When Nick Wilson heard the announcement in March that Adam “The Bull” Gerstenhaber was leaving 92.3 The Fan in Cleveland, he started to think about the possibility of coming home to Ohio.
Four years earlier, Wilson had left as the evening host at The Fan for the opportunity to do middays at WFNZ in Charlotte.
“I knew from the second Adam was leaving that I was interested,” said Wilson. “I thought about it immediately. My initial thought was would this make sense? My second thought was would I even have a chance?”
But before Wilson could go forward with looking into it, he had to discuss this with his wife Vanessa.
“It took me a couple of days before I even brought it up to her because change is really hard for her and she was very happy living in Charlotte,” said Wilson. “We found a beautiful neighborhood and it was a great place to live.”
Vanessa couldn’t have been more supportive of the idea, just as long as Nick trusted the process, just like he did four years earlier when the Charlotte opportunity came about. There was a job opening back home in Cleveland, but there was still a lot that had to happen for that to be a reality.
“To her credit, she actually referred back to the day we left Cleveland in the first place,” said Wilson as he recalled the conversation with his wife. “She’s like ‘You didn’t just decide I’m going to go to Charlotte’. She was such a wonderful presence. ‘You know what this looks like the perfect spot for you. It’s the show that you love. It’s the people you love. It is working for bosses you love. But let’s go ahead and let’s really respect the process’.”
That process also included the fact that he was under contract in Charlotte, but once news of the opening in Cleveland became public Wilson was very fortunate to have understanding management at WFNZ. The Radio One group told him immediately that they would not block him from taking the job.
“(They) said if you want to go explore this…if you are interested, we totally understand that this is home and this is different for you,” said Wilson. “They were so gracious.”
Wilson got the job and he was on his way home to Cleveland with his family.
He returned to the station that he loves on July 18th to co-host the “Afternoon Drive” with Dustin Fox weekdays from 2:00-7:00 PM.
So far…so good.
“Its been re-energizing,” said Wilson. “Its really got me fired up and I feel like it’s kind of pushing me into that next step of what I want to be as a broadcaster and I’m really loving it.”
Wilson and Fox already had a bit of a working relationship going back to Wilson’s first tour of duty at The Fan, but once he threw his hat into the ring for the afternoon opening, that relationship started to grow with tryout shows and a great conversation over dinner.
The chemistry was there almost immediately.
“We both love a little bit of mischief and we both love a little bit of a wink and a nod, if you will,” said Wilson. “Dustin has been really great to me. What I’ve really been proud of is how quickly we found a nice little rhythm while continuing to evolve it into what it eventually will be over time.”
Now that Wilson is back home in Cleveland at The Fan, where he was a part-timer when the station launched in 2011, one has to wonder…how difficult was it to leave for Charlotte four years ago?
“It was really tough,” said Wilson. “I take great pride in being from Northeast Ohio. I went to high school in Peninsula. My family is from Medina County. My wife is from Portage County. I’ve spent a lot of my time watching sports in downtown Cleveland. The timing is the thing that made it a little bit easier.”
There were a number of factors that led Wilson and his family to Charlotte.
Nick and Vanessa were taking care of his terminally ill grandmother who sadly passed away in March of 2018. They still had some decisions to make in terms of their future, like trying to decide if their house was their forever home and if they should fix it up. There was also the fact that Nick and Vanessa were working opposite schedules with Nick working nights at The Fan.
A change in dayparts did not seem that promising for Wilson in Cleveland, but with three children, making a move is not easy.
At the end of the day, moving to Charlotte turned out to be the right decision at the time for Nick and his family.
“There was obviously a financial component,” said Wilson. “What agonized me was I knew it was going to be good business wise but I knew it was the right decision for the family.”
And so was the decision four years later to come home to Cleveland where Wilson now gets to talk every weekday about his hometown teams with fans who are so passionate about their sports. Regardless of how good or bad the teams are, there’s always a mix of excitement and drama and that has been a big reason why Wilson has been re-energized by his return to “The Fan”.
“We happen to have the situation where the Guardians are good, the Cavs look like they’re going to be really good and the jury is still out on the Browns,” said Wilson. “There’s always something happening in Cleveland sports. The fans here care so deeply and the media here is so entrenched. “There’s nothing like a day when Cleveland sports drama hits “The Fan” to watch it play out and try to react to it honestly.”
Nick Wilson is living the good life…make that the great life. He has a wonderful and supportive family that has been with him from working for the hometown sports station to a big move to Charlotte and now back home to a dream job at 92.3 “The Fan”.
Success is a result of hard work, but you also have to have some luck and that’s why Wilson has channeled his inner Lou Gehrig.
“I really felt lucky my entire career,” said Wilson. “I do truly feel like the luckiest man on (the face of the) earth.”
With a track record of success and a little bit of luck, Wilson is now living proof of the saying that you can go home again.
Peter Schwartz writes weekly sports radio features for Barrett Media. He has been involved in New York sports media for over three decades, and has worked for notable brands such as WFAN, CBS Sports Radio, WCBS 880, ESPN New York, and FOX News Radio. Peter has also served as play by play announcer for the New Yok Riptide, New York Dragons, New York Hitmen, Varsity Media and the Long Island Sports Network. You can find him on Twitter @SchwartzSports or email him at DragonsRadio@aol.com.
