Some of you may know I have been in the podcasting space for several years. What started out as a side hustle grew into more than 20 shows, some of which were sports focused, some comedy shows and even an entertainment show with Melissa Joan Hart (aka Sabrina, the Teenage Witch). However, what we specialize in is pro wrestling nostalgia. Who knew this would be a major category in the podcast space?
When you think about it, however, a big part of podcasting is storytelling and if you can mix that with behind-the-scenes information that gives your listeners or viewers a peek behind the curtain, you have the makings of some strong content. Pro wrestlers told stories for a living, so they are trained in how to keep the audience engaged and also how to tease things that could be coming next.
I am saying this to segue into my topic for this column, which is that I am not sure who the MVP of sports broadcasting was this year, or the Comeback Sportscaster of the Year, but I can tell you who wins Rookie of the Year, in fact, it is a tie – the co-Rookie of the Year awards go to Nick Saban and Bill Belichick.
Let’s go back a year, to when everyone was making predictions and wondering what the media careers of the two might look like. I think most people believed Saban would be pretty good, however, several wondered if he would have the personality to go along with the knowledge. I thought it became pretty obvious from the get-go that Saban was a star in the making.
Many of the great coaches are terrific orators but sometimes when it comes to talking about the game of football, they can’t simplify it. They just cannot talk about it in a way that makes a lot of sense to the average fan.
With Saban, you also realize part of what made him such a great coach is that publicly he said very little. Saban’s old school and he is looking for every advantage he can possibly find and that includes not giving away any information you don’t have to give up. Now that the shackles are off and he doesn’t have a team to protect, he can talk freely about the game, and he is really good at it.
Additionally, we really didn’t know, nor could we have known how Saban would mesh with the team on College GameDay. I think anyone who has seen the show knows it has been better than anyone could have hoped. Pat McAfee brought some new energy to the show last year and Saban has brought another dimension this year, which is on pace to be the show’s best year ever.
Belichick was a little bit of a different story. There was concern about his personality, too, but it was more about if he actually had any. Lo and behold, turns out Bill Belichick can relax and have a really good conversation about football and even mix in a little fun every now and then. As far as I’m concerned, everything I’ve seen Belichick do has been above expectations.
Everyone had an opinion, and some were educated opinions from people who had spent time around Belichick. But when Tom Brady spoke on the subject at the beginning of the season and said that one of the things that made Belichick so special as a head coach was that he simplified things. Brady said while other coaches were known to make everything incredibly complicated, Belichick would make things about stopping the other team’s best players and laying out a very direct game plan which everyone knew very well.
You see that whenever Belichick is on with Pat McAfee, the Mannings or any of his other regular appearances where he really hones in on a few particular things and nothing he says is every really over complicated. This man knows more about the game of football than anyone alive and he has the ability to communicate it to the public – a terrific combination in the roles Belichick has had.
Sadly, for football fans outside of North Carolina, Belichick is headed back to the sidelines to coach in college for the UNC Tar Heels. I wrote about this after that announcement was made, but now we wait for Belichick to get the coaching out of his system, with the knowledge of how good he can be as an analyst. Belichick also knows there will be people lining up for his broadcasting services when he is ready to come back, so we will see what happens, but I predict we see Belichick back as an analyst sooner than later.
Regardless, for 2024, these two are (by far) the top newcomers in the broadcasting game. Saban and Belichick have exceeded expectations all around early in their broadcasting careers and it has been an incredible year learning from two of the brightest minds in the game’s history.
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The Best/Worst Thing I’ve Heard/Watched/Read Recently
Like many of you, I spent a lot of Christmas Day with Netflix. Not just watching the games, but also taking note of the personalities used, the sets, the graphics and whether or not I kept a strong connection and didn’t spend the day with the system buffering like for the Tyson-Paul fight.
Fortunately, all went well on my end as far as the technology. I also liked the mix of talent used and was especially impressed by Kay Adams. Leading a desk of analysts is not an easy task for someone who doesn’t do it on a regular basis. I thought she handled it well and did a great job bringing the energy.
I met Kay when she was first starting out in the business and had recently graduated from Mizzou (MIZ!). Even then, in her early 20’s, you could tell she was going to make something of herself in this crazy business. She was determined and even at such a young age, you could see the ‘It Factor’ with her.
Well, fast forward about 15 years and she is starring on one of the biggest moments in modern day broadcasting, with the NFL debuting on Netflix. Congrats to her on all of the success she has had to this point, and I am certain she is just getting started.
You can check out Kay Adams each weekday at 11 a.m. ET on the Up & Adams Show with Kay Adams from FanDuel TV by clicking here.
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In Case You Missed It
I usually try and point out something written by one of my colleagues in this space, but this week I am going to promote something I wrote for the site. I am not doing so because I wrote the story, I am doing it so you don’t miss out on reading what Infinity Sports Network’s JR SportBrief is doing with AI.
While others in our space are trying to hide from AI, thinking it will eventually replace humans needed to do our jobs, JR SportBrief is looking for ways to embrace it. The truth is, most of what AI will be able to do in our industry is enhance it, add things we may not otherwise be able to have because it calls for an additional body and salary.
JR Jackson, aka JR SportBrief has partnered Morgan State University and Google on a project which will allow his voice and personality to be used, virtually, for things like a postgame wrap up of a sporting event.
“I knew Morgan State had a journalism program that I was fond of, and I knew they just started a brand-new AI Program,” he said “I reached out and I told them what I was doing. I wondered if there was a way we could work together on this where I could work with an HBCU, give back and have this be beneficial for everybody. After talking for a few months, the answer was yes. I reached out to Google, and they paid for the completion of this project.”
Super cool story happening I hope people will read about and you can do so by clicking here.
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Dave Greene is a former Editor and Columnist for Barrett Media. His background includes over 25 years in media and content creation. A former sports talk host and play-by-play broadcaster, Dave transitioned to station and sales management, co-founded and created a monthly sports publication and led an ownership group as the operating partner. He has managed stations and sales teams for Townsquare Media, Cumulus Media and Audacy. Upon leaving broadcast media he co-founded Podcast Heat, a sports and entertainment podcasting network specializing in pro wrestling nostalgia. To interact, find him on Twitter @mr_podcasting.
