Dead Letters: College Football History

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.com Listen to Alex’s extended-cut interview with Miami University play-by-play announcer Steve Baker, for Split Zone Duo subscribers. Listen to the full “Dead Letters” episode about Miami and the Cradle of Coaches here .

Miami University went on an unprecedented run of hiring coaches: Woody Hayes, Ara Parseghian, Bo Schembechler, and many more: . By 2003, with Ben Roethlisberger behind center, the RedHawks were the best program outside the power conference. Then trouble hit, both for Miami and the MAC. Split Zone Duo’s paid subscribers can listen to an extended cut of our interview with Steve Baker, the longtime v...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.com The Southern Conference birthed both the SEC and the ACC. Then the league died in everything but name. What happened, and what is still happening?  Welcome to the finale of Season 2 of Dead Letters, a Split Zone Duo series about what happens when bad things happen to good college football teams (or conferences).  Wr...

Football wasn't much at Kentucky until Bear Bryant came along. That, it would soon become clear, was exactly how Adolph Rupp liked it.  Welcome to Season 2, Episode 5 of Dead Letters, a Split Zone Duo series about bad things happening to great college football programs.  Writing: Alex Kirshner Production: Anthony Vito Interviewee: Derrick White, University of Kentucky  This is a public episode. If...

The Sewanee Tigers had the most dominant program in Southern college football in the late 1800s. Then they became the laughingstock of the SEC, a conference they'd later leave. The best question might not be "Why did Sewanee leave the SEC?" but instead: "How did Sewanee possibly last as long as it did?" Welcome to Season 2, Episode 4 of Dead Letters, a Split Zone Duo series about bad things happen...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.com The Colorado Buffaloes were a middling Big 8 program until Bill McCartney showed up. After a while, things got good. And then they got historically bizarre. Welcome to Season 2, Episode 3 of Dead Letters, a Split Zone Duo series about what happens when great programs hit the rocks. Writing: Alex Kirshner Production:...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.com The Ole Miss Rebels were one of the best programs in a segregated Southern college football landscape. Then the world changed, and Ole Miss didn't.  Welcome to Season 2, Episode 2 of Dead Letters, a Split Zone Duo series about what happens when great programs hit the rocks. Writing: Alex Kirshner Production: Anthony...

Jake Gaither built a college football powerhouse at FAMU in the 1940s, '50s, and '60s. The Rattlers towered over their HBCU competition and struck fear in everyone they played. Then the world changed.  Welcome to Season 2, Episode 1 of Dead Letters, a Split Zone Duo series about what happens when great programs hit the rocks.  Writing: Alex Kirshner Production: Anthony Vito Interviewee: Dr. Derric...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.com It was the late '50s. Arkansas had rarely fielded good teams. The Razorbacks represented a state that, in a lot of tellings, desperately needed a pick-me-up. It arrived in the form of a coach named Frank Broyles, who built the Hogs into a war machine over a long, durable run near the top of the sport. Then things ch...

This episode traces the ascent of the Nebraska Cornhuskers and the many, many things that came together to unwind the most dominant team of much of the 20th century. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.splitzoneduo.com/subscribe

The Tulane Green Wave were once a contemporary of (and a threat to) LSU in Louisiana college football. Then one university president set about changing that. Here is the story of what happened before and after, along with an interview with Tulane historian Lenny Vangilder. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.spli...