Neal McCoy talks about ‘friend’ Blake Shelton’s endorsement to be coach on ‘The Voice’

LONGVIEW, Texas (KLTV) - Country music star and Jacksonville native Neal McCoy shares his reaction to a long-running coach of NBC’s The Voice, endorsing him to fill his seat for the next season.

Blake Shelton announced in October of this year that he was leaving the show after coaching since season one in 2011.

Shelton took to Twitter this past Friday to say, “Y’all know that next spring The Voice season 23 will be my last.... So I’d like to throw Neal McCoy’s hat in the ring as my replacement! Can I get an amen?!!!”

McCoy and Blake Shelton have been longtime friends, and Shelton has since expressed why he feels McCoy would be a great coach on The Voice. McCoy tells us what he would bring to the show.

“I think what he sees in me is that I would do a really good job,” McCoy said. “He knows what he’s done to be there and I’ve just kind of fallen in place with what he’s done, not trying to trump him or lay down on him but I think I’d be capable of doing it and I wish someone would just bring me in for an interview, that’s what I want because if they bring me in up there, they are going to say oh my gosh, this guy is going to shine over all the other judges.”

Andy Pursell is an artist out of Florida who has crossed paths with McCoy many times over his music career.

He says a few weeks after losing his voice, he had the opportunity to open for McCoy at one of his shows. Pursell tells us how he ran into McCoy backstage and asked him how to protect his voice, and McCoy gave him valuable advise.

He says he is #TeamNeal and believes he would be the perfect person to sit in Blake Shelton’s seat once he leaves The Voice next season.

“He’s just a great person,” Pursell said. “Great entertainer, like I say he’s been performing since he was a little kid all the way under Charlie Pride’s wing and look at him now he’s still grinding, he’s got a great band, every time we see him we just greatly appreciate him because there are people like him out there that care.”

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