Georgia Tech athletic director Mike Bobinski called replacing play-by-play voice Wes Durham a daunting task. Plenty of people, though, apparently want the opportunity.
“It’s a big job, but it’s an attractive job,” Bobinski said. “I think we’ve (had) a lot of people that are very, very good, very talented, express interest, and I think it’ll be all about finding the right person that fits our circumstances best. We’ll get somebody good. I have no question about that.”
Bobinski said that more than 100 people applied for the job. It was performed for the past 18 years by Durham, who left the post to pursue an opportunity in television play-by-play. IMG College, which holds Tech’s multimedia rights, has begun the preliminary screening work. Together, athletic department officials and IMG College will choose a pool of finalists who will be brought in for interviews. Tech will have the final say in selecting Durham’s successor.
Speaking June 28, Bobinski said he thought that the interview process could be accomplished “in the next few weeks.” Tech’s first game is in eight weeks, Aug. 31 against Elon, which happens to be Durham’s alma mater.
As is the case with most play-by-play voices, Bobinski wants someone who will be a face of the program, engage the fan base and assimilate into the culture, much the same way that Durham did.
“You really become a representative of the program in a lot of ways, so we want to make sure it’s somebody that, No. 1, is up for that, and understands that that’s part of what we’re doing here,” Bobinski said. “This is not just a ‘show up and call the games’ (job). It’s being at practice, it’s getting to know the coaches, sort of get to know the community and the feel of our department in a way that, when they speak about us, it’s with some level of familiarity.”
That aspect of the job, Bobinski said, is as important as anything. On broadcasting style, Bobinski said the ideal is somewhere between unbiased and outright homer.
“The really good announcers know how to balance that, and you know which side they’re representing, but you also don’t have to roll your eyes and say, ‘Are you kidding me?’” Bobinski said. “Not every call is a bad call against your team.”
On the other hand, he said, “if it’s a 50/50 play, I know which side of the 50 I want you to come down on.”
Bobinski also said that there had been no discussion about changing the analysts for Tech’s broadcasts, Rick Strom for football and Randy Waters for basketball.
“I would suspect that our analysts would certainly be invited to continue,” he said.
