Mark Wiedmer: Danny White’s Golden Touch continues to employ Mike Keith

photo by Mark Wiedmer

It was always going to end this way when it came to “Voice of the Vols.” At about the same moment the underrated Bob Kesling, the longtime Voice of the Tennessee Titans, decided to ride off into the sunset, the wondrous and animated Mike Keith, whose blood has run pale orange since birth, was to take his place.

And with the move now official, the NFL’s Titans continue their ongoing march of misery — one Titans fan wrote on social media Thursday, “(Keith) was the only good thing the team had going for it.” _ and the Big Orange athletic department just keeps soaring under remarkable athletic director Danny White.

Just consider the past eight months: The baseball team won the national championship.

The football team made the College Football Playoffs. The men’s basketball team achieved a no. 1 national ranking. The women’s basketball team has been on a tear, nearly knocking out undefeated LSU last week after White made the bold decision last spring to part ways with former Lady Vols star Kellie Jolly Harper and replace her with Kim Caldwell, arguably the most dynamic young coach in Division I.

But the addition of Keith is the icing on the cake for Rocky Top. He cut his announcing teeth under the legendary John Ward, and with no offense to Kesling, a polished professional in every way, Keith expects to deliver the kind of calls that will be repeated by the Volniacs for years, if not decades.

For proof, just go back to Keith’s signature call with the Titans, the “Music City Miracle” call that has been ranked as one of the top 10 NFL radio calls of all time.

Close your eyes as Keith describes the action, and you can still picture the “Home Run Throwback” that went for a touchdown against the Buffalo Bills on a frigid Saturday afternoon, erasing a wild-card playoff deficit with under 16 seconds to play in the Nashville- the venue now. known as Nissan Stadium.

“Do the Titans have a miracle left in them in what has been a magical season to this point?” Keith began as the Bills were ready to kick off. “If they do, they need it now. Christie kicks it high and short. Will be tackled by Lorenzo Neal on 25. Puts it back to Wycheck, he throws it across the field to Dyson…(Color Commentator Pat Ryan: “He’s got something, he’s got something…”) 30, 40, 50, 40…(Ryan: “He’s got it, he’s got it, he’s got it!”) 20, 10, 5 – end zone ! Touchdown Titans! There are no flags on the course! It is a miracle! Tennessee has performed a miracle! A miracle for the Titans!”

Admittedly, radio’s glory days are on life support. You can watch every game in every sport on your phone if you’re so inclined. The days when colorful University of Georgia wideout Larry Munson screamed, “We stomped on their face with a cleat boot,” after a shocking Bulldogs victory at Neyland Stadium in 2001, likely won’t be repeated.

But Keith screamed “Sack!” after some Vol defender makes a tackle, an opposing quarterback behind the line of scrimmage will now reverberate across playgrounds and hunting fields and fall gatherings throughout the South on Saturdays for years to come, connecting Big Orange fans with their beloved team , when they’re somewhere they can’t see the action on their phone, inside a sports bar or in person.

During the Kentucky basketball season, UK fans are said to have often turned off the television to listen to the incomparable Cawood Ledford’s radio calls from the Wildcats running up and down the hardwood. Almost never a homer, Ledford might say, “The Cats just don’t have it tonight.” That’s when you knew a UK loss was imminent.

The same exercise can now consume the portion of Big Orange Country tuning in the radio broadcast. “What will Mike Keith say?” they will ask themselves and then be entertained by his unique, energetic, thoughtful delivery.

And that enthusiasm started right here in the Scenic City, at East Brainerd Elementary and Westview Elementary, which Keith attended from 1974 to 1977. Speaking at a Junior Achievement banquet in the Scenic City ten years ago, Keith shared how his teachers at the time inspired him to pursue his broadcasting dreams at a young age.

“My parents, my teachers, everybody could have said you don’t need to dream big, you need a backup plan,” Keith said that day.

“And broadcasting can be hard work. The pay isn’t great and the hours aren’t great when you start out. But my parents always encouraged me. And my teacher at East Brainerd, Barbara Scott, let me broadcast news to the class like a radio person would let me chase my dreams. When I went over to Westview, and every book report I did, someone would ask, ‘Don’t you read anything else?’ I said, ‘This is all I need?'”

Ah, the power and influence dedicated, caring teachers can have in a young person’s life.

Ah, the impact the talented Keith can have on some elementary school student who heeds his call to a Big Orange game in the months and years to come.

Or as Keith noted in a video he released last week about growing up going to UT games, including the win over Alabama in 1982 and the win over Auburn three years later: “The heart of the septuagenarian still beats high all those years later. The memories come rushing back. No matter where you go or what you do, it never leaves you.”

So now the broadcasts of Vols games seem to be just as entertaining and passionate as the performances of the Vol athletes. Football coach Josh Heupel and men’s basketball coach Rick Barnes long ago raised the stakes that Keith will begin to describe next fall and winter on the field and court. Now the radio broadcasts will sparkle in the same way, thanks to the Midas touch of White.

When Keith spoke at the Junior Achievement event a decade ago, someone asked him what calling he would most like to be associated with at the end of his career.

Knowing that Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariotta was the Titans’ quarterback at the time, Keith responded, “I’d say Marcus Mariotta takes a knee and the Titans win the Super Bowl. That’s the call I want to be remembered for .”

Maybe then. But now, having landed his dream job, one suspects Keith will be eager to announce over the next season or two: “Nico Iamaleava takes a knee and the Tennessee Vols win their first national championship since 1998.”

Because whether your heart is seven years old or 70 years old, when you grew up in the Volunteer state, rooted in the Big Orange, those championship dreams never leave you.