Bob Kesling is entering his 19th season as Tennessee football’s “Voice of the Vols.”

As Team 121 inches closer to kicking off the 2017 season in Atlanta’s new Mercedes-Benz Stadium against Georgia Tech, Kesling shared his thoughts with Saturday Down South.

“It will be kind of strange being able to drive by there and see the Georgia Dome and not be headed to that stadium,” Kesling said, referencing the venue that the new stadium is replacing.

“You remember going down and playing games at the old Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, Bobby Dodd Stadium, the Georgia Dome … (it) will be interesting to see how this new stadium works out.”

This will be Tennessee’s 44th meeting with Georgia Tech but first since 1987.

“It’s been an interesting rivalry,” Kesling said. “Both schools were in the same conference twice, in the Southern Conference and in the SEC. When Georgia Tech dropped out of the SEC back in 1963, they (Tennessee and Tech) continued to play.

“There’s a rich history, and when you look back at the relationship Tennessee has had between Bobby Dodd and Georgia Tech – and Frank Broyles is an interesting connection as he was a great player at Georgia Tech and then went to Arkansas as head coach. At that time, assistants under him were Johnny Majors and Doug Dickey. They learned a lot about Broyles and a lot about football from Georgia Tech, then brought those things to Tennessee.”

When it comes to the overall season outlook for the Vols in Butch Jones’ fifth season, Kesling says the depth of the roster stands out.

“I think they have more people to pick from, depth-wise, which is a good thing,” he said.  “You look at where Coach Jones was when he came to Tennessee, he only had four offensive linemen and just a couple of defensive backs, so it’s hard to replace those areas because you’re always losing guys to injuries or graduation.

“So you have to keep filling up the cupboard, because the great teams in the country just plug the next guy in when they lose someone, and there’s not much of a dropoff.”

Bob Kesling is a 1977 UT grad who has worked Vols broadcasts in some capacity since even before he graduated.

In his third season at Tennessee, Jones mentioned that “it takes six to seven years in the SEC to really build a program.” Based on the number of highly-touted players on the practice field, the roster has continued to move forward since Jones took over in 2013 as the Vols’ fourth head coach in six years.

“What hurt Tennessee was all the coaching changes,” Kesling said. “Anytime you have coaching changes, most coaches will tell you it takes five years or so to replenish a roster. When you have back-to-back coaching changes, that sets you back 10 years maybe.

“So Butch Jones has been trying to dig out of that. I’m sure he wishes that more winning and success would have come earlier, but you have to be patient and you have to be able to make sure you keep building this program the right way. And I think that’s what he is doing.”

Kesling says recruiting even more quality depth is vital if Jones and the Vols want to reach a level where they can   withstand the types of injuries and departures that plagued the team last year.

“That’s where Tennessee is trying to get to,” he said. “I think they’re doing a better job of it, they’re getting closer to that by just having quality depth. You look at the offensive line: if they get them all healthy, I think that’s a lot better than it has been the last couple of years.

“While they lost a lot of great players on the defensive front, I think their numbers will show you that they have some candidates that could be stars in the near future. So they have the guys there to replace them.

“You just can’t control the injury situation, but you better be prepared for it because you know it’s going to happen. That’s why depth is such an issue. I think that’s where Tennessee knows the situation, and they have addressed it and are trying to get deeper and deeper every year. And I think they are.

“I’ll be really interested to see how this team plays. They lost a lot of talent from last year and a lot of guys that are in the NFL now. You have to replace those guys first, and then you have to make sure you have these young guys, quality guys to step up and give you depth.

“That’s what makes college football so intriguing every year. It’s not like the NFL when a guy retires or you go out and trade for a guy, or draft a guy for a specific spot, it’s all about bringing 17-18 year old kids along and turn them into young men. You have this guy being the next great player and you can’t wait to see him develop. We’ll see how this Tennessee team comes along this year.”

As for the quarterback position under new offensive coordinator Larry Scott, Kesling expects a more aggressive downfield passing attack this season.

“(Quinten) Dormady is a junior and has been around for two years. It’s not like he is a raw rookie being thrown in there. Then (Jarrett) Guarantano, although he hasn’t played, has been around here for awhile. So he kind of knows what the landscape is and what the expectation is with the intensity you have to play with in this conference.

“You will see Tennessee throw the ball down field more than they have in the last couple of years,” he said. Both signal-callers will need “to show they can throw it on time, to the right guy and get them out of bad plays into good ones.

“If you look at any team in the SEC, you have to have good quarterback play to win. You have to have quarterbacks that can make plays and, more importantly, do not get you beat. And that is what these two guys have to prove — that they can go out there and handle the game plan, make the throws, get you out of bad plays and not turn the ball over.

“We’ve never seen either one play in the fourth quarter when the game is on the line, or step in there against Alabama, Florida or Georgia.”

But we’re about to, and Kesling will be there to tell us about it.