KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — For the last 25 years, anyone who turned on the radio on gameday heard the Voice of the Vols — Bob Kesling.
"Every time I walk in this booth, I kind of pinch myself to think how fortunate I've been," said Bob.
Long before his voice boomed across the airwaves, his career started at WBIR. Bobcovered the last time Tennessee and Ohio State played each other in 1996 in the Citrus Bowl.
"You just looked at the teams warming up, and you thought, 'My gosh, these are really two talented football teams out there.' Tennessee just played really well that day," Bob said.
The Vols beat the Buckeyes 20-14 in a rainy Citrus Bowl. Tennessee's back-to-back field goals from Jeff Hall gave the Vols the win.
"It started raining on Friday and didn't let up, and Saturday morning it was pouring down rain. And it was supposed to be sunny Florida, but it was anything but. It was raining so hard that both bands were there, but they didn't let either band perform pre-game," he said.
Bob has more ties to the Buckeyes than just covering that game 28 years ago. He is an Ohio native with strong ties to OSU. His dad, Devon Kesling, was the drum major, and his sister is a distinguished alumna.
"He's the one who directs them in the script Ohio. He's like the pen that's drawn this Ohio. I got a chance to go to a bunch of Ohio State games. It's a special place. It's a lot like Tennessee. They live football 365 days up there," said Bob.
Even though Kesling grew up going to Ohio Stadium, he's never called a game there.
"It is still a bucket list game because I've never done a game at Ohio State. I've done games at the Rose Bowl, I've done games at the Orange Bowl. I've done games all over the country, but I've never done a game at Ohio Stadium. It'll be special," he said.
Regardless of his Ohio State ties, make no mistake Bob is cheering for the Vols in Columbus.
"Most of my family went to Ohio State, but I went to Tennessee. Tennessee is my school, and I think everybody on Saturday night will know where my allegiance is," he said.
As his last football season comes to a close, Bob is not ready to consider that Saturday's game might be his last Tennessee football game.
"I've been so busy trying to get prepared to do the game. I haven't even thought about what would happen, because I don't, I don't expect Tennessee to lose," said Kesling. "The whole state of Tennessee is going to say, 'Hey, I remember the first time College Football Playoffs and Tennessee made it.' It'll be something we'll talk about forever, seeing the Tennessee 'T' there at Ohio Stadium, it's going to be a moment that I'll never forget."
Kick-off for the Tennessee and Ohio State matchup is set for 8 p.m. Eastern Time on Saturday on ESPN.
