in that classification now is almost otherworldly.”

Keith grew up in the stands of Neyland Stadium and the sweatbox that was the Stokely Athletic Center. And it was there, along with John Ward’s iconic voice, that as a child in elementary school Keith got an affinity for radio and a dream of becoming the Vols of the Vols.

“I loved it because of John Ward,” explained Keith. “My indoctrination into all of this came at a time when Stanley Morgan was on the football team. Condredge Holloway was the quarterback. Larry Seivers was the All-American receiver. Then in basketball you had (Bernard) King, (Ernie) Grunfeld, Mike Jackson, Johnny Darden, Reggie Johnson. They were really, really good. Walking into Neyland Stadium and feeling it all. They ran through the ‘T’ and warmed up to Sweet Georgia Brown, and it was a show it was magic to me.

“And then I started listening to John on the radio and John was magical because he was so big. It was a show. When you are passionate about something, you feel it to your core. That’s how I feel about this and always have.”

Volquest had a chance to sit down with Keith for an extended interview about becoming the Voice of the Vols, his love affair with the Big Orange and more.