A TASTE OF TAILGATING AT HOME

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            Baylor Athletics is bringing at least a taste of football tailgating into your homes.
            With on-site tailgating shut down for now due to COVID-19, the first hour of the new Baylor Alumni Tailgate Show will debut at 9 a.m. Saturday prior to the season-opening game against Houston and will be simulcast on KCEN and ESPN Central Texas and streamed live at BaylorGameDay.
            "We want this to provide some type of gameday atmosphere for people, whether they see us at the stadium or they watch it on TV at home," said producer and host Brooke Bednarz, "to give them a feel of some kind of gameday normalcy."
            Bednarz, who came to Baylor last fall after three years at KXXV-TV, will be joined by "Voice of the Bears" John Morris, Derek Smith and former Baylor football players Elliot Coffey and Seth Russell for the one-hour television broadcast.
            "To be a part of this with people like John Morris and Derek Smith, and then to bring along Seth Russell and Elliot Coffey, it's super exciting to get to work with all of them," Bednarz said. "Just to be able to give fans an inside and unique look at Baylor football for each home game, the game matchup, and then specifically more of a tailgate experience that they won't be able to get anywhere else."
            Morris said Coffey and Russell are both "naturals" as analysts that will give fans the perspective from the defensive and offensive side, respectively. Coffey was a two-year starter at linebacker and earned Alamo Bowl defensive MVP honors in 2011, while Russell was 14-3 as the starting quarterback in 2015-16 and threw for 5,461 yards and 60 touchdowns in an injury-plagued career.
            "There are just some guys that when they come through here and do interviews, they're just naturals at it," Morris said. "Seth is one of those guys, because he comes across well, he's articulate, he obviously knows football, he knows the offense and he's a Baylor guy. He knows the Baylor culture. To me, he checks all the boxes of anybody you would want in that role."
            While Russell is a newcomer to the broadcasting side, Coffey has been involved in previous pregame TV shows as well as joining Smith for the postgame radio shows.
            "Any way I can be involved, I'm super excited about it," said Coffey, Vice President with Fisher Investments in Dallas. "I looked at a couple jobs in Waco when I finished playing and I just couldn't find something that I thought was the right fit for where I was in life at that point. But, this at least gets me back and I can stay involved and, of course, see what's going on with the program."
            A financial representative for Houston-based Northwestern Mutual since last December, Russell said he's excited to see how senior quarterback Charlie Brewer meshes with first-year offensive coordinator Larry Fedora and an offensive system that seems to fit him.
            "I think Coach Fedora is going to mold him the way he needs to be molded to be ready for the next level," Russell said. "He's a playmaker, a baller, he's never going to give up. Even if they're down, or whatever, he's going to give 110 percent. . . . There are 10 other people on your side of the ball that you trust, that you believe in, and you don't have to take the weight of the world on your shoulders."
            With the stadium limited to 25 percent capacity, "football looks a lot different this year," Bednarz said, "so we're going to be discussing all the different changes that have come."
            "We have a few different segments with Seth and Elliot," she said, "but we're going to have a couple in-depth features that will highlight different players and storylines that people can expect to see for the first time in the show. It's a team effort and a lot of collaboration."
            After the one-hour televised broadcast, the pregame show will wrap up with another radio-only hour before the game kicks off at 11 a.m.
            "The timing can be tricky sometimes," Morris said of the simulcast on TV and radio. "But, if you've got good people on the production side – and we do with KCEN for television and Learfield/IMG College for radio – it should be pretty seamless. If someone is watching on TV, they don't think, 'Oh, this is a simulcast, it's also on radio.' And likewise, if they're listening on radio, they shouldn't think or even know really, 'Oh, this is on TV.' So, hopefully, it's smooth on both sides."
            Subbing for Morris a couple times last fall on the Baylor Coach's Show, along with co-hosting the Sic 'em Podcasts, has helped Bednarz get used to the simulcast concept and transition more to the audio side rather than just visual.
            "At first, it was a little odd, just because my whole background has been in TV and very visual," she said. "I credit doing the podcasts for giving me some practice during the quarantine time and everyone being away. I use my hands a lot, I'm a very visual person, so I've had to train myself doing the podcasts to have different changes in inflection and tone and portray how I would be using my hands but through my voice. Derek and John have no problem with that, obviously, because they've done radio for so long."
            While the one-hour television show is limited to just the five home games, Bednarz, Russell and Coffey will also be involved in the Baylor Alumni Tailgate Show for radio at the Bears' five road games.
            "The thing I see is that Coach Aranda is an open book," Coffey said. "He's going to tell you exactly what his scheme is, exactly what the plan is. And then at that point, it's your job to try to stop him. I love that transparency. I'm fired up, man."
            Russell said there might be some communication errors early on, "since it will be our first time as a group really being together, running through this."
            "But, I'm stoked, I'm excited. I'm ready to be back, and I'm sure everybody else is ready to be back and watch some Baylor football again."

A TASTE OF TAILGATING AT HOME

Players Mentioned

Charlie Brewer

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