The Missouri Tigers’ athletic department made an announcement on Tuesday of significance. The Tigers revealed that Dave Matter, a longtime columnist for local newspapers in Missouri, had joined the athletic staff.
Mizzou announced that Matter would become the school’s newest “Assistant AD for Communications & Storytelling.” The Tigers welcomed Matter to the staff with an official announcement posted on X on Tuesday morning.
https://twitter.com/MizzouAthletics/status/1699082362943148203
The release from Mizzou, found on MUTigers.com, touts Matter’s press experience with the Columbia Daily Tribune and St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Matter worked at both publications and followed Mizzou football as the team’s beat writer for several years.
Matter recently announced that he would depart the Post-Dispatch, an announcement that certainly makes a lot of sense now.
“After 10+ years at the Post-Dispatch, I am leaving the paper to start a new position,” Matter said in a lengthy post on August 23. “Being a sportswriter for my hometown paper was my dream job. I’ve treasured the last 25 years in the business. But it’s time for change. Mizzou fans, stick around for what’s next,” Matter teased.
News: After 10+ years at the Post-Dispatch I am leaving the paper to start a new position. Being a sportswriter for my hometown paper was my dream job. I’ve treasured the last 25 years in the business. But it’s time for change. Mizzou fans, stick around for what's next (thread)
— Dave Matter (@Dave_Matter) August 23, 2023
Details were sparse in the release as to what Matter’s responsibilities will range from. One might imagine that feature stories might be something you see more out of MUTigers.com and Mizzou’s social media presence. It’s an interesting story to see someone who covered a team for a quarter-century then leaping into their athletics program. Nonetheless, congrats to Matter on his new position, and we’ll see if anything exciting emerges out of it.
About Chris Novak
Chris Novak has been talking and writing about sports ever since he can remember. Previously, Novak wrote for and managed sites in the SB Nation network for nearly a decade from 2013-2022