Richard Johnson on the "Thinking Out of Pocket" SEC Championship Game special in 2021. Richard Johnson on the “Thinking Out of Pocket” SEC Championship Game special in 2021. (Photo by Phil Ellsworth / ESPN Images.)
By Andrew Bucholtz on

CBS Sports has made a notable addition to its college football coverage. On Thursday, Richard Johnson announced he’s headed there for both written content and appearances on their CBS Sports HQ free streaming channel:

Johnson, who will also continue his Split Zone Duo podcast with Alex Kirschner and Steven Godfrey, has had quite the run in media to this point. As we noted in a July 2022 writeup on him when he won the Football Writers’ Association of America Edward Aschoff Rising Star Award, he had at that point worked for ESPN, SB Nation/Banner Society, the Moon Crew group of ex-SBN writers, ESPN again (with the Thinking Out Loud SEC Network show and some other appearances, including guest-hosting The Paul Finebaum Show and appearing on the 2021 Thinking Out Of Pocket crossover SEC Championship Game special seen above), and Sports Illustrated. And he’s continued to be prominent since then, particularly with his SI work. Around the changes there, though, Johnson is now heading to CBS.

Johnson is also going to be contributing to two areas of importance for CBS. College football coverage has always been important there, and they’re set to continue that in 2024, their first year without the SEC, but their first year of putting Big Ten games in that traditional 3:30 p.m. Eastern slot. And, in addition to showing games, written college football coverage has long been an emphasis for CBS’ digital properties.

College football is also a sport that gets a lot of TV coverage on CBS Sports HQ, one of their two FAST (free advertising-supported streaming television) networks alongside Golazo. And Johnson is a significant hire as someone with extensive experience both writing and on camera. He seems like a solid addition for CBS, and one that indicates they plan to keep up their college football coverage after some other departures (such as Barrett Sallee’s exit and eventual move to Outkick earlier this year).

[Richard Johnson on X/Twitter]

About Andrew Bucholtz

Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.

View all posts by Andrew Bucholtz