Syracuse Football: Alumnus Noah Eagle to call Purdue game, that’s dope

Syracuse University alumnus Noah Eagle, a rising star in sports broadcasting, will serve as the play-by-play announcer when Syracuse football travels to Big Ten Conference member Purdue this weekend.

The Orange (2-0) has its toughest tests to date in the young 2023 season coming up, as the ‘Cuse will battle the Boilermakers (1-1) from Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Ind. A term ago, these two non-conference foes engaged in a thrilling encounter on the Hill, with Syracuse football squeaking out a 32-29 victory in the closing seconds of the fourth quarter.

Eagle is the son of veteran sports broadcaster Ian Eagle, who calls a variety of events for CBS Sports and, beginning in 2024, will serve as the voice of the NCAA Tournament men’s Final Four.

In early February of this year, NBC Sports announced that Noah Eagle, top analyst Todd Blackledge and sideline reporter Kathryn Tappen would be the broadcast team for NBC’s Saturday night Big Ten Conference games.

This Saturday, Sept. 16, the ‘Cuse and Purdue will go toe to toe beginning at 7:30 pm. I’m excited to see that Eagle will be on the call, and I hope that the Orange can muster up a road triumph to move to 3-0.

SU alumnus Noah Eagle will do play-by-play for Syracuse football at Purdue on Saturday evening.

Eagle graduated from Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications in 2019. During his tenure on the Hill, he was the sports director at the WAER radio station, and he also called ‘Cuse basketball, football, and lacrosse games for the station.

In just a few years, Eagle has skyrocketed in the sports-broadcasting business. He was the radio play-by-play voice of the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers for several seasons.

Per his bio from NBC Sports, he has also called college football for FOX and CBS. He also called an NFL game on Nickelodeon. Other events he has worked on include NBC Sports’ coverage of 3-on-3 hoops at the Tokyo Olympics, college basketball on FS1, NBA events for Turner/NBA TV, and events for the Tennis Channel.

As many Syracuse football and SU sports fans know, the Newhouse school, of which I’m a 2000 alumnus, has produced countless standout broadcasters over the years. Eagle appears well on his way to becoming one of the next big stars who came out of Newhouse and is among the premier sports announcers in the business.

Ian Eagle is one of the best in the world. In fact, in late June, he was named National Sportscaster of the Year, and deservedly so.

Two of my favorite sports announcers these days are Syracuse University alumnus Sean McDonough and Mike Tirico.

Among other duties, McDonough is the lead play-by-play announcer for the NHL on ESPN and ABC (including the Stanley Cup Final), and he’s also a top sportscaster for college football on ESPN and ABC. In recent years, he has called one of the two College Football Playoff semifinal games.

Tirico, one of the lead announcers for NBC, has been serving as that network’s primetime Olympics host, and he’s also the play-by-play broadcaster for NBC’s NFL games on Sunday nights. Other duties for Tirico at NBC have included Triple Crown horse racing, the Indianapolis 500 and major professional golf tournaments.

I’ll wrap up this column with a big shout-out to Noah Eagle for all of his success to date in his young sportscasting career.