October 17th, 2019 12:00am
I met Brandon Misener face to face for the first time almost three months ago in Kansas City for MIAA Football Media Day. That day, I was a guy making the transition from Missouri Southern sports blogger to MIAA podcaster. Meanwhile Brandon was the guy who has built D2Football.com into the standard for Division II football coverage in America.
Despite that, Brandon didn't wave me off when I told him that I thought there may be an opportunity in the future for us to work together.
You see, I was convinced that podcasting was a medium that Division II sports fans would be excited about. And to take it a step further, if you make those podcasts accessible in an easy to find place where people already regularly "gather" that could be the key to taking something as 'regional' as D2 sports and taking it national.
Fast forward to a couple of months later, I was about 10 episodes into the MIAA Weekly podcast and had seen some real success with the show. Brandon asked me to give him a call. We had a really long conversation about... well, a lot of things. By the end of that conversation, I could sense that I was correct back in July when I thought that we could work together.
And that is what I am here today to announce. Starting now, I will be joining the team at D2Football.
My role: Build a network of podcasts centered around the coverage of Division II sports under the umbrella of the No. 1 source for D2 football in America.
I don't come to this venture empty-handed. Joining the #D2PodSquad along with me are two other existing podcasts.
The first, is GLIAC Football Weekly with Jake Riepma. Riepma is a guy who readers of this website will recognize as the GLIAC columnist as well as a radio personality in the Detroit, MI area. Jake was my first round pick. When I found his show and listened to the first few episodes, I reached out to him almost immediately and asked him to come on board.
The second show, I guess you could say, features our 'rookies'. The Western Windup is hosted by Missouri Western State University seniors Brett Howery and Derek Zimmerman-Guyer. Both of these two are graduating this spring and have futures in the radio/media industry. They bring enthusiasm and passion to their show each week and I'm happy to have them on board.
But these two podcasts will not be the last to join us here.
I have already bookmarked a couple of existing podcasts to scout and I've identified a few people that I plan on reaching out to about possibly starting a podcast of their own under this umbrella.
Our mission is simple- We will provide a level of coverage to our leagues/teams/regions that you, the fan, would expect from any other aspect of sports.
Because the athletes go to 5:00 AM weights. Because the coaches put in 60-hour weeks in the hopes of winning more than they lose. Because entire support staffs work each week to put together a memorable, fun experience for the fans in their stadiums/arenas. Because those people are willing to give their alumni and communities that level of effort, we feel obligated to provide an elevated form of national coverage to honor their work and commitment.
This is the part where I throw in a call to action... If you know of a podcast about your favorite league/school/team at the Division II level, send me a link. I can be reached via email at [email protected] or you can find me on twitter @MIAAWeekly.
My sincere hope is that you will all enjoy the coverage and content that comes from the D2 Pod Squad network. I'm grateful for the partnership of Brandon and D2Football.com and I absolutely cannot wait to get started growing this segment of coverage at the Division II level.
Jesse Cordova
Director D2 Pod Squad
Host MIAA Weekly