On July 17, 2020, exactly four years ago, what was then Entercom and the Kansas City Chiefs announced their new broadcast team for what would be the first year of a new broadcasting agreement that made 106.5 The Wolf the team’s new radio flagship. Mitch Holthus would return for his 27th season with the team but the other two key members of the broadcast team were new. 610 Sports Radio host Josh Klingler was named the sideline reporter and former Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver, and sports broadcaster Danan Hughes was named the new color analyst.
BSM spoke with Hughes today about what he remembers about the process of being hired and how he has enjoyed all of the success the team has had in those four years.
“It was kind of a whirlwind because it was unexpected, and it was a huge, unexpected blessing,” Hughes said about getting asked to interview and try out for the position.
Hughes remembers Chiefs Radio Network Executive Producer Dan Israel asking him to come to his home studio to do a trial run with Holthus. Hughes said Israel was short on details and Hughes didn’t find out what the game was going to be until he arrived for the test run.
“I literally showed up at his basement and he turned on the Chiefs-Titans game from the year before. So, I had to kind of go back into my memory bank on the spot for the game and the players.”
Hughes had done plenty of broadcasting at that point, having done games with ESPN, the Big Ten Network and for the Missouri Valley Conference, all outlets he still does work for. Hughes and Holthus had worked together on a Missouri Valley Conference basketball game several years earlier and Hughes said the chemistry between the two was evident fairly early on in the trial.
“I do remember the synergy that Mitch and I had was pretty clear,” he said. “I was very comfortable with him. We didn’t step on each other. Dan [Israel] gave me some of the insight about making sure that Mitch’s calls are clean and to be conscious of not stepping on each other. And then we just kind of took the ball and ran with it and it was pretty smooth.”
Hughes, who was a two-sport standout in both football and baseball at Iowa before being drafted in both sports, said he could tell by the facial expressions in the room that things were going well.
“I don’t know if it they were pleasantly surprised or just satisfied with it, but it kind of gave me a little bit more confidence as we went through the first half.”
Hughes believes part of the reason he was able to start out strong with Holthus and the rest of the crew was because he had been listening to the radio broadcasts for the past decade. After his playing days, Hughes was at the stadium for home games working as part of the team’s ambassadors and making suite visits or moving around to other parts of Arrowhead, he listened to the broadcasts on a transistor radio with an earpiece.
“I would listen to the game because I was doing a pregame and postgame show,” he said. “Obviously I can’t really hear the television broadcast and hear a lot of what’s going on. So, I would walk around, I looked like I was CIA or something, and I’d listen to Lenny [Dawson] and then Kendall [Gammon]. So, I kind of knew the tone of the broadcast.”
Holthus’ first year with the team was the second season Hughes played for the team so the two have been around the organization for a long time together. Hughes said the pair sat down for lunch and talked shortly after he received news he would be joining the booth.
“I’ve listened to you forever and it feels like you wear the hat of the play-by-play announcer and maybe you feel like you have to carry some of the color analyst work,” Hughes remembers saying to Holthus. “I just wanted to let him know that he doesn’t have to do that. I was totally comfortable with carrying the color analyst spot and all that that entails so he can focus on the play-by-play. I remember him feeling a little bit of relief and recognizing that I was on point.”
As it turned out that first season was not only different because of the radio station and the team of broadcasters. It was also during COVID and there was no traveling for road games. While they much preferred to be with the team and at the stadium, Hughes thinks the situation was helpful.
“It added a little different nuance to it,” Hughes said. “And I feel like that helped us grow together stronger, quicker.”
Of course, the team having a lot of success makes for better games to broadcast. In the four years since Hughes started, the team has made three Super Bowl appearances and won two of them. The playoff success the team has had is something Hughes missed out on as a player. The team made the playoffs in four of his seasons but the era was looked at as disappointing because of a lack of success in the postseason.
“I keep saying that Josh Klingler and I deserve to be on the podium, right?” Hughes joked. “Don’t we deserve a little bit of magic? It’s awesome to be a part of the success. Being here for so long and being part of some of the dismal history of the postseason Chiefs as a player, it’s been a real blessing to be a part of the success on the flip side. I don’t know if I can take any credit, but, when I get old and extra gray, I’m definitely going to spruce up some of these stories to make it sound great to my grandkids.”
