KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — The University of Tennessee has announced a familiar face to football in Tennessee will be returning as its next “Voice of the Vols.”

VFL Mike Keith, who just completed his 27th season and Hall of Fame tenure with the Tennessee Titans, will be returning to Rocky Top in 2025. UT Director of Athletics Danny White made the announcement on Thursday.

“When we discussed potential candidates, one name topped our list without question: bringing Mike and his family back to Rocky Top,” said White. “He is a true icon in the broadcasting industry, and we are excited to harness Mike’s exceptional skill set to further elevate both the Vol Network and Tennessee Athletics in bold, innovative ways.”

In his role as the new “Voice of the Vols,” Keith will be the lead play-by-play announcer for Tennessee’s football and basketball games, and he will also be involved in various new programming initiatives that UT said will be released later this year.

“While it is very hard to say goodbye to the Tennessee Titans, it is not hard to say ‘yes’ to a return to the University of Tennessee and the Vol Network,” said Keith. “Alicia Longworth laid out a very exciting plan for how I can assist the talented VFL Films content team. Steve Early has continued to make me feel a part of the Vol Network family since I left Knoxville in 1998 — it was like I never left,” Keith said in part.

Although it’s been a while since Keith has been on Rocky Top full-time, he has quite the record with the University of Tennessee. On just his third day on campus in 1986, Keith became WUTK’s sports director, and just months later was hired by John Ward with the Vol Network. At the time, Keith was just 19.

Through the time he left in 1998, Keith held various other roles in the Vol Network, including being “The Voice of Baseball Vols” from 1992 to 1998.

During his career, Keith was named Tennessee’s Sportscaster of the Year 12 times, earned a spot as on Sports Broadcast Journal’s “Top 100 Local Voices in the First 100 Years of Sports Broadcasting” list, and became a member of five Halls of Fame, including the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame, Tennessee Radio Hall of Fame, TSSAA Hall of Fame, BGA Hall of Fame and the University of Tennessee Baseball Hall of Fame.   

Keith’s hiring comes as the current “Voice of the Vols,” Bob Kesling’s final season is coming to an end. Kesling announced in November that he would be retiring at the end of the 2024-25 men’s basketball season, after a 25-year run.