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Ryan Harris Committed To His Craft & His Goal

“I really do not have an expectation on the outcome. I will tell you though that everywhere I go I will be the best prepared.”

Brian Noe

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Is Ryan Harris a dumb ex-jock? Absolutely not. Is Ryan Harris a busy man that’s balancing a successful career? As Jules in Pulp Fiction once said — correctamundo. Harris has some serious brain power, which helps explain his busy schedule. He is a color analyst for Notre Dame football broadcasts and a midday host in Denver on Altitude Sports Radio 92.5. He does some postgame work for CBS and has been a sideline reporter two Monday Night Football games this year. Oh, I almost forgot to mention that he does speaking engagements, emcees events, and has a best-selling book out as well.

Silly me.

Just a few other minor details to mention — Harris is a Notre Dame graduate, NFL veteran of 10 years, and a Super Bowl 50 champion. I’m on pace to get carpal tunnel listing off all of this stuff.

You might think someone with this much success could be difficult to get along with due to a massive ego. That simply isn’t the case with Harris. He’s a very nice guy that is more interested in improving instead of reminding people how accomplished he already is.

I love how Harris can go from insightful thoughts like surrendering the outcome, and quickly transition to a stance on f-bombs and keeping football fun. It’s so important to be versatile in life to better connect with a vast range of people. Shocker alert — this is another skill that the former offensive tackle possesses. I truly had a good time chatting with him. I’m confident you will have a good time reading this as well. Enjoy. And Go Irish!

Brian Noe: What has been the most valuable thing you’ve applied from playing sports to broadcasting about sports?

Ryan Harris: That’s a great question. I would say the ability to study. Even players in the NFL, it’s so hard to study and to know what to study. For me to be able to continue to study with my experience, that’s something that really has helped me in broadcasting because you never know what you’re going to use and when you’re going to use it. For me it’s fun to continue my pursuit of knowledge through learning the stories of the many players, coaches, and teams that I’ve covered.

BN: Who did you learn the most from in your playing career that you can apply to broadcasting now?

RH: I had some great coaches, man — Gary Kubiak, Mike Tomlin. Gary Kubiak was so thorough and so honest with his players. Same thing with Mike Tomlin. Mike Tomlin starts his meetings every morning with the Pittsburgh Steelers the same way. The first rule of getting better is showing up. Second rule — listening is a skill. It’s your job to learn how you listen and our job as coaches to give you information that matters.

Learning from those two coaches, my preparedness is on me. I can’t be upset in a game with a coach if I see a blitz that we covered on 3rd & 7 and I don’t pick it up. Well, they covered it. That’s something that I have to take pride in beforehand. Learning from Gary Kubiak and Mike Tomlin helped me in that respect. In the career, no question Aaron Taylor has been a huge mentor for me as well as Gerry Matalon and Howard Deneroff. Just listening to people when I actually get the chance to be around them and reading about some of the broadcasters that I think are great. Reading about Collinsworth and how he approaches a broadcast, how he prepares and studies film. Those things have been really helpful. 

BN: What was your welcome-to-the-NFL moment where you realized you were on a different stage?

RH: My rookie year I was walking from the locker room in the Broncos facility to the training room. I was walking through and John Lynch — somebody I had looked up to for a long time — said hey, Ryan. He just kind of walked past me. I was like oh my God. That is John Lynch and he knows my name. 

Image result for john lynch broncos

Playing against Tamba Hali was the first time I played a chess player. Tamba Hali, DeMarcus Ware, Khalil Mack, Von Miller, all those guys are chess players. They’re going to do their due diligence on you and they’ll know within two to four snaps whether you’ve been studying film on them. If you’re trying something different, those kind of guys will wait the whole game to pull out their best pass-rush move.

Tamba Hali stood up and just clubbed me with an inside club move one time. Right as I was falling to the ground, I was like oh, he was watching film on me and waiting for me to do that. Then I hit the ground. That was like a whoa, these guys are different than in college. You realize as soon as you’re on the ground that it’s not about getting hit to the ground. That’s going to happen to everybody. But the fact is were you there to get knocked over? I’ve been ran over and sat on a couple times. It doesn’t feel good. But the look on your opponent’s face when you get up from getting knocked down is priceless. That’s the moment that I love anytime I got knocked down and anytime I will get knocked down in the future.

BN: What was your welcome-to-broadcasting moment when you realized you were on a stage that you weren’t accustomed to?

RH: (Laughs) Yeah, it was an adjustment to be near football and around football and not be able to swear. Learning how to comment on a play, or an execution, or a tackle, that was hard to not use some of the language that I grew up using in football.

BN: That’s funny, man. Did you do a decent amount of cussing on the football field?

RH: Yeah, it’s just a different culture on the field of play, especially in the NFL. One time I remember my first year playing against Joey Porter. He went after a receiver on our team and said “I’ll skin your tattoos off you in front of your children.” I was like whoa, what’s happening here? It’s just a different environment.

Even in college to grow up around great and tough coaching, to then be broadcasting and remembering that this may be a parent, or father, or friends in a car with kids. Being so close to the game and having to kind of censor myself was definitely like I’m in broadcasting now. This is a different thing.

BN: If there was a game or a show that you could cuss on, what’s something you might say?

RH: A lot of “what the f***”, or “what the f*** was that?”. Colorful language — the f-word is prominent in football. One of the things I learned outside of football is that swearing really puts people on edge. It can really affect people whereas in the NFL that’s part of the language, especially on the field.

I learned that lesson and I’m so grateful that I know what it’s like on the field. I know what that sounds like. I know what it’s like to be challenged man to man physically as well as mentally and emotionally. I know how to battle through that and that’s a large part of the reason why I wrote my book to encourage others to choose their mindset and overcome their obstacles.

BN: How would you summarize your book Mindset for Mastery?

Image result for mastery ryan harris

RH: Winning the Super Bowl, everything you believe about yourself comes true for other people. I want people to have that moment in their life. The moment we won the Super Bowl and the clock struck zero, I wasn’t complaining about sacrificing Saturday mornings after high school graduation to go train. I wasn’t complaining about the yoga classes and the strength training and learning how to breathe again with MMA fighters to be a part of the hurry-up offense that we ran with Peyton. All your sacrifice is worth it.

When you choose your mindset, you will overcome not only obstacles, but people who may be obstacles in your life, people who may not be encouraging. There are 1,600 players in the NFL this year. Only 53 will call themselves champions and it will be because they’ve committed not only to the craft and the individual details, but to their teammates and to their goal. When you do that, it’s an amazing feeling. There aren’t enough voices to encourage us to go after those dreams in those moments. So many times we fail and we think that’s it, or so many times we want to do something knowing that it’s going to pan out. We don’t get to know those answers, but you do get to choose your mindset each and every day.

BN: What are the biggest hurdles you’ve had to clear in your career?  

RH: The first game I started was a Monday night in Oakland. I remember waking up that morning thinking run, give back the money. You’re going to embarrass yourself. You’re going to give up six sacks on Jay Cutler on Monday Night Football. Everyone’s going to know you’re a fraud. So I had to battle tremendous self-doubt. I really had to learn how to perform with my fear. Recognize my fear, recognize that certain thoughts aren’t real, and also learn how to recognize distractions.

BN: Do you think you have to experience some level of success to have true confidence and get rid of self-doubt?

RH: Absolutely not. You do not need any past experience of success to succeed. You do need a willingness to try new things, a willingness to learn, and a willingness to work. There are over 200 diamonds in my Super Bowl 50 ring. None of them were laying on the ground ready to be picked up. You’ve got to dig for your diamonds. Past success or past failure does not matter when you’ve made up your mind that you’re going to accomplish something and you’re willing to do what is necessary to overcome and work through.

BN: Have you ever had experiences with teammates — broadcasting or football — that didn’t have a positive mindset and didn’t accomplish what they were capable of?

RH: Oh, all the time. All the time. That was a big adjustment for me in my early years in the NFL. Sometimes on teams I was on, guys didn’t care about winning. They cared about getting their numbers, getting their contract, and making it look good enough for them to be back next year.

One of the things I learned playing with Peyton is, Peyton Manning prepares and it looks extremely different than anyone else. He doesn’t care. He doesn’t care what it looks like. He doesn’t care what problems people have with the way he prepares. That was a great lesson for me. Champions look different. We sound different. Because of that, you’re going to be different. Until I was around some champions, I really didn’t notice that.

Image result for peyton manning super bowl 50

Even in the NFL, not everybody wants be a champion. You really have got to work hard to believe in yourself and your mission because you’ll be around a lot of people in the NFL with a lot of money that may not want to be successful.

BN: What’s your proudest achievement as a football player?

RH: Oh, man. Going to my teammate Lonie Paxton’s charity event because that’s where I met my wife. (Laughs) Outside of that, the night before the Super Bowl I told myself I am a champion. I can go out tomorrow and play my tail off. I will. I envisioned raising the trophy. For some reason when I sat there, closed my eyes and visualized it, I could only see the trophy from the bottom up. Well, fast forward 24 hours later and here’s Peyton Manning handing me the Lombardi Trophy from the stage. I’m touching the Lombardi Trophy for the first time out of Peyton Manning’s hands from the bottom up. After my moment with it, I got to hand it to DeMarcus Ware. That was a moment that I will remember forever.

BN: What would you say is your proudest moment as a broadcaster? 

RH: Just doing the Notre Dame games. I really love doing the Notre Dame football broadcasts. I did sidelines for the Monday night Seattle-Minnesota game. Seeing my coaches who were with me in Denver who are now with the Vikings, just giving them big hugs and laughing and joking and poking fun at them and just being on the field at CenturyLink in Seattle — knowing that I’m on the same broadcast with Kevin Harlan and Kurt Warner — that I got to see old buddies of mine. That was a moment as well.

BN: With your religious background being a devout Muslim, have you encountered any backlash as a player or broadcaster from people that don’t understand or disagree with your beliefs?

RH: Never. That’s the thing that gives me great hope. I never had teammates treat me differently or negatively because I was a Muslim. If anything I had great conversations with teammates. Because I’m Muslim it has taught me that no matter what our religion is or where we come from, when we put our minds together to allow our differences to exist and not divide that we can accomplish some great things.

When we won the Super Bowl we had Christians, Muslims, non-believers, and it really doesn’t matter. But also I recognize that I’m rare. A lot of people don’t leave where they’re from. A lot of people don’t place themselves in uncomfortable situations to become great. But I had a lot of fun with my teammates talking about Islam and learning about their situations. I always told teammates to ask me anything. There are no stupid questions because I’d rather have them ask than not know. I had teammates ask me where do Muslims shop? I’m like “well, have you been to the mall?”. I’ve had people ask what do Muslims laugh at? I’m like “well, have you seen the new Kevin Hart movie?”. You know? 65 percent of Americans do not know a Muslim and I recognize that.

BN: What would you most like to experience or accomplish personally and professionally?

RH: I want to see my children get married. I want to dance with my daughter at her wedding. I want to see my sons get married. I want to vacation, buy a retirement condo or something in Florida with my wife. Professionally, I’d love to call a Notre Dame football National Championship Game. I’d love to call the Super Bowl someday. Professionally, there are a lot of options.

One of the things that has really helped me and brought me great peace, not just as a broadcaster but as a player, is that I surrender the outcome. I really do not have an expectation on the outcome. I will tell you though that everywhere I go I will be the best prepared. I will bring seriousness and professionalism to every job that I go to and I will also bring fun. Fun is what helped us win a championship. Football is fun. As long as I’m broadcasting, I will make sure that the fun gets through the broadcast as well.

BN: That’s really interesting — surrender the outcome. I’ll never forget, Steve Fisher was the coach of the Fab Five at Michigan, and he described their Final Four failures like a feather that was floating through the air. He said Michigan was trying so hard to grab the feather that it caused it to fly away instead of letting it fall into their hand. A mindset where you prepare and battle to do a great job, but don’t worry about the result, how important is that to being successful?

RH: Huge. I wrote a book on that mindset. Because here’s the thing that people don’t tell you, you’re going to need the process that is going to help you succeed after you succeed. You know what nobody talked to us about? How to handle ourselves after you win a Super Bowl. I was talking to a coach of mine and I was like it was awesome. He’s like yeah and a lot of people have one championship. Why not go for two? It was just a moment of like yeah there is this whole other side of it.

When you focus on the process, that’s how when I left football, okay I’m going to become a broadcaster. Well, what’s my process of being great? I study. I prepare. I practice out loud. These are all things I did when I was a player. That process will be key because whatever your goal, you will accomplish it. Brian, you’ve accomplished your first goal. If you didn’t have work ethic instilled in you and a mindset that created that process, you’d be stuck.

Image result for ryan harris

If I just wanted to win the Super Bowl, how would I be as a father, as a husband, as a friend, as a broadcaster? I would be unprepared. When you win the Super Bowl, you learn it’s not about winning the Super Bowl. It’s about every week you had laughs on the bus and practices and games. It’s about the whole thing. When you focus on the outcome, you often miss the details that are the most enjoyable.

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Kim Mulkey Now Has Everyone Anticipating Washington Post Story

I can’t imagine what headline, under normal circumstances, the Washington Post would have to put on a Kim Mulkey story to make me want to read it.

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photo of LSU women's college basketball coach Kim Mulkey
Credit: Dailymail.co.uk

The Washington Post, you might’ve heard, has a story coming out about controversial LSU women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey. The reason you might’ve heard is because Kim Mulkey told you. The Tigers coach read a fiery prepared statement just before her team started the Women’s NCAA Tournament. In the statement, Mulkey threatened to sue The Post for defamation before the first word was even published.

Now, I’ve never run a public relations firm but that did not seem like a good idea. The Washington Post story on Mulkey is one of the bigger stories in sports right now and nobody even knows what’s in it. The reason the story, apparently unflattering to Mulkey, is even on anyone’s radar screen is Mulkey herself.

It all started with an innocuous social media post by Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde right in the middle of the most anticipated two days in sports, the NCAA Tournament Round of 64. On his X account, Forde posted: “Hearing some buzz about a big Washington Post story in the works on LSU women’s hoops coach Kim Mulkey, potentially next week. Wagons being circled, etc.”

You know what generally will go unnoticed at 4:00 on the first Friday of the NCAA Tournament? A post on X about a women’s basketball coach. But don’t tell Mulkey, she saw Forde’s post and decided to fight fire with nuclear weaponry. The result: the average person like me now is really interested in what has Mulkey so incensed. By “average person like me” I mean that I can’t imagine what headline, under normal circumstances, the Washington Post would have to put on a Kim Mulkey story to make me want to read it. Maybe:

“LSU Women’s Coach Discovers Ark of the Covenant”

Or:

“Mulkey Reveals True JFK Assassin(s)”

Perhaps:

“Famed Women’s Basketball Coach Reveals the Mystery Behind Slow Drivers in the Left Lane”

Literally any of those catch my attention more than whatever will likely be the Washington Post headline about Mulkey. But now Mulkey is “Mad as Hell and is not going to take this anymore” so I now have an interest I would never before have had in this story. It has been fascinating to watch the online speculation about the subject of the article and all we really know, as of now, is that it will be written by Kent Babb. This is a dream come true for Babb; he writes an article that is, presumably, not flattering about Kim Mulkey and, before it is even published, she gives the article the greatest commercial anyone could give it. Babb couldn’t have entered into a business agreement with Mulkey and had this turn out better for him.

For those who don’t follow Babb, he is a former NFL reporter who now is an award-winning writer for the Washington Post. In his 14 years with The Post, he has written sports features and authored a couple of books. One of those sports features stories was a deep dive into what he viewed as a large inequity in the level of pay for LSU head football coach Brian Kelly and his LSU players. It is this piece Mulkey described as a “hit piece” and, based on that piece, referred to Babb as a “sleazy reporter.” Babb, and many others, resented the fact his story was labeled as a hit piece. In fact, Babb essentially confirmed he was the author Mulkey was referencing when he shared the original article on X with the comment: “Hit piece?”

Whether a printed piece or a recorded interview, I can’t imagine a better promotion for it than the subject of the interview threatening a libel/slander lawsuit, especially before it is even released. That simply screams “This piece is salacious!!” Also, libel and slander suits get settled all the time, right? Of course they don’t, they seem to never even get filed. That little thing called discovery is a scary thing for most public figures.

The NCAA Tournament has been very entertaining, and I think the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight will be terrific. For only the fifth time ever, the top two seeds have advanced to the third round which sets up for a remarkable weekend. For me, I guess it will now include a Washington Post article, not a sentence I’d normally say.

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Ian Eagle Crushing It for CBS As Replacement for Jim Nantz

Eagle continues to be a shining example of what a network play-by-play announcer should be.

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Photo of Ian Eagle and the CBS Sports logo

I’ll admit, it’s been a little strange not hearing Jim Nantz during this year’s NCAA Tournament. Nantz stepped aside to concentrate on golf and the NFL after a long run covering the Final Four. Change is sometimes hard to accept, we are all creatures of habit, and I’m sure it’s a little weird for Nantz himself this time of year. But change doesn’t always have to be a bad thing. When it comes to Ian Eagle, not that I’m surprised, so far, so good.

Eagle is no stranger to CBS viewers. He’s been with the network since 1998 calling college basketball games and the NFL through the years. That certainly made the transition a little easier for everyone involved. CBS, the viewers and Eagle himself. Familiarity in these cases doesn’t breed content, it breeds a more comfortable broadcast and an easier handle on the change itself.

For Eagle, one of the other benefits for him was working with familiar folks, Bill Raftery, Grant Hill and Tracy Wolfson. Eagle estimates that he and Raftery have called 600 basketball games together, because they were longtime partners on the NBA’s Nets broadcasts. Eagle has also previously worked with Hill in college basketball, the same for Wolfson.

“To do this with Bill, Grant, and Tracy, it really is going to feel very seamless. In many ways, it will feel like we’ve been doing it together for many years,” says Eagle on a conference call before the Big Dance.

It sounds seamless too. It’s not underrated to have a good rapport with the folks that you’re working with. Everyone is trying to get used to a new voice and the idiosyncrasies of a new announcer. It’s much less of a chore, when you know and have worked with your co-workers and partners before.  You know what to expect from them, and they know what to expect from you. That’s good.

I think Eagle is killing it in his new role. You could even tell during the Big Ten Tournament that led up to the “Big Dance” that he was not only ready, he was ready to roll. It’s easy to hear how much he loves doing what he’s doing. That’s the case in all of the sports he calls.

Eagle continues to be a shining example of what a network play-by-play announcer should be. He has the ability to combine his talent with some personality, but never at the expense of the action he’s calling. His broadcasts always hit the mark, as he rises to the occasion when the moment calls for it.

What do I mean by personality? He manages to make us laugh, even in some tense moments of a game. He also manages to articulate our thoughts in some situations, like this example from the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament. 

Sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson had a report during the UConn/Northwestern game about the superstitions of Huskies’ coach Dan Hurley. He wears the same red dragon underwear and suit as he did last year. Wolfson said Hurley’s wife travels with a portable washing machine to make sure his clothes stay clean. Leading Eagle to ask the question on all our minds:

“Who has a portable washing machine?! I didn’t even know that existed!”

Also in that game, Eagle had a couple of other great moments. UConn big man Donovan Clingan had a couple of swats on one play.

“Denied! Clingan! Denied! Two for the price of one!” Quick thinking and entertaining at the same time. Later when a ball got pinned between the basket and the backboard, Eagle said, “Oooh! A Brooklyn wedgie!”

Great stuff. None of his ‘ad-libs’ sound like they are forced. It’s within the flow of the action and just seem to come to him. It’s pretty amazing to be that quick on your feet, when you’re trying to make sure to get the call correct above all else. I’m sure we’re all in for many more treats like that along the way from Eagle.

In general, when fans are watching a tournament game, they probably aren’t thinking about the preparation that goes into a broadcast. Especially for a play-by-play announcer. The first weekend network announcers calling a couple of games in the same day. There’s also only a day in between the first and second rounds to prep for teams that you may or may not have seen during the college season.  The turnaround is quick and demanding.  

“It feels like an information avalanche in many ways,” Eagle said recently on 670 The Score. “The fact that I’ve done it for so long would make you think, ‘oh, he’s got it down, he has the system, he found the secret sauce.’ No, it feels the same way every year.”

Eagle says even veteran announcers like himself have to manage stress levels and work efficiently once they know which games they’ll call. “The two or three days leading up to the tournament, I must admit, are probably the most angst-riddled of the year because it’s a little bit out of your control.” Eagle told 670 The Score.

Yes, the stress level is great on the broadcasters, but how about what Clark Kellogg continues to do at the NCAA Tournament and the Final Four? For the 8th year, he’ll join Kevin Kugler and Jim Jackson on Westwood One’s broadcast of the Final Four and Championship Game on radio. At the same time, Kellogg will be a studio analyst for the television coverage. How does he pull it off? Following the pregame show broadcast on TV, Kellogg will make his way courtside to the radio broadcast position to join Kugler and Jackson. Then, he will rejoin TV for halftime before repeating the process in the second half and postgame. 

Working this tournament isn’t easy for these broadcasters. It’s a big stage for sure, but as you’ve read, there’s big pressure that goes along with it. The audience is usually huge, and announcers are constantly put under the microscope. Fans want to make sure that you know their team, pronunciations and all. Stories. Bios. All of it. Cut these folks a little slack, information gathering with little time to do it, isn’t exactly simple. They do a damn good job.

Eagle himself, is doing a tremendous job. The 3-man booth works so well because of his ability to keep it all together. He can set up either Raftery or Hill with a serious basketball question, or deliver a great ‘straight line’ to bring out their personalities. It’s a gift. Eagle has that knack for knowing when to go ‘rogue’ and go for that entertaining line, that seems to fit in perfectly. Speaking of fitting fine, those rather large shoes he had to fill, they’re becoming the perfect size.

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Andrew Salciunas Aims to Thrive in Morning Drive on 97.5 The Fanatic

“We are two radio guys that kind of know what we’re doing.”

Derek Futterman

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Andrew Salciunas
Courtesy: Beasley Media Group

When 97.5 The Fanatic midday host Anthony Gargano agreed to a deal to contribute to PHLY Sports, a local digital venture within ALLCITY Network, he was promptly suspended by Beasley Media Group and subsequently sued for breach of contract. Although the two sides eventually reached a settlement and officially parted ways, the future of the daypart was still in question. In the interim time period, the station granted Andrew Salciunas the opportunity to lead a four-hour solo program with producer Ray Dunne. Salciunas had served as Gargano’s producer in the midday slot and still has a strong relationship with the sports media personality today despite no longer working together.

The onerous aspect of the situation, however, was in recognizing that Salciunas was being afforded a chance to prove himself as a host in the marketplace. In the past, he had filled in when Gargano took vacations, but it was not for an extended period of time. Although he was familiar with the flow of a midday program, achieving a successful, yet sudden assimilation into a regular timeslot without a partner was an invigorating circumstance.

“I knew that it was going to be a learning experience because it’s one thing to host a show on Saturday or it’s one thing to host a weekly podcast and you have a week’s worth of content at your disposal,” Salciunas said. “It’s another thing to [be] hosting every single day and needing to come up with new ideas and new angles and new twists on things, so it was a challenge knowing that I was going to have to do that for however long the process was going to be.”

Salciunas received help from program director Scott Masteller, a sports radio veteran who has helped elevate brands and nurture budding talent. Several months later, Masteller asked Salciunas how he would feel about working with morning program host John Kincade. Salciunas replied by saying that it was something he would be interested in doing, and he later added that he already wakes up early and could easily work in morning drive. Salciunas was somewhat nonplussed when he discovered that Masteller’s intention was to have him anchor the program rather than Kincade, who has been hosting in the daypart since January 2021.

In the weeks and months ensuing, Salciunas and Kincade were involved in meetings to plan the new program, which officially made its debut on 97.5 The Fanatic last week and is titled Kincade & Salciunas. Both hosts knew about the program for roughly two months, and Salciunas is surprised that it was kept a secret for as long as it was. Outside of their scheduled meetings, Salciunas was able to speak with Kincade between their shows since they occurred after the other as well. From the onset, he wanted to make his thoughts about the program clear to ensure a smooth transition amid a quest to inform and entertain the audience.

“The first thing I told John when they told us that this was the plan moving forward was that, ‘This is going to be our show,’” Salciunas recalled. “Yes, I might be the guy running the ins and outs out of commercial breaks. I’m the guy that brings on the guests; I’m the guy that brings on the callers, but this is our show. We both have ideas, we’re both passionate about Philadelphia sports teams, we’re both high-energy people, we’re both opinionated and we’re also respectful of each other.”

While there is natural disagreement between Salciunas and Kincade on a variety of sports topics, they make sure not to fabricate their discussions and engender debate for the sake of the show. Instead of feigning their contrarian discourse, there is a legitimate willingness to be genuine with their audience while continuing to put radio first. Salciunas, Kincade and show producer Connor Thomas all contribute ideas for the program to appeal to the audience and continue building the show as a whole. Thomas also had familiarity in working with Kincade since he served as an associate producer on his previous morning program.

“I’m not a former journalist; he’s not a former professional athlete,” Salciunas said. “We are two radio guys that kind of know what we’re doing. Even though our opinions might differ on sports-related stuff, we see doing radio in a similar way.”

Upon Kincade officially joining 97.5 The Fanatic, he demonstrated his magnanimity and commitment to his colleagues by offering to take all of them out to lunch individually to learn more about them. It was a gesture that surprised Salciunas and something that stuck with him, ultimately helping familiarize themselves with one another and subsequently creating a viable on-air product.

“He’s one of those guys who likes getting to know people, and I think that’s helped a lot,” Salciunas said. “We already had that sort of knowledge of one another [and] we already had that relationship, and because we’re just both so bought in and both so hungry, that’s made it so much easier that we’re willing to do whatever it takes to make the show work.”

Before arriving at 97.5 The Fanatic, Kincade had worked at sports radio both at the local and national levels while also hosting a podcast with Hall of Fame center and Inside the NBA studio analyst Shaquille O’Neal. Bringing him back to his home marketplace and realizing success in the morning daypart was valuable as the sports media ecosystem underwent stretches of change. Transitioning to the new morning show iteration without colleagues Bob Cooney and Pat Egan presented its challenges, but Salciunas has had no qualms that Kincade was invested to win. As a result, the transition has been relatively simple in terms of building palpable chemistry among the on-air team.

“He believes in anybody that he works with,” Salciunas said of Kincade, “and knowing that somebody has worked that long as long as he has in sports radio that he values the young person’s opinion, not just in sports but in terms of radio, that goes a long way.”

There is constant communication between the morning show team leading up to a program outside of typical pre-show meetings and twice-weekly conversations with their boss. Salciunas arrives at the station well before the start of the program and compiles ideas from the previous day into a document, along with ideas from others that come during their commutes. Additionally, they continuously monitor the news cycle and determine what to address on the air while also interviewing special guests throughout the week.

Effectuating a fully prepared show rundown by 6 a.m. EST has been marginally difficult, along with the fact that it can be difficult to book guests on short notice before sunrise. Because of this, the program frequently outlines its guests early in the week and makes adjustments as necessary while maintaining fealty towards conveying their true, authentic personalities.

“I’m a little bit more energetic on the radio because I understand the entertainment portion of doing what we do and having to properly express myself,” Salciunas said. “I’m probably not going to scream at a bar, but when I converse with callers; when I converse with John [or] producers… that’s who I am as a person. There’s just a microphone in front of me.”

When he first started working at 97.5 The Fanatic as an intern, Salciunas did not have a goal of eventually becoming an on-air talent. He was content with his role as a producer, which was borne out of an internship where he worked with Jon Marks and Steve Vassalotti. Both station members served as mentors that he utilized to gain information and advice, a fortuitous outcome after Salciunas impetuously applied for the opening.

While Salciunas was matriculating at Temple University, he needed at least three internship credits in order to qualify for graduation. Reflecting back on his education days, he does not regard himself as the best student and recognized that he needed to intern with the radio station to set himself apart. Honing his focus in sports media took time since he had varied interests in areas such as reporting, podcasting and play-by-play announcing, but he ultimately gravitated towards the sports radio format during his time in Philadelphia.

Salciunas made a favorable impression on those with 97.5 The Fanatic and ended up being hired as an associate producer where he learned more about the format and its programming. Eric Camille, a former executive producer at the station, is someone Salciunas regards as seminal to his professional development.

“He was the guy that hired me out of my internship, and then once I started working, he really helped me,” Salciunas said. “He kind of took me under his wing and helped me out a lot.”

Once Salciunas was hired as a full-time producer, he began to work with Mike Missanelli on his midday program, providing an invaluable learning experience to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the sports media industry. As a veteran host who has captivated Philadelphia sports fans and media consumers at large, Salciunas noticed that collaborating on Missanelli’s program was a different experience than the other shows he had done. Whereas a morning drive show is oftentimes one of the first points of reaction on a given day, Missanelli knew that he would need to approach his daypart differently and adopted a paradigmatic style implementing second-level topics.

“It’s not just going on the air and reacting to an Eagles loss,” Salciunas explained. “It’s reacting to a storyline within an Eagles loss or reacting to a storyline within an Eagles win that may generate conversation. Trying to figure out topics that generate conversation but are not just the, ‘Oh wow, I’m angry they lost today,’ and give out the phone number. It’s [trying] to find topics that make people think and make yourself think and make the audience think.”

When Missanelli left the station, Salciunas began his stint working with Anthony Gargano where he began occasionally hosting select programs. The rationale behind his decision to go behind the microphone was that when the Eagles won a Super Bowl championship, the station needed someone to host from 2 to 5 a.m. Salciunas decided to volunteer for the program, presuming that it sounded fun. From that shift on, he continued his work as a producer while also refining his craft behind the microphone in a major market. It deviated from a philosophy perpetuated by former program director Matt Nahigian of limiting the amount of time producers were on the air, assuming that consumers listened to hear the hosts.

“Now you have to be a producer,” Salciunas affirmed. “You look at both radio stations in Philadelphia – a lot of the hosts now were former producers, and so you learn so much of the craft and then you figure out your own role. You figure out how you handle yourself as a host, so I think producing first before becoming a talk show host should be the way to go moving forward.”

Beasley Media Group’s 97.5 The Fanatic shares the Philadelphia marketplace with Audacy-owned SportsRadio 94WIP, and both stations have had intense battles in the ratings over the years. Salciunas shared that most people between the two stations have worked with their competitors at some point in their careers, and there is an evident respect that exists between the two entities. With both outlets introducing new morning shows within the last two years though, Salciunas understands there is a chance to gain ground on the WIP Morning Show, which finished ahead in the four Nielsen XTrends quarterly ratings books last year.

“Clearly if somebody’s behind a microphone in Philadelphia, everybody’s talented, and we’re going to do whatever we can to try to bridge that gap a little bit, and we’re seeing some good strides already,” Salciunas said. “I think having a new show is a big part of that trying to grab that initial audience, but then it’s holding on to that initial audience.”

Being able to achieve this outcome, however, requires a commitment to showcasing talent and different personalities. Salciunas referenced how there was a point in John Kincade’s stint hosting mornings in the daypart’s previous iteration where he gained ground on his crosstown competitor Angelo Cataldi with WIP. Kincade, of course, used to work with Cataldi’s show as a contributor and received a chance to take the air while with the outlet.

“I’ve seen the turn of tides of ratings over the years for every show [and] every time slot, so there’s always an opportunity, but that means we always have to be on our game; that means we always have to be doing the best show possible,” Salciunas said. “We can’t go in the next day and say, ‘Wow, that show was really good yesterday. Let’s have some fun today; let’s make this a lighthearted show.’ No, we always have to be thinking about, ‘Alright, what can we do next to put on another great entertaining four-hour radio show?’”

Over the last several years, there have been several leadership changes at 97.5 The Fanatic responsible for overseeing the slate of programming and station operations. Scott Masteller currently leads the outlet, someone in whom Salciunas has confidence that he can continue to elevate the standing of the station. In his earlier years working with 97.5 The Fanatic, Salciunas had an innovative spirit but was discouraged from taking steps to align with the multimedia evolution. For example, when he offered to do a podcast several years ago, someone at the station questioned his judgment and the reasoning behind the idea.

“I was told by someone, ‘What’s the point in doing that? We’re a radio station,’ and I knew back then that that was a mistake to say,” Salciunas explained. “You shouldn’t say, ‘We’re a radio station;’ that was years ago, so seeing that bosses and market managers and hosts and producers all realizing, ‘Alright, we have to adapt,’ that excites me.”

Possessing the background as a producer lends shrewd and calculated judgment on how to include members of the audience into the program. While there are still open phone lines for callers to chime in, the program has introduced a text line and also engages with the audience through the live chat functionality of YouTube. Having Thomas as a producer of the show has helped in this area as well, with Salciunas sharing that he has a strong understanding of how to create and optimize content for various platforms of dissemination.

“We have a great YouTube audience where they basically have their own community all of a sudden,” Salciunas said. “They’re constantly talking about the show, and sometimes we grab what they’re saying on that YouTube feed because that’s another area of today’s new media where you have another avenue to communicate with people.”

As Salciunas grows accustomed to the early start on 97.5 The Fanatic and his new colleagues in morning drive, he is filled with enthusiasm and the prospect of possibility. The radio station has been the only outlet by which he has been employed since the start of his media career, and he hopes to work there for as long as possible. National radio and television intrigue him going forward, but his priority centers on thriving in the new role.

“I want to try to get 97.5 The Fanatic – because it starts in the morning – back up in the map; back in the top five of the ratings books – and that’s going to take some time,” Salciunas said. “We’re a new show – we’re going to have to figure each other out.”

Salciunas expressed that the last year-and-a-half has been “hectic” in the midday daypart, but there has also been excitement surrounding the ephemerality as well. Taking the microphone in a major market with a dedicated sports fanbase such as Philadelphia is a privilege he does not take for granted, and he aspires to continue excelling in the marketplace for years to come.

“I just started, so I’m not thinking about the next step just yet,” Salciunas said. “I want this to last for a long time – for a very long time. If I never have to leave, that would be great.”

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