Saturdays in Jonesboro is the definitive pulse of Arkansas State Athletics, led by the "Voice of the Red Wolves," Matt Stolz. The series blends Matt’s veteran play-by-play insight with an all-access look at the traditions and red-turf grit that define the program. By humanizing the athletes and the game-week grind, we transform passive spectators into an active community with a true stake in the A-State legacy.
Coaching Carousel: Navigating D1 Football Transitions
The transfer portal didn’t invent roster chaos. Former all-conference receiver Taylor Stockemer unpacks his journey to the A-State Hall of Honor amidst back-to-back coaching departures. Going from a pro-style scheme to backyard air-raid tactics requires a complete mental reset. Stockemer breaks down the operational friction of losing a coaching staff overnight while relying on player-led cohesiveness to win. He maps out the exact adjustments needed when shifting from a loose spread offense to...
25 Sept 2026
600 Games Strong: The Evolution of Sports Medicine
Surviving fifty years in college football requires more than just knowing how to tape an ankle. Arkansas State’s veteran athletic trainer, Ron Carroll, hits his 600th consecutive game on the sidelines this weekend. He breaks down the massive shifts in sports medicine, from hauling daily ice chests to operating out of modern recovery facilities. Carroll details how staff keeps a program running when a locker room burns down or when head coaches cycle constantly. Healing athletes means demandin...
11 Sept 2026
Building a Dynasty: Lessons from the 1986 A-State Football Season
The 1986 Arkansas State football team set a school record with 12 wins, forging a legacy that continues to resonate 40 years later. Offensive guard Randy Barnhill shares the unvarnished reality of playing for the legendary Coach Larry Lacewell and what it took to reach the 1AAA National Championship. Barnhill dives into the grueling practices, the lack of modern amenities, and the sheer grit that defined their historic season. He compares the intense commitment of the 1986 squad to the challe...
28 Aug 2026
Scripting the Perfect Saturday
A dead stadium is a death sentence for momentum. With the college football season knocking at the door, mastering the mechanics of live event production is what separates average game days from absolute chaos. Dr. Allegra Fischer, Brad Bobo, and Brandon Baxter join the podcast to break down the exact playbook Arkansas State University uses to engineer the fan experience at Centennial Bank Stadium. We get into the intense logistics of game ops, tracking everything from down-to-the-second half...
14 Aug 2026
Creating Traditions: The Roots of Red Wolves Nation
A program is only as resilient as the people who show up when the scoreboard gets ugly. With Arkansas State athletics currently trending upward across the board, it is the right time to examine the loyal foundation that carried the university through its leanest years. A-State superfans Mary Nell Masterson, Ken Stuart, and Van Wilhoite join the show to share their decades of unwavering support and firsthand game-day experiences. We sit down to explore the actual mechanics of long-term fandom....
31 Jul 2026
Hail Mary Memories: Corey Leonard on A-State’s Turnaround
Rebuilding a college football program from decades of tough sledding to sustained respectability does not happen overnight. It requires a foundational culture shift, gritty leadership under pressure, and players willing to lay the groundwork long before the championship trophies arrive. With the 20th anniversary of one of the most iconic plays in Sun Belt Conference history approaching and A-State preparing to open the season at Memphis, there has never been a better time to examine how the R...
17 Jul 2026
Strategic Investments: Funding the Next Championship with Chris Pezman
College athletics is undergoing a massive financial shift, and programs that fail to adapt will be left on the sidelines. With the transfer portal and revenue sharing completely reshaping how rosters are built, establishing a sustainable financial blueprint is the only way to compete on a national stage. Vice Chancellor of Intercollegiate Athletics Chris Pezman joins the show to break down his first year leading Arkansas State and the financial realities of modern college sports. We sit down ...
3 Jul 2026
Play Every Game: How to Build Elite Durability with Jacob Still
Maintaining an elite level of athletic durability requires more than just raw physical talent. In an era where roster turnover and immediate transfer portals dominate college athletics, staying committed to one program while building a legacy of longevity is a rare achievement. We speak with Jacob Still, a former all-conference center at Arkansas State who holds the absolute program record with 53 career starts, about what it takes to survive and thrive at the highest level of gridiron compet...
19 Jun 2026
Handling Pressure: The Mindset of an NFL Kicker with ASU Alum Blake Grupe
Pressure makes some athletes tighten up, and it makes others tell the truth about themselves. We’re joined by former Arkansas State football star and current NFL kicker Blake Grupe, the Red Wolves’ all-time leading scorer, and he takes us straight into the moments that forged his mindset, from being a walk-on fighting for reps to becoming a trusted leg on Sundays. We talk about why Jonesboro still feels like home after five years at A-State, two degrees, and a college football world transfor...
5 Jun 2026
Covering the Wolves: From Bike Rides to Sidelines With JC Cox
A stage four cancer diagnosis is hard enough. Now stack it with respiratory failure, a flooded house, and saying goodbye to a beloved dog, all inside a few days. That’s the real-life backdrop JC Cox brings to Saturdays in Jonesboro, and he tells it with the same blunt honesty Red Wolves fans have heard from him on the sideline for years. We talk about how Arkansas State athletics became JC’s safe space as a kid in Jonesboro, riding his bike to practices and games because it was the one place...
22 May 2026
From Kays Field To Centennial Bank Stadium With Robert Speer
An undefeated 11-0 team with no bowl invite sounds impossible now, but Arkansas State lived it, and the echoes still shape how we talk about fairness, money, and recognition in college football. We’re joined by Jonesboro native and A-State Hall of Honor defensive end Robert Speer, a walking historian with stories that stretch from the 1960s to today’s Red Wolves era. We go back to the roots: growing up around A-State coaches, falling in love with the program before ever wearing a unifo...
8 May 2026
Beyond the Field: How A-State Fuels Jonesboro’s Growth with Davy Carter and Ted Herget
An 80-yard touchdown should never land in front of an empty end zone, and that moment becomes our jumping-off point for a bigger conversation about Arkansas State, Jonesboro, and what it really takes to build momentum. We sit down with Ted Herget, founder of Gearhead Outfitters and proud A-State alum, and Davy Carter, former Arkansas Speaker of the House and regional president at Centennial Bank, to talk about how fandom grows up with you and why “our school” hits harder the older you get. W...
22 Apr 2026
First Look into: Saturdays in Jonesboro
The most interesting part of college football is rarely the box score. It’s the people, the prep, the traditions, and the small details that turn a kickoff in Jonesboro into an all-day experience. We recorded a first pilot conversation in the Arkansas State Media Network Studio to explain why we’re launching Saturdays In Jonesboro and what kind of access we want to create for Red Wolves fans. We get into the real shape of an Arkansas State game day: tailgating culture, community leader...
22 Apr 2026
Transitions from Player to Broadcaster with Darion Griswold
You can tell a lot about a football program by what happens before kickoff and after the final whistle. We’re launching Saturdays In Jonesboro to pull back the curtain on Arkansas State athletics and show the full game day picture: the preparation, the people, the relationships, and the moments fans remember for years. For our first guest, we brought in the person Matt sits next to every Saturday in the fall: Darion “Grizz” Griswold. Grizz walks us through his Arkansas State football journey...
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