Chris Blair knows he’s not Jim Hawthorne. And he’s not going to try to pretend to be.
Blair, the newly hired “Voice of the Tigers,” will make his play-by-play debut at Tiger Stadium on Saturday when LSU faces Jacksonville State at 6:30 p.m.
Blair also made the trip to Green Bay, Wisconsin, last week for LSU’s season-opening 16-14 loss to the Wisconsin Badgers — kick-starting the football portion of his new career.
“I’m excited, and I’ve got the best of both worlds because I got to open the season at a place like Lambeau Field, which not many people get the opportunity to do,” Blair said. “Then, I’m getting to do my first game at Tiger Stadium, which in itself is also another iconic stadium. We got through last week with flying colors from all of our guys, so that really makes me a little less anxious for the second week.”
Blair replaces LSU’s longtime Director of Radio Broadcasting Jim Hawthorne, who spent more than 30 years calling play-by-play for Tiger basketball, baseball and football. Hawthorne’s career finished following the 2015-2016 LSU basketball season, but Blair had been shadowing Hawthorne since last December.
Blair said he has big shoes to fill.
“The beauty of it was I got to spend about four months with him in the office,” he said. “I tried to absorb as much as I could and see how he handles things — the things that he has been a part of and the things that he has been through. It kind of gave me a road map to a certain degree.”
As Hawthorne’s successor, Blair serves as the weekly host of the “Les Miles Show,” from TJ Ribs each Wednesday night during football season.
Still, the shadow of Hawthorne’s eloquence hasn’t shied Blair away from what is now his stage.
“I’ve always been told in any business that you don’t want to be the guy that replaces ‘The guy,’” he said. “That’s certainly what it is here.”
Blair said he feels confident his prior experiences have prepared him for the road ahead.
He served as the general manager and the “Voice of the Eagles” at Georgia Southern University for 10 years prior to making his way to Baton Rouge.
“Georgia Southern was a good training ground, simply because they have the same passion that LSU has,” Blair said. “Whether you were the coach, a player or even the radio guy, you had to be ready because there’s always people listening and paying attention.”
Blair said he was blown away by his first experience on the microphone at Alex Box Stadium in February.
“It’s been incredible, from the people and coaches that I work with to getting to know the student athletes,” he said. “The fan base, for somebody that did not go to school here ­— I’ve been blown away at how hospitable, gracious and welcoming everybody has been since I moved here in December.”
Blair got his start in the radio business at 14 years old doing weather reports and music. He eventually found his way to the football field as a sideline reporter and a play-by-play announcer.
He credits the five years he spent behind the scenes at Clemson University with helping him realize he wanted to pursue a career in radio. He highlighted the time he spent with Jim Phillips — Clemson’s Jim Hawthorne.
“It was during those five years that I thought, ‘This is what I want to do,’” he said.
As far as his outlook for the upcoming football season goes, Blair is keeping it simple.
“I’ll just go out and try to be prepared to do the best job I can do,” Blair said. “Hopefully that will be good enough for Tiger fans.”