<![CDATA[Split Zone Duo: Dead Letters, a CFB History Series ]]>https://www.splitzoneduo.com/s/dead-lettershttps://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!bxya!,w_256,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7a9a6904-7c8b-4830-85f4-fe135916661a_1080x1080.pngSplit Zone Duo: Dead Letters, a CFB History Series https://www.splitzoneduo.com/s/dead-lettersSubstackTue, 05 May 2026 01:42:25 GMT<![CDATA[Extended Interview: Steve Baker on Miami University]]>https://www.splitzoneduo.com/p/extended-interview-steve-baker-onhttps://www.splitzoneduo.com/p/extended-interview-steve-baker-onMon, 28 Jul 2025 13:05:23 GMT

Listen to Alex’s extended-cut interview with Miami University play-by-play announcer Steve Baker, for Split Zone Duo subscribers. Listen to the full “Dead Letters” episode about Miami and the Cradle of Coaches here.

Read more

]]><![CDATA[Miami]]>https://www.splitzoneduo.com/p/miamihttps://www.splitzoneduo.com/p/miamiMon, 28 Jul 2025 13:01:22 GMT
Clockwise from bottom: Terry Hoeppner and players, Ben Roethlisberger, Ara Parseghian, Travis Prentice, and Woody Hayes. Courtesy Miami.

Miami University went on an unprecedented run of hiring coaches: Woody Hayes, Ara Parseghian, Bo Schembechler, and many more: . By 2003, with Ben Roethlisberger behind center, the RedHawks were the best program outside the power conference. Then trouble hit, both for Miami and the MAC.

Split Zone Duo’s paid subscribers can listen to an extended cut of our interview with Steve Baker, the longtime voice of the RedHawks. Subscribe now.

Listen to all 10 episodes of Dead Letters

There’s now a standalone podcast feed on Apple, Spotify, and the other major podcasting apps. It’s got a handful of free episodes, and subscribers can set up their personal feeds in their publication settings. It’s very easy from here. Set up your premium episode feed the same way you set up your regular SZD feed:

Dead Letters is a Split Zone Duo series about when bad things happen to great college football programs. In the series’ first 10 episodes, we’ve covered the rise and fall of teams like Tulane, Nebraska, Florida A&M, Ole Miss, and the entire Southern Conference. These episodes are all in the Split Zone Duo podcast feed, and we have made a handful of them (including this one) free.

To listen to the full catalog of Dead Letters, become a paid subscriber. Want all of the Dead Letters episodes in one tidy podcast feed on your preferred listening app? Good news: You can now do that on all major podcasting apps.

Subscribe now

Welcome to Split Zone Duo RELAUNCH WEEK

We’ll have new episodes every single day this week. Relaunch Week is our unofficial season kickoff, and it’s an excellent time to become a paid subscriber and roughly double the number of podcasts you’ll get from us during the season.

Paid subscribers can listen to the extended-cut interview I did with Miami play-by-play announcer Steve Baker about the history of the RedHawks.

]]><![CDATA[The Southern Conference]]>https://www.splitzoneduo.com/p/the-southern-conferencehttps://www.splitzoneduo.com/p/the-southern-conferenceFri, 21 Jul 2023 16:00:00 GMTThe Southern Conference birthed both the SEC and the ACC. Then the league died in everything but name. What happened, and what is still happening? 

Welcome to the finale of Season 2 of Dead Letters, a Split Zone Duo series about what happens when bad things happen to good college football teams (or conferences). 

Writing: Alex Kirshner
Production: Anthony Vito
Interviewee: Matt Brown 

Get all of our Dead Letters series by becoming a premium subscriber on Substack.

Read more

]]><![CDATA[Kentucky ]]>https://www.splitzoneduo.com/p/kentuckyhttps://www.splitzoneduo.com/p/kentuckyWed, 12 Jul 2023 16:00:00 GMTFootball wasn't much at Kentucky until Bear Bryant came along. That, it would soon become clear, was exactly how Adolph Rupp liked it. 

Welcome to Season 2, Episode 5 of Dead Letters, a Split Zone Duo series about bad things happening to great college football programs. 

Writing: Alex Kirshner
Production: Anthony Vito
Interviewee: Derrick White, University of Kentucky 

]]><![CDATA[Sewanee]]>https://www.splitzoneduo.com/p/sewaneehttps://www.splitzoneduo.com/p/sewaneeThu, 06 Jul 2023 16:00:00 GMTThe Sewanee Tigers had the most dominant program in Southern college football in the late 1800s. Then they became the laughingstock of the SEC, a conference they'd later leave. The best question might not be "Why did Sewanee leave the SEC?" but instead: "How did Sewanee possibly last as long as it did?"

Welcome to Season 2, Episode 4 of Dead Letters, a Split Zone Duo series about bad things happening to good teams.

Writing: Alex Kirshner
Production: Anthony Vito
Interviewe: Norman Jetmundsen, Sewanee documentarian and historian

]]><![CDATA[Colorado]]>https://www.splitzoneduo.com/p/coloradohttps://www.splitzoneduo.com/p/coloradoTue, 20 Jun 2023 16:00:00 GMTThe Colorado Buffaloes were a middling Big 8 program until Bill McCartney showed up. After a while, things got good. And then they got historically bizarre. Welcome to Season 2, Episode 3 of Dead Letters, a Split Zone Duo series about what happens when great programs hit the rocks.

Read more

]]><![CDATA[Ole Miss]]>https://www.splitzoneduo.com/p/ole-misshttps://www.splitzoneduo.com/p/ole-missTue, 06 Jun 2023 16:00:00 GMTThe Ole Miss Rebels were one of the best programs in a segregated Southern college football landscape. Then the world changed, and Ole Miss didn't. 

Welcome to Season 2, Episode 2 of Dead Letters, a Split Zone Duo series about what happens when great programs hit the rocks.

Writing: Alex Kirshner
Production: Anthony Vito
Interviewee: Rick Cleveland, a Mississippi sportswriter of 57 years 

Read more

]]><![CDATA[Florida A&M ]]>https://www.splitzoneduo.com/p/florida-a-and-mhttps://www.splitzoneduo.com/p/florida-a-and-mTue, 30 May 2023 16:00:00 GMTJake Gaither built a college football powerhouse at FAMU in the 1940s, '50s, and '60s. The Rattlers towered over their HBCU competition and struck fear in everyone they played. Then the world changed. 

Welcome to Season 2, Episode 1 of Dead Letters, a Split Zone Duo series about what happens when great programs hit the rocks. 

Writing: Alex Kirshner
Production: Anthony Vito
Interviewee: Dr. Derrick White, author of "Blood, Sweat, and Tears: Jake Gaither, Florida A&M, and the History of Black College Football"
Audio courtesy: HBCUGameday.com 

]]><![CDATA[Arkansas]]>https://www.splitzoneduo.com/p/the-arkansas-razorbackshttps://www.splitzoneduo.com/p/the-arkansas-razorbacksThu, 01 Sep 2022 16:00:00 GMTIt was the late '50s. Arkansas had rarely fielded good teams. The Razorbacks represented a state that, in a lot of tellings, desperately needed a pick-me-up. It arrived in the form of a coach named Frank Broyles, who built the Hogs into a war machine over a long, durable run near the top of the sport. Then things changed again. Let's talk about Arkansas' rise in the college football hierarchy, how it came apart, and how a coach became part of a state's personality. Plus, let's play out some what-ifs to their logical conclusions.

Read more

]]><![CDATA[Nebraska]]>https://www.splitzoneduo.com/p/nebraskahttps://www.splitzoneduo.com/p/nebraskaMon, 25 Jul 2022 16:00:00 GMTThis episode traces the ascent of the Nebraska Cornhuskers and the many, many things that came together to unwind the most dominant team of much of the 20th century.

]]><![CDATA[Tulane]]>https://www.splitzoneduo.com/p/dead-letters-a-tulane-football-storyhttps://www.splitzoneduo.com/p/dead-letters-a-tulane-football-storySun, 17 Jul 2022 01:08:00 GMTThe Tulane Green Wave were once a contemporary of (and a threat to) LSU in Louisiana college football. Then one university president set about changing that. Here is the story of what happened before and after, along with an interview with Tulane historian Lenny Vangilder.

]]>