Mark Wiedmer: Danny White's Golden Touch Continues With Hiring Of Mike Keith

  • Tuesday, January 14, 2025
  • Mark Wiedmer
photo by Mark Wiedmer

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

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

Merely consider the last eight months: The baseball team won the national championship.

The football team made the College Football Playoffs. The men’s basketball team earned a No. 1 national ranking. The women’s basketball team has been on a tear, nearly knocked off 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 figures to deliver the kinds of calls that will be repeated by Volniacs for years, if not decades.

For proof, merely return to Keith’s signature call with the Titans, the “Music City Miracle” call that’s 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 that icy Saturday afternoon, erasing a wildcard playoff game deficit with under 16 seconds to play in the Nashville 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?,” began Keith as the Bills prepared to kick off. “If they do, they need it now. Christie kicks it high and short. Gonna be fielded by Lorenzo Neal at the 25, pitches 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 field! It's a miracle! Tennessee has pulled a miracle! A miracle for the Titans!”

Admittedly, the glory days of radio are on life support. You can watch every game in every sport on your phone if you’re so inclined. The days of colorful University of Georgia broadcaster Larry Munson screaming, “We stomped on their face with a hobnail boot,” after a shocking Bulldogs win in Neyland Stadium in 2001 aren’t likely to be repeated.

But Keith screaming “Sack!” after some Vol defender tackles an opposing quarterback behind the line of scrimmage will now echo across playgrounds and hunting fields and autumn 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 view the action on their phone, inside a sports bar or in person.

During basketball season in Kentucky, it is said UK fans often turned down the television to listen to the matchless Cawood Ledford’s radio call of the Wildcats racing 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.

That same exercise might now consume that portion of Big Orange Country tuning in the radio broadcast. “What will Mike Keith say?” they’ll ask themselves, 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 through 1977. Speaking to a Junior Achievement banquet in the Scenic City a decade ago, Keith detailed how his teachers at that time inspired him to pursue his broadcasting dreams at a young age.

"My parents, my teachers, everyone could have said you need to not dream so big, you need a fallback plan," said Keith that day.

"And broadcasting can be a tough job. The pay's not high and the hours aren't good when you start out. But my parents always encouraged me. And my teacher at East Brainerd, Barbara Scott, let me broadcast news stories to the class the way a radio person would. All these people let me chase my dreams. When I transferred to Westview, and every book report I did was about sports, someone asked, 'Don't you read anything else?' I said, 'This is all I need. What else is there?'"

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 student listening to his call of a Big Orange game in the months and years to come.

Or as Keith observed in a video he released last week that touched on growing up going to UT games, including the victory over Alabama in 1982 and the win over Auburn three years later: “The heart of that seven-year-old still beats loudly all of those years later. The memories come rushing back. No matter where you go or what you do, it never leaves you. Tennessee never leaves you.”

So now the broadcasts of Vols games figure to be as entertaining and passionate as the performances of the Vol athletes themselves. Football coach Josh Heupel and men’s basketball coach Rick Barnes long ago elevated the effort that Keith will begin describing next fall and winter on the field and court. Now the radio broadcasts will similarly sparkle, thanks to the Midas touch of White.

When Keith spoke to the Junior Achievement event a decade ago, someone asked him what call he’d most like to be associated with at the close of his career.

Knowing that Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariotta was the Titans quarterback at that time, Keith replied, “I want to 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 would most like 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, when you’ve grown up in the Volunteer state, rooting for the Big Orange, those championship dreams never leave you.

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