John Ward (broadcaster)
John H Ward (April 22, 1930 – June 20, 2018) was an American sportscaster, best known as the radio play-by-play broadcaster for the University of Tennessee (UT), primarily from 1965 until 1999, and known to fans as the "Voice of the Vols". Background Ward grew up in South Knoxville. His father, Herschel, was principal at the Tennessee School for the Deaf, and interpreted radio broadcasts of Vols football games for students. John later described his father as "a great communicator, much better than I ever was." John graduated from Knoxville High School in 1948, and graduated from University of Tennessee-Knoxville with a degree in Political Science in 1952. He earned a law degree in 1954 at the University of Tennessee College of Law. Rather than practicing law, he decided to go into radio and advertising. Ward's first broadcast of a university basketball game for the Vol Network came in 1958. (Under the leadership of football coach Robert Neyland, sports broadcasting rights had been taken in-house.) Shortly thereafter, Ward joined the army. After returning to Knoxville, Ward went to work at the Lavidge and Davis advertising agency. In 1964 he began handling the duties as announcer-host-coordinator for University of Tennessee coaches'