July 15, 2025 • 10 mins
Today, the guys talk to legendary sportswriter Mr. SEC Tony Barnhart as he wraps up his 50 years as a sportswriter. He plans to write a book detailing his final year of service. He explains his plans after the season, including spending time with his family. He details his biggest surprise covering the SEC. He gives his opinion on NIL. He tells his most remarkable memory in his writing career. You can hear it all here on “The Morning Kickoff Show!”
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
It doesn't happen a lot, but.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
As you continue to work in this business, you get
the opportunity to work with some really, really awesome people,
some people that you can consider idols, and right now
here is one of mine. I'm so excited to be
joined right now on the morning kickoff on sports Radio
AM thirteen hundred to Zone with Tony Barnhardt, mister college Football.
(00:26):
And let me just say, first off, thank you very
much for joining us this morning. I know you're a busy,
busy man, but I'm a little sad. I'm a little
sad this is gonna be your last run this season.
You're gonna walk away from the business for a while.
You've done it for so long. It's time.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
Huh, it's time. This is my fiftieth year of doing this.
Graduated from the University of Georgia on June tenth, nineteen
seventy six, went to work the very next day at
my first newspaper job, and been working ever since. And
this will be fiftieth. And I told I told my mom,
who's ninety two, and I said, Mom, this is what
(01:04):
I'm gonna do. And she said fifty She said, son,
that's a nice round rounder.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
So we had my wife and I had.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
Been talking about for several years now, but how in
this you guys know this, in this business, in the
media business, you don't. You don't usually get to write
your own script exactly go. And that was very important
to me, and it's been I definitely wanted to get
the first year of the playoff in but uh, after
the season, we finally decided that this would be my
(01:33):
last one and we're gonna take a little my wife.
My wife's calling it a fair farewell tour, and I said, no, sweetheart,
I'm not dying. Okay, let's just let's just call it
a thank you to or a celebration to her. But
I'm going to go get to as many campuses as
I can during the season, and we're turning this last
season into a book.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
Oh nice. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
I have a great relationship with Uga University of Georgia Press.
They published my last book, and uh, when I told
them what I.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
Was gonna do, they said, we're in.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
And so we'll I'll gather stuff during the year and
when the season's over, I will jump in with both
feet and get that book done and we should have
it out hopefully in the fall.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
Of twenty twenty six.
Speaker 4 (02:15):
So with all this time that you're gonna have on
your hands, what's the first thing you're gonna do to
kind of relax and be able to say, you know,
I'm just gonna I'm just going to enjoy life.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
I'm going to spoil my grandchildren even more than they're
spoiled right now. Okay, I haven't done a sufficient job
in spoiled and so that's uh, now, that's one of
the things we're gonna do. We got we got Missus
Barnhardt's got plans for me. Of course we're honey to do.
We're going We're going on the Disney cruise next March,
and then twenty twenty seven will be number fifty for
(02:50):
me and Missus Barnhart.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
Oh wow.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
And so we're gonna take a Viking river cruise down
the Rhine. So we're she's got big plans for me.
After being married to a sport ri fifty years, you missed.
The honeydew list is long and extensive.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
It's funny that you say that, because again, fifty another
big round number. Yes, your mother would say, So that's
that's awesome to hear. I wanted to ask you this too,
because you've obviously seen.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
The evolution of college football.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
You've seen the changes and the different conference realignments and
different teams coming in and moving around. What has been
the biggest I guess you would say surprise that you
have seen with the way things are done, or disappointment
that you've seen with the way disappointment.
Speaker 3 (03:37):
Mean, well, what I have enjoyed is watching this conference grow,
but not not going all big ten on you. Okay,
where you've got Oregon and Washington in your league, and
as commissioner sank, you would say, yeah, we got sixteen teams,
but they're in eleven contiguous states. Now contiguous is one
(03:58):
of those fancy word that means they are all connected together, okay, like,
and so that's it's been to bring Texas and Oklahoma
and just I mean, you think about the games that
we're going to get to see now, uh, and the
fact that arch Manning is in this league. I'm fascinated
to watch that because I'm so old. I saw his
grandfather play in Sanford Stadium in nineteen seventy and so
(04:21):
it has been has been a joy to watch, and
it's gonna be more and more. We're still at least
two years out of being where we want to be.
All the on the NIL and transfer portal and all
that we're not We're not there yet, but I'm hopefully
we're headed in the right arrest.
Speaker 4 (04:36):
So where are you staying on that? On the NIL
and the portal? A lot of people are not happy
with it, and a lot of people are forward.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
Where are you on these? Well?
Speaker 3 (04:47):
I want to make sure the players get what the
players are supposed to get. That's all. That's always been
my my issues. So what we have to do is
there are a couple of things I think have got
to happen to get You know, they got the settlement
case and the players are getting paid the twenty million,
and that's all well and good, but until you figure
out what to do from a from a legal standpoint,
(05:07):
from from anti an anti trust standpoint, every time you
make a ruling that somebody disagrees with, if they're going
to take you to court, and you're probably gonna lose.
So I still think we've got some work to do there.
The NIL is, the NIL is not going away. As
long as I want you to come to my car
dealership and sign pictures and take photographs for two hours
and I'll pay you a couple of thousand bucks. I
(05:29):
should be able to do that, Okay, you should be
able to receive the money. And so again we've made progress,
but we still got.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
A long way to go.
Speaker 4 (05:37):
Where are you on the going rate for a quarterback.
Speaker 3 (05:40):
Is A yeah, unless you're the kid from Tennessee when
you actually negotiate it down instead of up.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
But that's a that's the whole story right.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
Well, looks I'm a free market guy. I think as
I think a player's worth whether anybody is willing to
pay him. And what you want to do, though, is
you do want to have some sort of structure so
that you've got some idea what your cost is for
the I think the players the players in a situation
where they're gonna have to learn they're gonna have to
put together an organization collectively bargaining bargaining because what they're
(06:13):
doing now, they're saying, well, we're gonna review your nil
deal to make sure that it's legal and to make
sure that it's market value. And if i'm the player
on my player's lawyer, I'm gonna say, wait a minute,
he didn't negotiate, he didn't give you the rights to
determine what he should be receiving. Okay, so it's it's
Nick Saban said the most poignan thing. I went to
(06:36):
see him about a month ago in his office in Tuscaloosa.
He said, look, Tony, first of all, everybody has to
understand it's never going back to the way it used
to be. That's not going to happen. We've changed forever.
But what we're doing now is not sustainable. Okay, there's
got to be more structure. So you've got to come
up with some kind And he said, there's a sweet
(06:58):
spot in the middle there and the adults in the
room and got to find it.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
So and it's taking the adults. What's that if it's negotiated.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
Yes, salary cap works in the NFL because the players
union has negotiated what the cap will be. And as
long as the players get to negotiate what they're gonna
be what the salaries are, that I'm okay with it
with a cap because if you don't have a cap,
then you don't know what your salary structure is.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
So it's still going to be out of control.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
We're talking to mister college football, Tony Barnhart. He is
finally walking away from the game, but he's still going
to be around it.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
There's no way you're going to leave this game.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
I'm not I just I'm just walking away from the
daily grind doing this for the last fifty years.
Speaker 4 (07:49):
Man, I can't believe I got Craig Way on one side. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
So let me ask you this, because as you look
at college football, and I know that there's some some
some highs and some lows. What are one of your
biggest high points that you have seen throughout your career
in one of the.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
Biggest low points?
Speaker 3 (08:09):
Well, I think anytime that you have trouble from an
NCAA standpoint, that's that's an issue, okay. And frankly, I've
lost all confidence in the NCAA. Okay, So that's there.
But I always tell people that said, what's your greatest
memory of that? And my greatest memory is December second,
(08:31):
nineteen eighty nine, the day that Alabama went to Auburn
for the first time in history. Bear Bryant says once said,
as long as I'm alive, Alabama will never play at Auburn. Well,
he died in nineteen eighty three, and by nineteen eighty nine.
They played that game and it was the most emotional
day ever that I've been a part of. Not only
(08:53):
did Auburn win the game, but they knocked Alabama. I
shot a shot out of a shot to win the
national championship. If you're an Auburn fan, it doesn't get
any better. And the others get to see the great player,
herschel Walker, best football player I ever saw.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
Yeah, you've you've said that on many many.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
Well that I had to pick one exactly, but I'm
telling you, herschel Walker, particularly as a freshman, was the
best football player. I always tell people when it comes
to running backs in the SEC, it is Herschel and
Bow and then everybody else.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
Okay, I love it.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
I love it, and I appreciate the fact that we
got the opportunity to talk to you. It has been
one of my bucket list types of deals, and I
appreciate the fact that we finally get a chance to
have a conversation with you. Invest the luck to you
and the missus as y'all go on this journey.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
Well, thank you, Mike. I appreciate that, No problem, thank you,
all right, But there is Tony Barnhardt.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
He's making his farewell tour as he wants to say it.
And he's got a book coming out as well, so
you got to make sure you check that out right
here on the morning kickoff from Sports Media, I mean
from See See Media Days right here in Atlanta, Georgia,
It doesn't happen a lot, but.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
As you continue to work in this business, you get
the opportunity to work with some really, really awesome people,
some people that you can consider idols, and right now
here is one of mine. I'm so excited to be
joined right now on the morning kickoff on sports Radio
AM thirteen hundred to Zone with Tony Barnhardt, mister college Football.
(00:26):
And let me just say, first off, thank you very
much for joining us this morning. I know you're a busy,
busy man, but I'm a little sad. I'm a little
sad this is gonna be your last run this season.
You're gonna walk away from the business for a while.
You've done it for so long. It's time.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
Huh, it's time. This is my fiftieth year of doing this.
Graduated from the University of Georgia on June tenth, nineteen
seventy six, went to work the very next day at
my first newspaper job, and been working ever since. And
this will be fiftieth. And I told I told my mom,
who's ninety two, and I said, Mom, this is what
(01:04):
I'm gonna do. And she said fifty She said, son,
that's a nice round rounder.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
So we had my wife and I had.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
Been talking about for several years now, but how in
this you guys know this, in this business, in the
media business, you don't. You don't usually get to write
your own script exactly go. And that was very important
to me, and it's been I definitely wanted to get
the first year of the playoff in but uh, after
the season, we finally decided that this would be my
(01:33):
last one and we're gonna take a little my wife.
My wife's calling it a fair farewell tour, and I said, no, sweetheart,
I'm not dying. Okay, let's just let's just call it
a thank you to or a celebration to her. But
I'm going to go get to as many campuses as
I can during the season, and we're turning this last
season into a book.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
Oh nice. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
I have a great relationship with Uga University of Georgia Press.
They published my last book, and uh, when I told
them what I.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
Was gonna do, they said, we're in.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
And so we'll I'll gather stuff during the year and
when the season's over, I will jump in with both
feet and get that book done and we should have
it out hopefully in the fall.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
Of twenty twenty six.
Speaker 4 (02:15):
So with all this time that you're gonna have on
your hands, what's the first thing you're gonna do to
kind of relax and be able to say, you know,
I'm just gonna I'm just going to enjoy life.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
I'm going to spoil my grandchildren even more than they're
spoiled right now. Okay, I haven't done a sufficient job
in spoiled and so that's uh, now, that's one of
the things we're gonna do. We got we got Missus
Barnhardt's got plans for me. Of course we're honey to do.
We're going We're going on the Disney cruise next March,
and then twenty twenty seven will be number fifty for
(02:50):
me and Missus Barnhart.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
Oh wow.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
And so we're gonna take a Viking river cruise down
the Rhine. So we're she's got big plans for me.
After being married to a sport ri fifty years, you missed.
The honeydew list is long and extensive.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
It's funny that you say that, because again, fifty another
big round number. Yes, your mother would say, So that's
that's awesome to hear. I wanted to ask you this too,
because you've obviously seen.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
The evolution of college football.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
You've seen the changes and the different conference realignments and
different teams coming in and moving around. What has been
the biggest I guess you would say surprise that you
have seen with the way things are done, or disappointment
that you've seen with the way disappointment.
Speaker 3 (03:37):
Mean, well, what I have enjoyed is watching this conference grow,
but not not going all big ten on you. Okay,
where you've got Oregon and Washington in your league, and
as commissioner sank, you would say, yeah, we got sixteen teams,
but they're in eleven contiguous states. Now contiguous is one
(03:58):
of those fancy word that means they are all connected together, okay, like,
and so that's it's been to bring Texas and Oklahoma
and just I mean, you think about the games that
we're going to get to see now, uh, and the
fact that arch Manning is in this league. I'm fascinated
to watch that because I'm so old. I saw his
grandfather play in Sanford Stadium in nineteen seventy and so
(04:21):
it has been has been a joy to watch, and
it's gonna be more and more. We're still at least
two years out of being where we want to be.
All the on the NIL and transfer portal and all
that we're not We're not there yet, but I'm hopefully
we're headed in the right arrest.
Speaker 4 (04:36):
So where are you staying on that? On the NIL
and the portal? A lot of people are not happy
with it, and a lot of people are forward.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
Where are you on these? Well?
Speaker 3 (04:47):
I want to make sure the players get what the
players are supposed to get. That's all. That's always been
my my issues. So what we have to do is
there are a couple of things I think have got
to happen to get You know, they got the settlement
case and the players are getting paid the twenty million,
and that's all well and good, but until you figure
out what to do from a from a legal standpoint,
(05:07):
from from anti an anti trust standpoint, every time you
make a ruling that somebody disagrees with, if they're going
to take you to court, and you're probably gonna lose.
So I still think we've got some work to do there.
The NIL is, the NIL is not going away. As
long as I want you to come to my car
dealership and sign pictures and take photographs for two hours
and I'll pay you a couple of thousand bucks. I
(05:29):
should be able to do that, Okay, you should be
able to receive the money. And so again we've made progress,
but we still got.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
A long way to go.
Speaker 4 (05:37):
Where are you on the going rate for a quarterback.
Speaker 3 (05:40):
Is A yeah, unless you're the kid from Tennessee when
you actually negotiate it down instead of up.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
But that's a that's the whole story right.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
Well, looks I'm a free market guy. I think as
I think a player's worth whether anybody is willing to
pay him. And what you want to do, though, is
you do want to have some sort of structure so
that you've got some idea what your cost is for
the I think the players the players in a situation
where they're gonna have to learn they're gonna have to
put together an organization collectively bargaining bargaining because what they're
(06:13):
doing now, they're saying, well, we're gonna review your nil
deal to make sure that it's legal and to make
sure that it's market value. And if i'm the player
on my player's lawyer, I'm gonna say, wait a minute,
he didn't negotiate, he didn't give you the rights to
determine what he should be receiving. Okay, so it's it's
Nick Saban said the most poignan thing. I went to
(06:36):
see him about a month ago in his office in Tuscaloosa.
He said, look, Tony, first of all, everybody has to
understand it's never going back to the way it used
to be. That's not going to happen. We've changed forever.
But what we're doing now is not sustainable. Okay, there's
got to be more structure. So you've got to come
up with some kind And he said, there's a sweet
(06:58):
spot in the middle there and the adults in the
room and got to find it.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
So and it's taking the adults. What's that if it's negotiated.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
Yes, salary cap works in the NFL because the players
union has negotiated what the cap will be. And as
long as the players get to negotiate what they're gonna
be what the salaries are, that I'm okay with it
with a cap because if you don't have a cap,
then you don't know what your salary structure is.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
So it's still going to be out of control.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
We're talking to mister college football, Tony Barnhart. He is
finally walking away from the game, but he's still going
to be around it.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
There's no way you're going to leave this game.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
I'm not I just I'm just walking away from the
daily grind doing this for the last fifty years.
Speaker 4 (07:49):
Man, I can't believe I got Craig Way on one side. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
So let me ask you this, because as you look
at college football, and I know that there's some some
some highs and some lows. What are one of your
biggest high points that you have seen throughout your career
in one of the.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
Biggest low points?
Speaker 3 (08:09):
Well, I think anytime that you have trouble from an
NCAA standpoint, that's that's an issue, okay. And frankly, I've
lost all confidence in the NCAA. Okay, So that's there.
But I always tell people that said, what's your greatest
memory of that? And my greatest memory is December second,
(08:31):
nineteen eighty nine, the day that Alabama went to Auburn
for the first time in history. Bear Bryant says once said,
as long as I'm alive, Alabama will never play at Auburn. Well,
he died in nineteen eighty three, and by nineteen eighty nine.
They played that game and it was the most emotional
day ever that I've been a part of. Not only
(08:53):
did Auburn win the game, but they knocked Alabama. I
shot a shot out of a shot to win the
national championship. If you're an Auburn fan, it doesn't get
any better. And the others get to see the great player,
herschel Walker, best football player I ever saw.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
Yeah, you've you've said that on many many.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
Well that I had to pick one exactly, but I'm
telling you, herschel Walker, particularly as a freshman, was the
best football player. I always tell people when it comes
to running backs in the SEC, it is Herschel and
Bow and then everybody else.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
Okay, I love it.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
I love it, and I appreciate the fact that we
got the opportunity to talk to you. It has been
one of my bucket list types of deals, and I
appreciate the fact that we finally get a chance to
have a conversation with you. Invest the luck to you
and the missus as y'all go on this journey.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
Well, thank you, Mike. I appreciate that, No problem, thank you,
all right, But there is Tony Barnhardt.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
He's making his farewell tour as he wants to say it.
And he's got a book coming out as well, so
you got to make sure you check that out right
here on the morning kickoff from Sports Media, I mean
from See See Media Days right here in Atlanta, Georgia,
Popular Podcasts
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.