Former SI college football senior writer Andy Staples joins The Athletic

On the heels of a new college football season, The Athletic is putting the finishing touches on their staff to tackle the 150th year of the sport. With that, the site is bringing on former Sports Illustrated senior writer Andy Staples. In addition, The Athletic has hired beat writers to cover Arkansas, Boise State, LSU, Michigan, Missouri, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia which means a total of 33 schools will have an Athletic beat writer this season.

https://twitter.com/TheAthleticCFB/status/1150752400610697217

Staples announced the news this morning with his “Why I’m joining The Athletic” piece. Staples explained about how it could be difficult for sites and those who work for them to adjust to the changes of the industry, especially when it comes to going from print to online.

Now, it’s a similar transition where The Athletic is taking on no-ad, subscription based coverage and that’s where Staples feels is “best place for me to write stories and the best place for you to read them.”

The move is great for The Athletic. Staples has become one of the top college football writers over the past decade and has a dedicated fanbase who is willing to follow him wherever he goes. Staples is also correct in that The Athletic may be the best place for his stories. His stories are intriguing, they’re in-depth, they pack a punch, and Staples’ work is now on a site that because it’s subscription based and somewhat less reliant on clicks, may allow him to have more freedom to write whatever compelling story he comes across.

[Photo: TexAgs]