Blair, who has called national championships for both LSU Football and LSU Baseball, will begin his ninth season as the play-by-play Voice of the Tigers in 2024-25. Along with football, men’s basketball and baseball play-by-play duties, Blair plays host to The Brian Kelly Show, which airs live from TJ Ribs on Thursdays from 7-8 p.m. CT during the season and the weekly Brian Kelly Press Conference. He won the 2020 National Sports Media Association “Louisiana Sportscaster of the Year” award, and has four times been named College Sports Play-by-Play Award Winner by the Louisiana Sportswriters Association (LSWA).
Rush, another former Tiger who played defensive back from 1988-90, will serve his 14th season as sideline reporter on the broadcast. Rush is also the Vice-President/General Manager for Guaranty Media. Among many industry honors, Rush was named a finalist for the 2023 “Legendary Manager of the Year” Marconi Award and the 2013 Louisiana Association of Broadcasters “Broadcaster of the Year.”
Hester, a 2007 LSU Football national champion, will join the LSU Sports Radio Network crew as a color analyst in the booth alongside Blair in 2024. Hester was an All-SEC fullback and four-time letterwinner (2004-07) who wore No. 18 for the Tigers during his national championship season. Hester currently hosts “Off the Bench” on 104.5 ESPN in Baton Rouge and “Off Campus” on SiriusXM College Football Radio, and he is a frequent contributor on the SEC Network and SEC Radio.
“My first memories of LSU Football are listening to Jim (Hawthorne) and Doug (Moreau) call LSU games when I was 10 years old, growing up in Shreveport,” Hester said. “I’ve always believed a home team radio broadcast is one of the greatest pageantries that we have in college football. It will truly be my honor to be able to sit in the booth and call games for the school I love so much.”
LSU’s two-hour pregame show will again be hosted by Hunt Palmer, who is joined in studio by two former Tigers, Marlon Favorite (defensive tackle, 2004-08) and Brandon Taylor (safety, 2008-11).
Supporting the on-air talent again in 2024 are spotter Jim Nickel, statistician Patrick Wright, who also serves as the play-by-play voice for LSU softball and LSU’s national championship women’s basketball team. Brian Haldane will return to produce the LSU Football broadcasts, while Stan Catron will serve as radio engineer.
The 2024 LSU Football season begins on Sunday, Sept. 1, when the Tigers travel to Las Vegas to face USC. Pregame on the LSU Sports Radio Network starts at 4:30 p.m. CT, with kickoff at 6:30 p.m. CT.
LSU kicks off its home slate and “100 Years in Tiger Stadium” on Sept. 7 at 6:30 p.m. CT against Nicholls.
The first radio broadcasts of the season will be held during the week leading up to the football season opener, with the Brian Kelly Press Conference presented by Farm Bureau airing live at 11:40 a.m. CT on Monday, and The Brian Kelly Show presented by Our Lady of the Lake Health airing live from TJ Ribs on Acadian from 7-8 p.m. CT on Thursday.
The LSU Sports Radio Network has been part of the LSU Athletics community since 1946. The network is now comprised of Guaranty Media flagship station Eagle 98.1 FM in Baton Rouge along with more than 15 terrestrial affiliates in Louisiana and across the southeast, streaming platforms and satellite radio.
During the 2023-24 season, the LSU Sports Radio Network broadcast 249 LSU Athletics events, coaches’ shows and press conferences for football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, baseball and softball.
