September 2, 2021
By: Dwayne Page
The Josh Heupel era at Tennessee begins tonight (Thursday) and the Volunteers’ latest new head football coach will debut against Bowling Green.
This will be the second game between these teams. Tennessee routed Bowling Green 59-30 to open the 2015 season in Nashville.
WJLE and the VOL Network will bring you LIVE coverage of the game tonight starting with the pre-game shows at 5:30 p.m. and the kick-off at 7 p.m. Listen on WJLE AM 1480/FM 101.7.
Tonight (Thursday) not only marks the start of a new era of Tennessee Football but on the Vol Radio Network as well.
Former Vol and NFL quarterback Pat Ryan takes over the prestigious color analyst role this season after legendary VFL (VOL For Life) Tim Priest retired earlier this summer. Ryan, only the fourth color analyst in the Vol Network’s 72-year history, teams with play-by-play announcer Bob Kesling who is starting his 23rd year calling University of Tennessee games. Network host John Wilkerson, spotter and contributor Brent Hubbs and sideline reporter Kasey Funderburg round out the game broadcast crew. Jeff Muir serves as the network’s ace statistician.
Tonight will also mark the debut of a new Vol Network pre-game show tradition. At 6:30 p.m. ET / 5:30 p.m. CT on September 2nd, a new show “Big Orange Countdown” will introduce fans to a new season of Tennessee Volunteer Football with expert insight from a host of former Volunteers. “Big Orange Countdown” succeeds “The Kickoff Call-In Show” in a move that honors past program traditions while looking ahead to the future with a modern and engaging twist. Kesling and Ryan will set the stage from Neyland Stadium before turning things over to Vol Network veterans John Wilkerson and Brent Hubbs who will be joined by former Vol wide receiver and team captain Jayson Swain (2003-06) and a rotating VFL special guest each week featuring former captain Will Overstreet (DE, 1998-2001) or Chris Brown (TE, 2004-07). For home games, Wilkerson, Hubbs, Swain and Overstreet or Brown will broadcast to a live audience at the familiar amphitheater at Gate 21 outside Neyland Stadium. Fans can ask questions on-site or submit a question via Twitter @VolNetwork #AskVolNetwork or e-mail via AskVolNetwork@gmail.com.
Following “Big Orange Countdown”, Bobby Rader takes over the duties this year for “Spotlight on the SEC” before handing things over to the game broadcast crew 15-minutes prior to kickoff. The “Big Orange Scoreboard and the Josh Heupel Show” provide complete postgame coverage. Vol Network programming is then capped each game with “The Final Scoreboard” hosted by Wilkerson, Rader and returning VFL Troy Fleming (RB, 2000-03) who will be joined this season by former Vol standout quarterback Erik Ainge (2004-07).
The Vol Network can be heard on over 60 stations across the state of Tennessee including WJLE AM 1480/FM 101.7 and the southeast, UTsports.com, the Tennessee Athletics App, SiriusXM and the Varsity App.