I think Mike Reis deserves his retirement thread to focus on him and not his replacement, I think he's earned that. Someone in the other thread said replacing Mike Reis might be bigger than replacing any coach in our athletics department. Interested in names people have as a replacement, right now I have a few ideas for possible candidates:
-Russ Eisenstein at Ohio University. A 2002 SIU graduate, has spent 15 years in Athens, OH. Has come back to Carbondale and filled in when Reis is unable to do basketball/football and I think he calls a good game. He'd probably be my top realistic choice.
-Erik Sean at SEMO. Another SIU alum that has been the voice of SEMO Athletics since 2000.
-Trey Reamer at SIU. The voice of the women's basketball team
-Connor Onion at ESPN/Big Ten Network. Onion is probably too big for this job right now. He's getting to do high profile Big Ten games at BTN and MACtion games on ESPN as well as other random events for ESPN+. I think he has even bigger games coming in the future but he's too obvious to not mention here.
Any other names out there?
Eisenstein was my first thought as well. Seems to still be very in tune with SIU and calls a good game. He would be a no brainer in my eyes. The question is whether or not he wants to move back here and also whether he wants to follow Reis.
I don’t think Onion is coming back to SIU…as you mentioned too big a profile right now and probably wants to stay with tv
I’ll throw Stone Lebanowitz into the mix. Won’t happen, I’m sure, but he’s got a great voice for radio.
The list starts and ends with Eisenstein IMO. I don't know if we could lure him away but I would try.
I like Onion but it's not realistic given his rising national profile.
Looking at the last available salary data...
Eisenstein's base salary is $11,000 more than Reis.
I have no idea if they earn any bonuses or additional income.
Looking at the last available salary data...
Eisenstein's base salary is $11,000 more than Reis.
I have no idea if they earn any bonuses or additional income.
Wouldn’t imagine they couldn’t close that gap if they both really wanted it to happen.
Maybe we can get an up and comer have him for 44 years
Eric Sean...is a Saluki, loves the Salukis, and is a very good announcer... personable too - like Mike. You won't hear him rattling off a bunch of stats that no one really wants to hear just to kill the dead air. I really think he would be a great replacement for Mike.
He's been at SEMO a long time ... whether you could get him to uproot his family is the big question.
Didn't much care for Eisenstein's football game call but he may have been nervous or uncomfortable or something. He was rattling off stats and superfluous information like a nervous rookie announcer.
No to the Onion. Not a Saluki and it's obvious. He does a good job and he has a good announcer voice but even if SIU did hire him, he'd be gone the first time he got a bigger job. Heard him do a Big Ten Baseball Tournament game and I thought he was quite good, but I would not want him as our permanent announcer.
There certainly may be and probably are younger announcers that were Salukis that are very good - I guess the AD or search committee would have to find them.
Doesn't necessarily have to be an Alum but that would be my preference. This isn't professional sports after all.
Learfield posted the job opening:
Felt like that took quite a bit of time to get out there. Hopefully they are able to fill the role relatively quickly (more important to get the right fit than fill it quickly obviously). If I were in their shoes, I would want some time to get acquainted with various folks within athletics before I had to start calling games (not too far away from football kickoff as it is).
My guess is they probably have someone they want just have to fo thru the formalities
Freakin' Learfield will choose the voice (who might be around for years)??
SIU better have a veto here.
Freakin' Learfield will choose the voice (who might be around for years)??
SIU better have a veto here.
I'm guessing the athletics department and maybe Reis would have some input here
Freakin' Learfield will choose the voice (who might be around for years)??
SIU better have a veto here.
From what Reis was saying, Learfield and SIU Athletics split his salary. So I would think both entities have input on the hire. I'm sure Reis will have an hand in it as well.
@salukiworld Luke Martin has been named the Voice of The Salukis He was the broadcaster for Indiana State.
