Eli Gold’s departure from being the radio voice of the Alabama Crimson Tide wasn’t without controversy. The longtime radio announcer and the University elected to part ways, and this upcoming season of college football will be the first that Gold doesn’t call for Alabama since 1988.
The writing was on the wall as this past season; Gold only called home games for the Crimson Tide. He has since moved on, as he’ll serve as the lead announcer for the Arena Football League’s Nashville Kats and call football and baseball games for Jacksonville State University.
But Gold has oft talked about his departure from Alabama after 36 years and opened up on the Awful Announcing podcast about how his limited travel schedule in his final season was exclusively a school decision.
“That was a school decision exclusively,” Gold told host Brandon Contes. “(I had) none (say) whatsoever. I made it clear that I was available and I was healthy and I was ready to work every game. And then, of course, the school quickly gave me the Iron Bowl, which was on the road at Auburn. But as the crow flies, I probably could’ve gotten to Mississippi State quicker from where I live than I could to Auburn. So, no, that was strictly (a school decision). I had no say in the matter whatsoever.”
That led Contes to inquire about any internal discussions or red flags from the previous season that Gold may have been aware of. He also asked whether Gold’s lighter workload foreshadowed Alabama’s potential decision to move on from him after the 2023 college football season.
“I was surprised,” Gold explained. “My wife kept telling me, she said, ‘Something’s not right here,’ and she was afraid that that might’ve been the portend of things to come. But, I figured after having gotten a great welcome back by the fans and by the team, I felt that I was fine. But you know, it is what it is. They chose to go, as they say, in a different direction. And though I didn’t agree with that by any stretch of the imagination, that was their prerogative to do so.”
The only reason that Gold got from the Athletic Department is that Alabama had decided to go in a different direction. Gold mentioned that at one point, Greg Byrne, the University’s athletic director, said he didn’t know if the veteran announcer was up to the task and whether he met the standards Alabama wants and expects.
“I obviously disagreed,” Gold continued. “I listened to all the tapes of all the broadcasts last year, and I thought my work was fine. I was as strong at the end of the day as I was at the beginning of the day. But you can’t argue with city hall. They made the choice, and life goes on.”
Gold told Contes that he told Alabama’s AD and his immediate boss that he would never embarrass himself by going on the air and doing a subpar job. And he certainly would never embarrass the University of Alabama.
“If I wasn’t cutting it, I would’ve stepped aside,” he said. “Because I didn’t want them to say, ‘Well, Eli hung around too long.’ But I felt that I did a good job, and they obviously didn’t agree. And after 36 years, I was shown the door.”
After the parting of ways, Gold said that the fans’ feelings were very much in his favor. They hated to see the voice of the football program and so much more over nearly four decades be ousted. Gold added that the fans felt he should’ve been treated better.
“But I made it a point, I’m not gonna talk poorly about the University,” Gold said. “I’m not gonna say anything bad about the athletic director or my boss, whether I want to or not. But I’m just not gonna lower myself to that. I just felt it was difficult and that they made a choice that I didn’t agree with. But, thankfully, Jacksonville State and the Nashville Kats and other people were quick to call and say, ‘Hey, let’s go to work.’ And I did, so I couldn’t be happier.”
The full episode of The Awful Announcing Podcast with Eli Gold will be released Friday morning. Subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts. For more content, subscribe to AA’s YouTube page.
