The Crimson Tide Sports Network has released a statement on the departure of longtime play-by-play announcer Eli Gold.

Alabama announced on Wednesday that Gold would be departing from his role as the voice of the Crimson Tide and would be replaced by Chris Stewart. Later in the day, Gold — who has been Alabama’s radio voice for 36 seasons —  made it clear his departure was not a mutual decision and said he has no plans to retire.

“Well, the university has chosen not to bring me back,” Gold, 70, told AL.com. “This is not, with a capital N-O-T, not at all health-related. I am very healthy. Everything is wonderful. I am healthy as a horse.”

Now, the Crimson Tide Sports Network has issued its response to explain Gold’s departure. The network said it gave Gold the opportunity remain in a limited role, but the veteran broadcaster declined. Here’s the statement in-full:

As we noted in yesterday’s release, Eli Gold has been a legendary broadcaster in a career spanning 52 years. In 2023, we worked out a plan to have Eli call home games plus Auburn, with Chris Stewart handling away games. We are incredibly appreciative of the positive things Eli has contributed to the Crimson Tide Sports Network and the The University of Alabama during his time with us, which is why our desire was for him to remain part of the gameday broadcast and allow us to celebrate his UA broadcast career.

But at this point, the interests of UA and CTSN are best served by Chris Stewart handling play by play for all games. After a series of conversations over a period of time, Eli was presented with an opportunity to continue his contributions to the CTSN broadcast team in the coming years in a more limited role, including the lead broadcast role for this year’s A-Day game. Unfortunately, he declined the opportunity.

We will always appreciate Eli and wish him nothing but the best in his next endeavors. We are incredibly excited about the future of CTSN and what Chris Stewart will bring to the broadcasts in his new role.

As the release noted, Stewart called nearly all of Alabama’s away games last season. He has been working with CTSN in a variety of roles since 1998.

Stewart will begin his tenure as Alabama football’s primary play-by-play voice during the Tide’s spring game on April 13.

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