There have been several firsts in the life of AJ McCarron. At 34 years old, the Mobile, Alabama native won his first high school state football championship as a junior, leading St. Paul’s Episcopal School to a 14-1 record. He also was the first and only quarterback signed by the University of Alabama’s recruiting class of 2009. McCarron went on to win three BCS National Championships with the Crimson Tide, including back-to-back titles in 2011 and 2012, becoming the first quarterback to win back-to-back BCS Championships.
Last month, following an eight-year career in the NFL and two short stints in the XFL, McCarron added another first to his list: co-host of The Dynasty podcast featuring former Alabama teammate Trent Richardson and play-by-play announcer Chris Stewart.
“We just kept talking and eventually got something worked out. It’s exciting,” said McCarron. “I’m super excited to start this one and get this thing going.”
Working in podcasting or in sports media, McCarron said, was never in his plans. McCarron grew up three hours south of Tuscaloosa but was a fan of the Miami Hurricanes. He decided to play for the Crimson Tide following high school but did not like dealing with the media attention that came with the position. McCarron noted that being the quarterback of Alabama brought plenty of scrutiny from sports media no matter how well you played.
However, following an MCL injury in 2021, McCarron received a call that changed his mindset about working in sports media completely.
Finding Difficulties With an Opportunity at ESPN
“I was still rehabbing, trying to get my body back to 100%, and my media agency reached out to me. They had an opportunity for me to do College Game Day radio and do some shows with ESPN,” explained McCarron. “I took that opportunity. It was a great learning experience.”
McCarron found himself working filling in on roles for ESPN Radio and television, but the former quarterback didn’t find the work as he thought it would be. The former signal-caller said there were difficulties working for the company with unbalanced scheduling and an uncomfortable approach to producing content.
“The way that they go about the shows were different, having to push certain narratives and stuff. That’s not who I am. I like being able to speak my truth. Either people are going to like it, or they aren’t, but at least they know where I stand,” McCarron said. “Going into that and having to push a certain narrative that I didn’t really believe in. That’s not something I want to do.”
McCarron worked on a number of programs, including College Gameday on ESPN Radio with Trevor Matich and Matt Schick, but also worked on several television programs for ESPN. He said he found himself confused by the fact that he was being directed to act a certain way or refrain from discussing the game using football terminology “that fans don’t understand.”
“You didn’t have as much say in what you talked about. It was, ‘this is what we’re going to talk about. This is the side that we want you to push. You other three, this is what we want you to push,’” explained McCarron. “I was doing shows with people that never played the game of football. It would end up being a debate, me against the three other people on the show. We’re debating about football, and they had never played a down of football. It’s like what the hell am I doing?”
McCarron continued “I’m sitting here talking about the game and s**t that actually happens, and I’m debating people that have never played. The three-against-one deal really pushed me away from the show. It made me not love going up there and being a part of it anymore.”
Following a conversation with production staff at ESPN, McCarron saw an opportunity to grow viewership while teaching the game of football to the viewing audience. He recalled a moment when he was in a debate with a talent on ESPN who was unable to remember a receiver McCarron played with to compare to a present-day receiving corps. For McCarron, that was his final straw with working for the network at the time.
“We’re not doing the viewership justice by just having people on here just spew random s**t that they don’t know what they’re talking about,” noted McCarron.
The Path To Podcasting Was Born For McCarron
With the learning experience McCarron had with ESPN, he was in search of another calling, which he found in podcasting. He made several appearances on the McCready & Siskey podcast over the past couple of years, leading to an opportunity with Sinclair as the company continues to expand its local podcasting portfolio with sports. Every week, McCarron, along with his former teammate Trent Richardson and play-by-play voice Chris Stewart, aims to bring the most engaging conversation surrounding Alabama football and college football.
“What I love about our show in the podcast form, you’re not really on a time restraint. Even though we try to do it within a certain amount of time,” said McCarron. “If you go over and you’re going over in the correct way, you’re teaching and doing something right to help the fans better understand. That’s the part that I love about podcasting—you’re not limited to anything. You’re not truly having anybody that’s ‘oh you got to say this or push this narrative.’ That’s the part that just makes it fun for me.”
McCarron believes that the appeal of college football is universal. While The Dynasty may be framed as an Alabama Crimson Tide–focused podcast, the goal is to bring in more consumers who love college football and expand the audience through that passion for the game. He considers success for The Dynasty to be growing the audience, increasing sponsorships, and also providing a constant education for the audience—so they can walk away from every episode with something they didn’t know before.
“I think that’s how we get this thing to grow, is people leave each episode where they’re like, ‘damn I learned something today,’” explained McCarron. “That’s how you grasp the audience and get people to start viewing/listening in on a weekly basis.”
The Student Now Becomes The Teacher
Although his sports media career has been short, McCarron is aware that the podcasting space is continuing to grow exponentially. As NIL continues to find avenues for student-athletes to be compensated for their participation on the field, many student-athletes are leaping into the sports media or podcasting space while still playing the game of football. For McCarron, he attempted to limit the number of media interactions he had as a player at Alabama and would recommend that athletes not take their eyes off the ball chasing dollars in sports media while playing.
“If you want to do something as a player and start building your brand, I see nothing wrong with it by doing it in the off-season,” said McCarron. “It’s not just about your brand. These kids got to realize you’re building a little bit of a brand, but what’s your main job? It’s to be a football player. It’s not to be a podcast or a social media influencer. You can do all that in the right way, but don’t overdo it because it will hurt you when it comes to the next level.”
As The Dynasty begins its journey into the podcasting space, McCarron is embracing the challenges of the process—crafting topics for discussion throughout the week with a keen focus on teaching the game that he loves to the audience. For a kid from Mobile who never dreamt about working in sports media, he’s hoping to turn a podcasting first with The Dynasty into a franchise for the future.
Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.
John Mamola is Barrett Media’s sports editor and daily sports columnist. He brings over two decades of experience (Chicago, Tampa/St Petersburg) in the broadcast industry with expertise in brand management, sales, promotions, producing, imaging, hosting, talent coaching, talent development, web development, social media strategy and design, video production, creative writing, partnership building, communication/networking with a long track record of growth and success. He is a five-time recognized top 20 program director in a major market via Barrett Medi’s Top 20 series and has been honored internally multiple times as station/brand of the year (Tampa, FL) and employee of the month (Tampa, FL) by iHeartMedia. Connect with John by email at John@BarrettMedia.com.
Well, maybe now McCarron will be known for something other than musberger calling out his hot wife. And I’m sure there’s a lot of people in Alabama who love to talk about football. I mean, what else is there?