I am emotional.
Mike Keith is leaving the Tennessee Titans to become the voice of the Tennessee Volunteers according to The Athletic. Keith has been with the franchise since before they even moved to Tennessee. In 1996, while they were still playing in Houston, Keith hosted a pregame show for stations carrying Houston Oilers games in Tennessee. He did the scoreboard during broadcasts in 1997, was the color analyst in 1998, and became the Voice of the Titans doing the play-by-play in 1999.
His legendary call of the Music City Miracle still gives me goosebumps every time I hear it. “THERE ARE NO FLAGS ON THE FIELD! IT’S A MIRACLE!” The NFL did a great video on his call that day, which you can watch here.
He has so many legendary calls. My 9-year-old yells “SAAAACK” every time we are watching a game and a quarterback gets sacked. And of course, anytime the Titans score we all yell “TOUCHDOWN TITANS!!” “Snap. Set. Kick on the way. GOOOOOOD!” The list could go on and on.
I was afraid this was going to happen as soon as it was announced that Bob Kesling was retiring from his Director of Broadcasting role at the end of the basketball season. Keith went to UT and worked for John Ward on the Vol Radio Network from 1987-1998. I heard him say once that he had to make a conscience effort not to do a John Ward impression while calling games early in his career with the Titans.
On a personal level, Mike has always been so awesome to me. I don’t even remember how we first connected, but he gave me his phone number and was always willing to come on a podcast anytime I asked him. He would even reach out from time to time when he heard a podcast of mine that he wasn’t on to tell me it was good. That meant so much to me.
I have always hated the University of Tennessee and this makes my hatred burn even deeper, but I wish Mike nothing but the best in the move. We already know he is a Hall of Fame football announcer, and there is no doubt in my mind he will be the same doing their basketball games.
It will be interesting to see where the Titans go next. They have built a whole media arm around Keith. Hopefully, Dave McGinnis will stay on as the color analyst. He does a great job. The Titans aren’t looking for my input, but Jonathan Hutton who was formerly a Titans Radio employee should be the guy. No one prepares for stuff better than he does, and he has a great relationship with Coach Mac.
Good luck, Mike. From the bottom of my heart, thanks for everything you did for this team, this city, and for me personally.