‘Thank you’ just isn’t enough for Bob Kesling

A column is an opinion piece in which a writer shares a point of view. This is a column about Bob Kissing. And I want to share my view of Bob, a view for the last 26 years that only I have had.

Bob Kesling first game as Tennessee’s voice came on September 4, 1999, when the Vols beat Wyoming 42-17. That Saturday was also my first of 321 games in the front row to the right of Bob as his spotter.

It’s a more daunting task than you might realize Bob Kesling’s scoffs.

First you want to get it right for ‘Voice of the Vols’. Who’s in the game, who’s throwing the ball, running the ball, catching the ball, tackling the guy with the ball, kicking the ball, etc. But being the mocker for the guy who used to be John Ward’s mocking? It’s pressure.

John was very demanding and Kesling lived up to the pressure as his spotter. When Bob left the Vol Network to join the Jefferson-Pilot television team, replacing Kesling as John’s spotter was a point of real concern, especially for Ward.

Why Bob chose me to be his spotter, I’ll never really know. My audition for the role was a total disaster.

In 1998 Bob was calling the SEC Championship game for SEC Radio and he asked me to find him. I was all in, but admitted I had no idea what ‘spotting’ actually meant. I was so naive about it that I didn’t even bring binoculars to the game.

And yet he somehow asked me to do the job for him for the next 26 seasons.

When I went wrong, Bob never blamed me. Instead, Bob helped me. And through that, he gave me the confidence to grow, not just as his spotter, but as a broadcaster.

Kesling literally gave me the best seat at Neyland Stadium and opportunities that I could never truly thank or repay him for. My role as a spotter morphed into reading the halftime stats and then hosting John Ward’s beloved “Spotlight on the SEC” and the pregame injury report.

Several years ago, Bob gave me my biggest opportunity.

He handed me a headset and turned on the microphone so I could offer analysis and commentary during Tennessee Football games. He allowed me to ‘set the scene’ out of commercial breaks and he allowed me to interject observations. Bob Kesling made me a three man stand. It was unorthodox, but he believed in it, in my ability to add something different and important, and he believed in me.

Bob’s trust and confidence has made me better on and off the air. His belief in me and his friendship have allowed me to have experiences that I never imagined when I was a kid at Gibbs High School. And all the while, he’s been looking out for me in ways that people outside of the broadcasting industry will never understand.

Bob took on the dubious task of replacing a legend and one of his greatest mentors. Many people under 40 don’t fully understand the magnitude of being ‘the next guy’ after John Ward.

Whether you get it or don’t fully understand, think about this…when John Ward passed away in the summer of 2018, the University of Tennessee and the Vol Radio Network teamed up to hold a massive memorial service in his honor. At the time of his death, John had not called a Tennessee game on the radio in 19 years!

Also consider this … former Tennessee All-American tailback and head coach Johnny Majors didn’t receive that kind of celebration of life. Not even the big one Reggie White.

And if John Ward was such a big deal at the time of his death — 19 years after he’d called his last Tennessee Basketball game — consider how beloved he was when he hung up his headset for the last time in 1999 .

Scary to replace John Ward? You’re damn right.

Bob Kesling knew the challenges that would bring, but he did it graciously in his own way. He never tried to be anything but himself, despite the huge shadow cast over him by John Ward’s legacy. That legacy includes regular John Ward reminders to Tennessee fans every game day for the past 26 years — commercials, promos, social media hits and even Neyland Stadium replays on the stadium’s video boards. Dealing with the massive John Ward shadow has been harder than anyone could imagine, but Bob has never complained, choosing instead to always do his best to be himself.

Bob has so much respect for the love that Tennessee fans have for John Ward and for Ward that he has never embraced the title of “Voice of the Vols.” Bob would always say, “John Ward was the voice of the Vols,” even when colleagues, friends and family would admonish him for not accepting a title he was given.

For Bob Kesling, it was never about titles, or worrying about being surprised by your predecessor, or comparisons to other broadcasters. It was about doing the job the right way and in his own way.

It has meant being professional, no matter how bad the football teams have been, or how bad the sight lines of the radio box may be. Bob followed Lindsey Nelson’s rule that nobody listening wants to hear you complain; they want you to call games.

And for 26 years, that’s exactly what Bob Kesling has done. He’s done it with class and he’s done it like a pro.

I have seen it from a great point of view, a point of view that I will always appreciate Bob Kesling giving me.

We have laughed together. We broke bread together. Bob has helped me through more than anyone will ever know.

And he has given me 26 autumns with the best place and opportunities that I did not deserve.

Thanks Bob, and happy retirement. But thank you is not nearly enough for everything you have done for me and the Big Orange family.