The Athletic appears to be shifting away from its centralized college football coverage.
A few weeks ago, the New York Times-owned publication parted ways with Audrey Snyder, its long-time Penn State beat writer. While it was unclear whether Snyder was laid off or her contract wasn’t renewed, she made it clear that the outlet no longer intended to cover the Nittany Lions on a full-time basis.
It now seems that the same is happening with another Big Ten program.
On Friday, Jesse Temple announced that he would be leaving The Athletic.
“The Athletic has decided it will no longer cover Wisconsin with a full-time beat writer,” he wrote on X. “I was offered a different opportunity at the company and declined. Thank you for subscribing over the last seven years. I’ll be back real soon.”
The Athletic has decided it will no longer cover Wisconsin with a full-time beat writer. I was offered a different opportunity at the company and declined. Thank you for subscribing over the last seven years.
I’ll be back real soon.
— Jesse Temple (@jessetemple) April 18, 2025
Temple is widely regarded as one of the best college football writers, having covered the University of Wisconsin since 2011. Honestly, I wasn’t a fan of him at first. Every time I searched for anything related to my alma mater’s football program — whether I was a fan or a student journalist — his name would pop up. Eventually, I gave in and read his work. He’s really good.
For some context, I graduated from Temple University, where I was a staff writer and reporter for OwlScoop.com. I can’t even count how many times his name showed up in my TweetDeck filters.
Nevertheless…
While The Athletic has clearly de-emphasized local coverage in favor of a more national approach since its acquisition by The New York Times, the decision to drop Wisconsin, following Penn State, is still a bit of a shock. If you were to list the programs The Athletic would want to cover with a dedicated full-time beat writer, you’d think Wisconsin would make the cut.
But you’d be wrong.
As The Athletic shifts toward a more national focus, it’s hard to ignore that programs like Wisconsin and Penn State, with storied histories and passionate fan bases, still probably deserve a seat at the table.
As do Snyder and Temple. You’d be wise to hire them.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.