As the new voice of Alabama football, Chris Stewart gets to realize a long-held ambition.

When he was younger and growing up in Fairfield, he used to dream of becoming the Alabama Crimson Tide’s voice. He did, in fact, say that to a few people.

When we fast-forward to 2024, he is. Stewart will now serve as the voice of Alabama football going forward, and Eli Gold, who has done so since 1988, will not be returning in the fall, according to a Wednesday announcement from the Crimson Tide Sports Network.

“The Alabama job means so much to so many people, what it means to me professionally, is why this means so much,” Stewart said in an interview with The Tuscaloosa News. “It’s unique not only because it’s Alabama, but also because the guys who held this position before me are individuals I have always held in the highest regard on a professional level. Paul Kennedy, John Forney, and Eli without a doubt. I hope that I can approach this work with the same respect, enthusiasm, and thoughtfulness that he has always shown for it because I am aware of how much this job has meant to him.

Stewart has already been calling football games the past two seasons; in 2022, he filled in for Gold who missed the season while fighting cancer. Gold came back in 2023 and the two split games; Stewart took away games and the postseason while Gold called home games and the Iron Bowl.

Now, Stewart will be the lone voice of the football program.

Stewart remarked, “I listened to these guys when I was younger.” “Everyone, the three of them. What makes this even more meaningful is that I consider all three of them to be friends and that I have known them all. It’s Alabama. It would still mean a lot to me professionally even if I were from Anchorage, Alaska. It is a great pleasure to have known John, Paul, and Eli, to have respect for them, to be aware of their broadcasting careers, and to have the chance to be the next.

Stewart has received no shortage of phone calls and text messages since the news broke. When he spoke to The Tuscaloosa News on Wednesday afternoon, Stewart had 92 unanswered texts. Of all the phone calls and texts Stewart got, one struck him the most ― The one telling him the job was officially his.

“I was not expecting to get that phone call and I was not expecting to get that news today,” Stewart said. “So frankly I was surprised but pleasantly so.”

Amid his reflection, Stewart thought back to conversations he used to have at a driving range in Bessemer when he was 15. Stewart worked there, and that’s where he met Leland Chiles.

Chiles called Crimson Tide games when there was no single station with exclusive rights to broadcast Alabama football. When Chiles first met Stewart, he was retired, but he would still share anecdotes from his profession with Stewart.

Stewart stated, “He would have really gotten a kick out of today.”

Stewart was en route to the Alabama basketball game versus Florida when he talked with The Tuscaloosa News. Even with his new role as the football program’s radio voice, he plans to continue calling Alabama basketball games. Stewart claimed it hadn’t entirely hit him until he entered Coleman Coliseum to make the call for the basketball game. But he thought things would change rapidly.

“I simply feel so appreciative that I have this chance,” Stewart remarked. “I sincerely hope I can live up to the bar that Eli and others who came before my set.”