Immortalizing the Voice: FSU to dedicate radio booth to Gene Deckerhoff at SMU game

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) -“Voices have a timeline, and my timeline is up. Go ‘Noles.”

And with just a couple sentences at Florida State’s 2022 spring game, Gene Deckerhoff signed off for one final time as “Voice of the Seminoles.” Words that ended an almost four decade run as one of college sports’ most prolific voices.

But as one timeline ended, another one began.

Jeff Culhane has just begun his fifth season succeeding Deckerhoff as “Voice” in Tallahassee, but has already cemented some iconic moments of his own like the “Block on the Bayou” against LSU in 2022, and the 2023 ACC Championship.

But the two share more than memorable calls, they also share something rare in the sometimes cutthroat world of sports broadcasting... a friendship. One built on mutual respect and admiration.

“For me it was very important to be a part of the movement from one voice to the next,” said Deckerhoff of quickly establishing a relationship with the incoming broadcaster from North Dakota State. Culhane had previously interviewed Deckerhoff when he worked in Lincoln, Nebraska, but the two had never met face-to-face until a lunch during the former’s first day on the job at FSU.

“I think the continuity of the greatness of the Seminole Radio Network is so important.”

“You can’t fill his shoes, but you put your own pair on and have fun along the way,” said Culhane of being his own man in the booth while upholding the standard of FSU’s radio network. “Every time we go into that booth and every basketball game I do think about upholding his legacy and holding that standard in the highest regard.”

That admiration and respect has driven Culhane to push a different kind of play across the goal line at Doak Campbell Stadium. The current play-by-play man has been instrumental in the dedication of Doak’s ninth floor radio booth after Deckerhoff, a project kept a secret from Gene until he was surprised by Mike Norvell and Culhane over the summer.

The booth is set to make its debut Monday night as the Seminoles welcome SMU.

“It’s been a passion project of mine for some time now,” beamed a happy Culhane of seeing the project come to life. “I’m happy that we could do something right in honoring [Gene] because that is the biggest no brainer of no brainers anywhere.”

For Culhane the effort is a privilege, for Deckerhoff it’s an honor that now ties him with another of his legendary friends.

“The stadium is named Bobby Bowden Field at Doak S. Campbell Stadium. The radio booth is now the Gene Deckerhoff Radio Booth,” said Deckerhoff of being immortalized alongside FSU’s longtime coach. “So there’s a connection between Bobby Bowden Field and Gene Deckerhoff and that probably is a bigger honor to me than anything else.”

An honor that’s an easy touchdown, no matter how you call it. Creating a timeline that will go on forever.

“It’s great to be in that booth and now it’s got my name on it.” said Deckerhoff, who visits Culhane and the rest of the Seminole Radio Network crew anytime he’s at the game. “It’s still great to be in that booth with or without the name because you feel the spirit of Florida State University football.”

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