Earlier this year it was revealed that college football insider Joe Schad would not be returning to ESPN. The news was something of a surprise given that Schad was a multi-platform contributor to ESPN’s college football coverage as a reporter/insider as well as a sideline reporter for ESPN Radio.
At the time, conventional wisdom was that Schad should be able to find a job at a national outlet breaking college football news somewhere. There aren’t that many reporters or insiders breaking big college football news outside the likes of Brett McMurphy and Bruce Feldman and all the networks (Fox, NBC, CBS) are increasing their commitment to the sport. Schad’s most notable episode might be questions surrounding his role in the Craig James-Mike Leach fiasco, but overall one would think that there’d be a national outlet that would see the value in college football reporting given the popularity of the sport and so much news, speculation, and intrigue surrounding it.
Alas, that has not turned out to be the case. Schad is going local to cover the NFL. He recently announced on his Twitter page that he was moving to the Palm Beach Post to cover the Miami Dolphins.
Some personal news: Excited to pursue my passion for the NFL by moving to FL to cover the Miami Dolphins for the Palm Beach Post.
— Joe Schad (@schadjoe) July 29, 2016
It’s rare that you see a reporter move from a national outlet to a local one these days. Gregg Doyel leaving CBS Sports to go work for the Indianapolis Star is about the only other example I can recall. In the 2000s, the media has usually raced to try to get to as big and wide of a platform as possible and you see dozens of local personalities catch on and gain national followings. Schad is the rare exception that will now go the other way and pick up the daily grind of one NFL team. It’ll be interesting to see how long Schad sticks with the Dolphins and Palm Beach Post and if he makes it back to the national stage some day.
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