As a sports director for KRNU radio, Jacob Schrantz stays busy covering a wide swath of Husker sports while earning opportunities to broadcast for teams around the country.
As part of the College of Journalism and Mass Communications’ Sports Media and Communication program, Schrantz produces radio programming for football, volleyball, soccer and high school sports coverage — and goes on-air himself. On the FM dial, KRNU can be found at 90.3.
“Our main job is to be the communication point for all the broadcasters,” Schrantz explained. “For football, we make sure everyone’s prepared for the game the week beforehand, staying up to date on storylines and developments for both teams.”
Schrantz described his role during the broadcasts — which are done on-site in Memorial Stadium and elsewhere — as a behind-the-scenes organizer, making sure things go smoothly.
“We’re on-site overseeing everything, cueing people to go to commercial, answering questions, things like that,” he said. “Then we go on-air for the pregame, postgame and halftime shows.”
While CoJMC classes help prepare students for broadcasting, Schrantz has also been able to hone his skills doing professional, live sports broadcasting through internships. He’s learned that broadcasting often requires some serious research on a tight deadline.
“Last summer, I interned for the American Cornhole League doing announcing for their broadcasts,” said Schrantz, who had to study up on cornhole to be successful. “You really have to watch it, research it and listen to it critically. It’s super important to pick up on the terminology and cadence people use.”
Schrantz said that advice from Professor Bill Doleman — who’s announced for multiple Olympic games — helped him be prepared to adapt quickly.
“Hearing his personal experience with researching new sports when you’re on the air the next day was really helpful for me in taking on this new challenge.”
Next summer, Schrantz will be interning with a baseball team in Yakima, Washington. First, though, he’s looking forward to continuing to lead at KRNU.
“I feel I’ve really grown in this position, like I’m someone people can come to for feedback or to ask questions,” he said. “It’s certainly made me a better leader, but also just a better peer to other students.”
