Bob Kesling will be the guest speaker when the 40th annual Jackson-Madison County Sports Hall of Fame is held at the Carl Perkins Civic Center, Thursday, April 16, 2026.
Bob Kesling was named lead announcer on the Vol Radio Network in 1999. He was the play-by-play voice for University of Tennessee football and basketball on the 70 plus stations on the Vol Network for 26 years before announcing his retirement following the 2025 basketball season.
Kesling began his association with the University of Tennessee as a walk-on fullback on the 1972 freshman football team. His broadcasting career began in 1974 when John Ward hired him as a film editor for the “Bill Battle Show” on the Vol Television Network while he was a student at the University of Tennessee.
In 1976, John Ward hired Kesling to serve as his spotter for Vol Network radio broadcasts. He sat beside the legendary “Voice of the Vols” for 15 seasons in the Vol Network booth spotting and handling pre-game, halftime and post-game interviews.
Kesling also has a long history with the Lady Vol basketball team. He served as the radio play-by-play voice from 1978 through 1999 calling Pat Summitt’s first 6 NCAA National Championships.
WIVK radio in Knoxville named Kesling as its sports director in 1976. In 1980, WBIR-TV in Knoxville hired Kesling as its sports director. Kesling was Channel 10’s 6 pm and 11 pm sports anchor until 1999 when he was named lead announcer on the Vol Network.
During his time at WBIR-TV, Kesling also worked for Jefferson-Pilot on its SEC Television package. He joined the basketball network serving as pre game host and play-by-play announcer in 1989 and joined the football broadcasts as a sideline reporter and play-by-play announcer in 1992. He remained at Jefferson-Pilot Sports until he accepted the Vol Network position in 1999.
Kesling’s other credits include play-by-play announcer for the SEC football and basketball championship games on the SEC radio network, the NCAA Women’s Basketball Final Four on CBS/Westwood One radio network, play-by-play announcer for SEC basketball and baseball on Fox Sports, Tennessee baseball and Lady Vol basketball on the Vol Network television package carried on Fox Sportsouth, and Tennessee baseball on the SEC Network.
Kesling also has called Knoxville Cherokees hockey, Knoxville Blue Jays baseball and Nashville Sounds baseball.
Active in the community, Kesling serves on the board of directors for Goodwill, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and the Knoxville Sports Hall of Fame. Kesling was the 2013 United Way Campaign Chairman and has been a Big Brother since 2010.
In August of 2015 he was inducted into the Greater Knoxville Sports Hall of Fame and in 2020 named to the state of Tennessee Boys and Girls Club Hall of Fame. Kesling was inducted into the Tennessee Radio Hall of Fame in 2024 and also in 2024 was named Sportscaster of the Year in the state of Tennessee by the National Association of Sportswriters and Sportscasters. In 2025 he was inducted into the Big Brothers/Big Sisters Hall of Fame. Kesling was named as the 2025 Distinguished Alumnus from the University of Tennessee.
Annually Kesling and his radio partner on Vol Network Bert Bertelkamp host the ‘Bob and Bert Golf Tournament’ to benefit the Helen Ross McNabb Center in Knoxville. Kesling has hosted a celebrity golf tournament in Greeneville, TN for the past 20 years benefiting the Greeneville Boys and Girls Club.
A 1977 graduate of the University of Tennessee, Kesling and his wife Tami have two children Allison and Melissa and five grandkids.
For ticket and table information call Beth Sedberry 731.616.8558
