“I’m not going to go hoping or hunting for that kind of moment. “I’ve been told the ‘Doering Call’ was Mick’s arrival moment,” Kelley said of the 1992 Kentucky game, when Chris Doering caught the winning TD pass in the final seconds. Nothing usually goes up in flames, but announcers become emotional conduits for highly charged audiences. “When the tone goes off at 1:45 or 2 o’clock in the morning and you’ve got 90 seconds to be out of the bay with lights and sirens, that’s a little beyond normal adrenaline,” Kelley said. Success depends on preparation and teamwork, then performing under pressure. “I always wanted to talk about firefighting.” “The other guys always wanted to talk about basketball,” Kelley said. Not many NBA play-by-play announcers have moonlighted at the local fire station. He liked it so much that he took the training and became a full-fledged firefighter, working flex shifts around his day job. Tammany Parish Fire District station and volunteered for duty. Kelley took that to an extreme in 2012 when he showed up at a St. One thing that stuck with him was how guys like Buck became part of the community fabric. “I just enjoyed listening to games and the storytelling that went along with it,” he said. He grew up listening to legends like Jack Buck doing Cardinals games and Dan Kelly doing the Blues. Louis, which has been home to many play-by-play maestros. Radio broadcasting is as much art as science. Johnny Big Lunch? That line alone would make me want to hire Kelley. … He’s lost his hat and being chased by Johnny Big Lunch in a security outfit. Kelley turned it into a play-by-play call.

The guy circled the Longhorns’ huddle and headed up-field. A good example came when an interloper dressed as Santa Claus ran onto the field during a Texas game. He immerses himself in preparation but doesn’t come off as overly programmed. That’s largely in the ears of the beholder, but Kelley obviously knows his craft. Kelley will be UF’s voice, but he’ll also work some ESPN games during down times.

The conversation quickly evolved, and a deal was struck. The 50-year-old Kelley kind of missed being in a long-term relationship with one team. “Hey, you wouldn’t be interested in the job, would you?” he asked.Īs much as he liked swooping in and covering big events, it was like speed dating. But after tossing around a few candidates, the UF search committee rep had a thought for Kelley. Kelley’s also been a prominent voice on ESPN’s college basketball, Major League Baseball and NBA broadcasts.īouncing around from Fenway Park, Cameron Indoor Stadium to the Rose Bowl is pretty much a dream gig. Before that, he was the New Orleans Pelicans voice for almost 15 years. He’s been ESPN’s lead play-by-play announcer for college football the past three years. The search committee called Kelley, just looking for names. UF had a stack of about 200 applicants but wanted to make sure it wasn’t overlooking anyone. So how did a guy who’d never stepped foot in Gainesville before last week become the vocal cords of Gator Nation?

Voicey sounds