Some folks in sports media take very unconventional paths to their positions, and The Volume’s John Middlekauff knows he wouldn’t change anything about his journey from college and NFL scout to radio and now podcasting.
Middlekauff, who hosts the football show 3 and Out on Colin Cowherd’s podcast network, was a guest on the SiriusXM podcast Rise and Schein with Adam Schein. He opened up about how he planted career roots in sports. Middlekauff admitted that he wasn’t going to make a career as a professional athlete himself.
“I didn’t know how I was gonna work in sports. It just kind of led me to football,” Middlekauff said. “I started having success that way and opportunities, so I just kind of went with it.”
After working as a graduate assistant at Fresno State, John Middlekauff eventually was hired to work in the scouting department for the Philadelphia Eagles. When current UCLA head coach Chip Kelly was hired by the Eagles out of Oregon, Middlekauff said he had to make a career change. He admired Kelly’s devotion to football, but he just couldn’t match that sort of passion.
“I was like, I like golf a lot. I like watching the NCAA Tournament, but like if you’ve got draft prospects you gotta do this,” he said. “It’s just very singular-focused.”
The California native eventually found his way to sports talk radio, hosting a show on 95.7 The Game with Guy Haberman, and he explained that he developed an affinity for sports talk even as a kid. So having grown up a lifelong sports fan and an avid listener of the medium, getting to work in sports talk just made sense.
“Sports talk radio was always a big part of my life, and it kind of came natural,” Middlekauff said. “The more reps you have I think the better you get just like in anything. It was just kind of a natural transition and probably something I was born to do.”
John Middlekauff added that hosts like Schein knew from the get-go that they wanted to work in radio and make it their life. He said the uncertainty of what he really wanted to do made the whole ride to The Volume worthwhile.
“Some people like me, I knew I wanted to do something,” he said. “I just didn’t know exactly and the path kind of led me ultimately to where I’m at. Meeting Colin (Cowherd) has clearly changed my life.”
