New Bucs Play-By-Play Man Tony Castricone Said He Cannot Replace Gene Deckerhoff
June 25th, 2026
New radio voice of the Bucs, Tony Castricone.
So the new radio voice of the Bucs hopped on WDAE-AM 620/WDAE-FM 95.7 yesterday to introduce himself to Bucs fans throughout the region.
The Bucs this week announced that University of Washington play-by-play man Tony Castricone has succeeded the great Gene Deckerhoff as the radio play-by-play man of the Bucs..
Castricone appeared yesterday on “The Drive” with Tom Krasniqi and spoke about the process. Castricone said his family is as pumped as he is about his new gig.
“It’s such a good move for my family, my career,” Castricone said. “We’re so fired up to get down there.”
He had a great gig with the University of Washington and really wasn’t looking to leave unless a great opportunity arose, Castricone said. The Bucs were that opportunity. When he first brought the idea up to his wife about trying to land Deckerhoff’s old gig, her respons was, “In Tampa, Fla? Doing the NFL? Uh, yes!”
Castricone added he had a connection with the search firm Team Glazer hired to find Deckerhoff’s successor. And “the process kind of evolved from there.”
A big factor in coming to Tampa was that Team Glazer was looking for a full-time staffer, Castricone said. This was important to Castricone as he was a full-time employee of the University of Washington and was content with his position.
As a full-time Bucs staffer, Castricone will act as a point person for the Bucs in various community endeavors, among other roles — the face of the franchise in some ways.
Castricone met current Bucs radio analyst Dave Moore and the two called a Bucs game from last season off a big screen TV. That was Castricone’s audition.
“It felt right the whole time,” Castricone said.
It started to sink in that he was the new voice of the Bucs when he got a phone call and the number was Deckerhoff’s (the two have known each other since Castricone called Clemson basketball games and, of course, Deckerhoff was the voice of Florida State). Castricone said he answered and was met with a booming, “FIRE THE CANNONS!”
“It was a special moment,” Castricone said. “It’s not lost on me — there is no replacing someone like Gene Deckerhoff. You are just the next man up.”
That wasn’t the only congratulatory call Castricone received. He got well-wishes from former Huskies coaches Chris Peterson and (current Alabama coach) Kalen DeBoer and current Huskies coach (and University of Florida graduate) Jedd Fisch.
So, while every Bucs fan will forever remember Deckerhoff’s signature, “Touchdown Tampa Bay! Fire the cannons!” does Castricone have a catchphrase?
“I think that’s going to be a little bit of a wait-and-see,” Castricone told Krasniqi. “I have a couple of ideas.”
Castricone also said Deckerhoff’s “Fire the cannons” was a “perfect call” for the Bucs playing in front of a booming pirate ship.
Asked for some broadcasters he admired in college, Castricone rattled off Keith Jackson, Brent Musberger, Vin Scully and Jack Buck.
“This is definitely not about me,” Castricone said. “It’s about us.”
We're excited to introduce Tony Castricone as the organization’s new radio play-by-play announcer 📻
With more than two decades of experience, @Castricone was selected to succeed Buccaneer legend Gene Deckerhoff and lead Buccaneers Radio Network coverage.
Welcome to the Krewe,… pic.twitter.com/sJw5EtF03E
— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) June 23, 2026
June 25th, 2026 at 6:25 am
Good luck Tony! Let’s be sure to get the call right: caught ball vs interception. Thank goodness for Dave Moore.
June 25th, 2026 at 7:00 am
Gene has been amazing. As he got older, he started making mistakes, but I didn’t care.
Then last season he collapsed during calling a bucs game. He needed to retire.
June 25th, 2026 at 7:20 am
Best wishes to Gene in his retirement, thanks Gene. I haven’t heard Tony yet and I’ll actually look forward to a preseason game for his calls.
June 25th, 2026 at 7:32 am
I was just thinking that the Bucs have not hired anyone in 36-37 years for this job. Gene was hired by the last administration (or the one before that) so no one here has any experience at hiring someone for a job this momentous. (And I have no idea if they did this in England, metric kickball does not count.) So of course they used a search firm, it makes sense. Was Gene the longest tenured employee of the team?
Hope the new guy (I’ll learn his name later) is great but it will take at least a full season, or more, to find out.
June 25th, 2026 at 7:38 am
I’ve never heard this guy’s voice, and yet I know he’ll be better than Gene!
Thank GAWD!!!
June 25th, 2026 at 7:43 am
I don’t live in Tampa any more but I haven’t missed a Bucs game in YEARS – thank you Sunday Ticket. For several seasons I tried to figure out how to get Gene’s radio broadcast to marry with the game on TV. You know…turn the TV down and the radio up. “I flopped. Fair winds and following seas Mr. Deckerhoff! You will be missed”
June 25th, 2026 at 8:15 am
I always find myself wondering if guys like this do a play by play while they are hooking up with their wives, lol!
Also, I’ll miss Deckerhoff a LOT!
June 25th, 2026 at 8:58 am
The full-time staffer angle is a little disconcerting. Having to tow the company line is probably not going to be condusive to honest commentary. You never would get totally unfiltered, I get it, but I hope he will have some leeway to keep it real.
Any chatter about when Gene will be added to the ROH? This year seems right.
June 25th, 2026 at 10:41 am
Why would he want to “replace” him… The dude is his own man and he signed to do a job. Hes not here to copy and be Gene 2.0.
Everything I hear about this guy is great… Looking forward to it.
June 25th, 2026 at 11:07 am
@dungydance
Its like that also with the local media covering the bucs they need access so spew a narrative . Its up to the fan if they want to follow the herd or have their own thoughts. How many people jumped on the fire Bowles bandwagon only after the pathetic finish to the season. The ones that saw it first were labeled as negative and thats because the herd bought into what the local media was spewing and were believers despite the bucs not being able to stop anyone. JSN, Kendrick Bourne, Gibbs , St brown, henderson, josh allen 6tds, rams game over by halftime.
June 25th, 2026 at 11:08 am
I caught the interview while out running around yesterday! After his wife said that about Tampa and THE NFL, she said to “Learn More About This!” This was after the NCAA Tournament, when they decided to look around at the possible ‘openings’ across the country. He said that he used to listen to and study ‘clips’ of some of Gene’s calls on the old Yahoo Videos site, when he was first getting into the industry.
June 25th, 2026 at 12:23 pm
Great article, Joes. I love it that Gene called him and boomed “Fire the Cannons!”
June 25th, 2026 at 1:53 pm
June – “In Tampa, Fla? Doing the NFL? Uh, yes!”
July – WOW! It’s freaking hot!!”
August – “OMG! I thought last month was hot! You can wear the air!”
September – “The mosquitoes are the size of pterodactyls! And it’s still hot!”
October – “When do the leaves change? And why’s it still so @#@#$#@ hot?!’
November- “It’ll cool off by Thanksgiving…..right? Please God? Please?!”
December – “86° on Christmas Day?! Nooooooooooo!”
January – “Finally! A cold snap!! Wait! That’s it?!! WTAF?!”
February 14th, Valentine’s Day – “Get off me you sweaty bastard!! I wanna go home!!”
June 25th, 2026 at 3:43 pm
^^^
March – “Although another 8-9 season was disappointing by any measure, this team is built for the future. Everyone from the front office to the players to the coaches and training staff are fully committed to excellence. I am certain that all Bucs fans alike will rejoice in the 10 year contract renewal just extended to our great head coach, and will agree that the free agency for our quarterback is nothing to worry about.”
June 25th, 2026 at 7:28 pm
“I’ve never heard this guy’s voice, and yet I know he’ll be better than Gene!
Thank GAWD!!!”
Aw man, what a terrible take!
June 25th, 2026 at 7:30 pm
Gene was the Gordon Solie of FL football!!!
June 25th, 2026 at 11:53 pm
I listened to some of his stuff, he’s pretty good. A bit generic, but good energy. Should do fine. But he will never be in the same ballpark as Gene – but then again, very few are.
June 25th, 2026 at 11:56 pm
Locked In Says:
June 25th, 2026 at 7:30 pm
Gene was the Gordon Solie of FL football!!!
———–
Solie was a legend, he presented what you were watching like it was real, never broke character, was really good at what he did. But I’d say Mean Gene was much more like Jim Ross, brought a ton of energy, had a unique voice, and did an amazing job laying out the scene for radio listeners – something that was absolutely required when half the games each year were blacked out for decades.
June 26th, 2026 at 6:04 am
I remember one of the Assassins menacingly telling Solie he was goody-two-shoes and acting like he would smack Solie, but then exits the interview abruptly. Solie looks at the camera and says “The words of a one Mr. Assassin”. Smooth.
Now leaving nostalgia land: Lets fire those cannons for touchdowns this year!
June 26th, 2026 at 1:18 pm
Nobody’s ever going to be able to replace Mean Gene the Talking Machine, and at least Castricone knows and acknowledges it.
The object for Castricone is to come to this job and bring what he brings, not to emulate or replace Gene.
The object for The Krewe is to give him a few years to make this job his own.
We may not like him on Day One. We’ll need to get over that and give him time to get comfortable.