College football has undergone radical, sometimes alarming changes in recent years, and this show explores the motives, history, and power behind six different suspects who have reshaped an American sport right before our eyes. Hosted by Steven Godfrey and Ryan Nanni.
The Unaccused Suspects: Schools, Players, and the Media
If you got to the end of this series and thought, “wait, the six suspects they listed failed to include [INSERT ENTITY HERE],” well, maybe this bonus episode will cover that exclusion! Steven and Ryan sit down to talk about how schools, players, and the media do (or don’t) fit into this mystery, and if you stick around to the end, you’ll hear a little teaser info about what they have planned next.
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wkcfb.substack.com/subscribe (https://wkcfb.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2)
16 Dec 2024
Bonus Episode: Government Q&A
Steven and Ryan from Who Killed College Football engage in a government Q&A, offering insight into the complexities of college football governance and the impact on the sport.
6 Dec 2024
Epilogue: The Case File That Won't Stay Closed
Nick Saban and Steven Godfrey join forces to dissect the case file and expose the truth behind the six parties responsible for college football's demise, revealing the game's mortality and the coach's motivations.
27 Nov 2024
Suspect Number 6: The Government
Government officials scrutinize college football's woes, but can they effectively address the sport's problems and make meaningful reforms?
23 Nov 2024
Bonus Episode: Coaches Q&A
Steven and Ryan answer questions from the Who Killed College Football community about Suspect Number Five: Coaches and Agents, revealing key insights into their roles in the sport's dysfunction.
15 Nov 2024
Suspect Number 5: Coaches & Agents
From its earliest days, college football has had a tense relationship with players and money. But it wasn’t until the market for coaches started exploding that the gulf between what coaches earn and what players cannot really started to look outlandish. Agents, of course, helped usher the age of absurdity in, by winning contract terms that gave their clients more and more, even if they weren’t successful. As their pay skyrocketed, coaches were mostly silent about structural issues popping up in the sport, and for good reason: the status quo was entirely too good to overturn.
Producer: Michael HenahanResearcher: Alex McDaniel
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wkcfb.substack.com/subscribe (https://wkcfb.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2)
13 Nov 2024
Bonus Episode: NFL Q&A
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wkcfb.substack.com (https://wkcfb.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_7)
Steven and Ryan sit down once again to review questions from the paid subscriber community on Substack, this time about Suspect Number Four: The National Football League. A free preview of the episode is available to everyone, but if you’d like to unlock the full episode and be able to submit questions of your own for future suspects, become a paid subs…
5 Nov 2024
Suspect Number 4: The NFL
Once upon a time, the NFL shaped its Draft policies (and date) around not angering college football. The power and popularity of The Shield have increased dramatically over the last four or five decades, but the league spent many of those years keeping underclassmen out as a default, and it took years of pressure from players like Barry Sanders, Cris Carter, and Herschel Walker to eventually open up a pro pathway for juniors. Why has the NFL shied away from taking on college football, and what has it meant to the college game to keep players trapped in one system for most of the sport’s history?Producer: Michael HenahanResearcher: Alex McDaniel
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wkcfb.substack.com/subscribe (https://wkcfb.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2)
29 Oct 2024
Bonus Episode: NCAA Q&A
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wkcfb.substack.com (https://wkcfb.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_7)
As we do after every suspect is revealed and investigated, we turned it over to the paid members of the Who Killed College Football Substack community to interrogate us about the NCAA episode. Topics include why the Association and its members failed to plan for the future, the death penalty vs. just kicking a school out of the NCAA altogether, and what…
24 Oct 2024
Suspect Number 3: The NCAA
The NCAA spent the better part of 70 years stamping out threats to amateurism wherever they could find them. From big scandals to seemingly minor violations, the Association was there to defend the idea that college football shouldn’t be about money, at least for the players. For a while, the courts, media, and public opinion all backed them up. But as the riches in the sport grew, the NCAA became something of a comic villain, and when the time came for college football’s relationship with labor to evolve, the NCAA never seemed ready to lead the charge.Producer: Michael HenahanResearcher: Alex McDaniel
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wkcfb.substack.com/subscribe (https://wkcfb.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2)
17 Oct 2024
Bonus Episode: Texas A&M President Emeritus R. Bowen Loftin
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wkcfb.substack.com (https://wkcfb.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_7)
R. Bowen Loftin served as president of Texas A&M from 2010 to 2014. He also appeared in our Conferences episode, discussing the influence the Longhorn Network had on Texas A&M’s decision to head to the SEC. But he had more to share about life in the old Big 12, including some revelations about the Governor’s office and the reality of the conference’s po…
14 Oct 2024
Bonus Episode: Conferences Q&A
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wkcfb.substack.com (https://wkcfb.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_7)
As we do after each suspect, we took questions from the paid members of the WKCFB Substack community about the conferences episode. (Temple is mentioned twice here, to give you a sense of how winding this gets.) A free preview of the episode is available to everyone, but if you’d like to unlock the full episode and be able to submit questions of your ow…
9 Oct 2024
Suspect Number 2: Conferences
Conferences didn’t used to be where all the bargaining power resided in college football, and their concerns used to be exceedingly local. Today, they’re conglomerates locked into escalating wars of spending and revenue, and leaning on their market strength (or weakness) to shape everything from the postseason to realignment. They’ve even found a way to make that business competition important to fans, and the conferences have no reason to slow down now.Producer: Michael HenahanResearcher: Alex McDaniel
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wkcfb.substack.com/subscribe (https://wkcfb.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2)
2 Oct 2024
Bonus Episode: Television Q&A
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wkcfb.substack.com (https://wkcfb.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_7)
After we review each suspect in our college football murder mystery, we’ll be taking questions from paid members of the WKCFB Substack community about that episode – what went into making it, topics we didn’t cover, questions about the history we laid out, whatever. We got some great questions after the TV episode and enjoyed batting them around.If you…
26 Sept 2024
Suspect Number 1: Television
College football’s rise as a valuable TV product is still relatively new. For decades, the sport either couldn’t be televised or was limited at a national level. But once that market opened up, networks moved fast to get more of everything – more games, more bowls, more playoffs. They’re not just broadcast partners either. These companies have found a way to acquire partial ownership of college football, becoming business partners with conferences. Thanks to television, it’s easier than ever to watch almost every game at the FBS level. It’s also a lot harder to tell what that level’s going to look like in the future.Producer: Michael HenahanResearcher: Alex McDaniel
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wkcfb.substack.com/subscribe (https://wkcfb.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2)
25 Sept 2024
Prologue: College Football Is Dead, Long Live College Football
Before we dive into the six suspects in the death of college football, let’s begin with a confession. College football is, in fact, very much alive, with upsets being sprung, conferences continuing to realign, and expanded playoff spots to fret over. The sport remains incredibly popular, entertaining, and, at least for certain segments, financially lucrative.But the college football you used to know? That might be dead, whether you’re unhappy about the slow erasure of amateurism, swollen superconferences disregarding geography, the power of television networks to shape the future, and any number of other changes that could shake your belief in what college football was, is, or should be.If you’re feeling that way, well, so is Nick Saban. So let’s start digging into how we got here in the first place.
Producer: Michael Henahan
Researcher: Alex McDaniel
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wkcfb.substack.com/subscribe (https://wkcfb.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2)
20 Sept 2024
Who Killed College Football - Trailer
Coming soon: Steven Godfrey and Ryan Nanni attempt to find out Who Killed College Football? in a six-part series examining the major power players who have wreaked so much havoc on the sport
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wkcfb.substack.com/subscribe (https://wkcfb.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2)
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
4.9 / 5
188 ratings
Spotify
4.9 / 5
114 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 52 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
67
Social presence
0
YouTube
0
Engagement
91
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