Sean Kelley, who has been a national play-by-play voice for ESPN Radio since 2019 and the former radio voice of the NBA's New Orleans Pelicans, is the new "Voice of the Gators."
The Gators have a new voice, and his mic has been hot lately.
The University Athletic Association announced Wednesday that ESPN Radio play-by-play announcer Sean Kelley is the fresh "Voice of the Gators," replacing Mick Hubert. Hubert retired in May after 33 years in the role.
Kelley is a veteran broadcaster with ties to college athletics, the NBA, NFL and Major League Baseball. He spent Monday afternoon in Boston calling the Rays-Red Sox game at Fenway Park, his first visit to the storied ballpark, and nine days after Kelley called Houston's combined no-hitter at Yankee Stadium on June 25.
The 50-year-old Kelley's enthusiasm about the assignment translated over the airwaves as he interacted with his broadcast partner, longtime ESPN baseball insider Tim Kurkjian. He relayed to the audience what he told Kurkjian before the game.
"Tim, I don't care if they try to stop us,'' Kelley said. "I have to put my hand on that left-field wall."
Kelley later posted his trip to the Green Monster on his Twitter account and maintained his professional exuberance throughout the broadcast.
"This place is a shining jewel on the Fourth of July,'' Kelley told the audience. "The playing surface here looks almost as good as Tim Kurkjian's front yard."
A St. Louis native, Kelley has been fully charged since meeting with UF officials late last week and accepting the job as "Voice of the Gators." Kelley will call primarily Gators football and men's basketball games. He will also engage with fans in other ways, including social media and podcasts.
Kelley said he wasn't looking to leave ESPN Radio after three years as the lead play-by-play voice on national college football, but when a door to the Florida job opened, he decided to walk through to see what was there. Kelley will continue to work events for ESPN Radio when his Gators schedule permits. He joins Hubert (1989-2022), David Steele (1982-89) and Otis Boggs (1940-82) on the short list of broadcasters to be called "Voice of the Gators."
"Florida is one of the elite of the elites with regard to intercollegiate athletics,'' Kelley said. "That makes it not only a destination job for anyone in our business, it makes it a destination job for those who have reached certain heights in our business."
Kelley earned a journalism degree from Southern Illinois University and launched his career as sports director at KFRU-AM in Columbia, Mo., where he also served as a play-by-play announcer and broadcaster for University of Missouri sports on the Tiger Radio Network.
Kelley became Tulane University's play-by-play voice for football, men's basketball and baseball in 2002. In August of 2005, the NBA's New Orleans Pelicans hired Kelley as their radio play-by-play voice, a job he held for the next 14 seasons. Kelley served seven seasons as a digital host for NewOrleansSaints.com and as a television reporter for the Saints during the preseason.
Kelley strayed far from the broadcast booth during his time in New Orleans. He worked as a firefighter with St. Tammany Parish Fire District for several years to build ties and contribute to the community.
"Play-by-play and firefighter, it's not your normal mix,'' Kelley told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on a trip home to call a Cardinals-Cubs game in 2018. "A party of one."
Kelley's desire to be part of a team fueled his interest in the Gators job.
"I grew up in St. Louis where Jack Buck was the voice of the Cardinals, Bob Costas got his career started there, Dan Kelly was the voice of the St. Louis Blues,'' Kelley said. "I grew up in a town where sportscasters were not only some of the best in the country but were also true ambassadors of the teams and the city. They're the ones who inspired me and made me want to get into the business.
"All this time, I have been in search of a place where I could be that same all-in kind of announcer. Call the games, yes. But also represent the university and be a part of the fabric of the community."
ESPN Radio hired Kelley in 2019 as its lead play-by-play announcer on national college football. In addition, he called college basketball and NBA games, including Game 7 of the 2022 Eastern Conference Semifinals between Boston and Milwaukee.
Coincidentally, in his first assignment after joining ESPN full-time in 2019, Kelley was in the radio booth to call Florida's victory over Miami at Camping World Stadium to kick off the college football season.
The interest from orange-and-blue clad fans for his next Gators broadcast will be much greater. Kelley's debut is set for when the Gators open the season on Sept. 3 at home against Utah.
"I am excited to have someone with Sean's talents and experience as the new play-by-play voice of the Gators,'' UF Athletic Director Scott Stricklin said. "This position attracted a large number of highly-qualified applicants, but Sean rose above the field early in this process."
Married with two adult children, Kelley is eager to turn on his mic at UF and work with a pair of well-known fresh faces: football coach Billy Napier and men's basketball coach Todd Golden.
They are part of Kelley's new team.
"It's undeniable how attractive the Florida job is and how deeply humbled I am that I would even be considered, let alone chosen as the person to be a part of that and to follow a 33-year legend in Mick Hubert,'' Kelley said. "The lineage of the 'Voice of the Gators,' it's not only a short list but a Hall-of-Fame list.
"It's daunting and exciting at the same time. I don't have a signature phrase or call per se. That's not really my style. I always tell the partners I'm working with that if we're not having fun, the listener is not having fun. That's one way I go about it."
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