Midseason Big Ten Check-In with NBC's Noah Eagle
Noah Eagle of NBC's 'Big Ten Saturdays' gives us his midseason picks for most impressive team, player, and more.
NBC is well-known for its coverage of Notre Dame football. But in its first year with rights to the Big Ten Conference, the network tapped a rapid-riser in the space to handle its play-by-play duties: Noah Eagle, the son of legendary broadcaster Ian Eagle, earned the job. The lead play-by-play announcer for Big Ten Saturday Night football is paired with Todd Blackledge and sideline reporter Kathryn Tappen, and the reviews this season have been high. In his young career, Eagle has been on the call for some epic games already, including the biggest comeback in NFL history and Ohio State's week 4 walk-off win in South Bend against Notre Dame. Eagle will also be on the call for NBC’s coverage of Big Ten basketball this year. We had the chance to sit down with Eagle for a midseason check in on all things Big Ten, and talk about his career. Use the link at the bottom of this page to subscribe to Sling Blue with NBC (in select markets).
Interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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Sling: Which team has impressed you most in the Big Ten thus far this season?
Noah Eagle: I'd say so far this season, it's got to be Michigan. The talent on both sides of the field is ridiculous, and this legitimately might be – and probably is – Jim Harbaugh's best team for a guy who has gone to back-to-back college football playoffs. J.J. McCarthy's taking a step forward, you've got great running backs, you've got great weapons on the outside, a defense that's relentless. It's really hard for me to pick anybody other than Michigan to really emerge as that team out of the conference.
So Michigan is your pick to most likely to run the table in the Big Ten East?
NE: Yeah, look, the Big Ten East is a bloodbath every year. It's fun to see Penn State, Ohio State, and Michigan go at it every year, and even Maryland, who last week did a great job against Ohio State and has shown that they're ready to compete with some of the big boys in the conference. But there's something about this Michigan team. The depth is absurd. They're rotating guys in that I've never seen before, and they've got guys two, three, four deep at every position when most schools just dream of having one. So when you have that talent level already, you're ahead. And then you've got this unselfish nature about the team. Everybody wants the other to succeed. Their starting quarterback, J.J. McCarthy is in year two as a starter, and most guys that are in the position that he's in – the Caleb Williams', the Michael Penix’s, the Bo Nix's, all those in the Pac-12, and then some great quarterbacks, including Taulia Tagovailoa and the Big Ten – they're all throwing the ball 30, 40 times a game. J.J. McCarthy is only throwing it 15 to 20 times a game. He's incredibly efficient, but he's not upset about it. He's not saying, ‘I want more attempts, I want to score more touchdowns, I want to have more yards.’ He's saying ‘let's get the backup quarterback a look here’ and I think that's what separates this team above everybody else.
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On that note, of great players in the conference, who's really impressed you this season so far?
NE: I think I have to shout out Kyle McCord from Ohio State, the quarterback. Not necessarily because he's been this world-beater or he's been perfect from the start, but the way he's handled his situation is what's impressed me. I know he's got arguably the best receiving core in the entire country. He's got outstanding running backs and an offensive line that's experienced and getting better with each week. He's got a tight end that's going to be in the NFL next year. That's all great, but to have to handle the spotlight and have to handle the criticism that Kyle McCord did early this season, especially after replacing a guy in C.J. Stroud that was so successful there, I've just been impressed with how he's gone about it, how he hasn't faltered, how he hasn't let it get to him, how he's just continued to go about his business and with a professional-like attitude he's shown up every day and he's just been a leader. He's been someone who can take care of the football, someone you can rely on in big moments. And I think that's the part that was a question mark for him going in. How would he do when the moment and the stage got its largest and against Notre Dame, big throws on the final drive this past week against Maryland, big throws when they needed him to in a close game. That's a big deal for Ohio State. If they're truly going to compete at the level that they believe they should be, he's got to be not just good, but great when they need him to be.
In terms of new coaches in the Big Ten, Matt Rhule, Ryan Walters, and Luke Fickell, what have you seen from them in their first year to getting those programs back to where they want to be?
Three programs that, especially in the Big Ten, hold weight, certainly Nebraska and certainly Wisconsin. It's better for college football when those teams are at the top of the country. And for Purdue, they've had success. So it's not like this has been a rebuild for them. It's been a reinstitution of a different culture and a different mentality because Jeff Brohm leaves, goes to Louisville, and we're seeing the success they're having. They're undefeated. They just upset Notre Dame. They're having an outstanding season. A look at those three that you mentioned.
Wisconsin: I'll start with Luke Fickell. The guy had success before. We know he's going to have success here. He's got more resources at his disposal. He's got higher level recruiting at his disposal. He's got a built-in history at his disposal. And they could legitimately win the Big Ten West. There's a big game against Iowa this week. They win that game, it's pretty likely that Wisconsin takes that division. And so for year one, that would be a smashing success for a guy in Luke Fickell that we believe is there for the long run.
Nebraska: Matt Rhule, I don't think people are recognizing just how good of a job that he's done at Nebraska. Easily could have won week one against Minnesota, lose on a fourth-and-10 down. Essentially that extends the game, and eventually Minnesota would kick the field goal. They had close games against Colorado where they easily could have found a way to win that game. Colorado eventually pulls away in the second half, but Nebraska played well, and defensively you're seeing that toughness. So I think that when you talk about Matt Rhule, he talks about culture and accountability. He's already done that in year one, and there's a good chance they could be playing for a bowl for the first time in a long time. That's a big deal.
[Purdue's] Ryan Walters – it hasn't been the season they expected. They did play one of the maybe most difficult non-conference slates of any team in the Big Ten. Their three games were against Fresno State, who up until this past week was ranked and has a very good program year-in and year-out; on the road at Virginia Tech and while the Hokies aren't maybe what they used to be, that's a tough place to play, a tough place to win. And then they're at home against Syracuse, a Syracuse team that has an experienced quarterback, an experienced offensive line, good weapons on the outside, and a defense that's much improved with a new defensive coordinator. So that's a tough non-conference slate. And you're putting yourself in a position now where you're maybe behind the eight ball. I don't look at this as year one of what the rest of it's going to be for Purdue and Ryan Walters. I look at this, and being around them and meeting with them, as this is just the jumpstart of the new era of Purdue football. It's a young coaching staff. All their coordinators and head coach are under 40-years-old. That's a big deal, and it's a fresh energy, and I think that that's going to take a little bit more time to really instill. But given time, I think they have a chance to be really good.
What are your initial thoughts on Oregon and Washington and the L.A. schools joining the Big Ten next year?
NE: Look, I might be a traditionalist in some sense, in terms of college sports overall. I grew up a Big East basketball fan. And when Syracuse, the school I grew up rooting for and eventually attended, when they left to go to the ACC, it crushed me. I would go to the Big East Tournament every single year with my dad, and those are memories that I will have forever at Madison Square Garden. And you see the teams you grew up rooting for and against every year. And to think at the moment, this isn't going to happen anymore, that was a hard pill to swallow, a harsh reality to face.
And then the first year they're in the ACC, [Syracuse] plays Duke at the Carrier Dome. And it was a classic overtime game. And I was like, ‘okay, this is pretty good. I like this now.’ And I think the same deal with the Big Ten. I think a lot of people are like, ‘well, how's this going to work? How's it going to go?’ The matchups are going to be epic. Epic. You're talking about USC and Ohio State. You're talking about Oregon and Michigan. You're talking about Washington and Penn State. Think about some of those matchups. Just this year alone, three of those four teams that are being added are in the top ten in the country. So you're adding top ten teams. And I think more importantly than anything else, you're adding four outstanding coaches. And Lincoln Riley has proven himself at Oklahoma and at USC in his two years. Chip Kelly, we know his track record. He was playing for a national championship. He had success in the NFL. And then the two coaches, Oregon and Washington, I would say Dan Lanning is one of the most impressive guys. Forget coaches – guys in all of college football, if you talk to him, you walk away and you're like, ‘okay, he's impressive.’ And then Kalen DeBoer, he's one of the winningest coaches in all of college football. All he does, everywhere he's gone, is win football games. And that's continued now two years into his tenure there in Seattle. So I'm excited for those four teams. I'm excited for the matchups. I think it's really good for the conference, and more specifically, it's really good for the sport.
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What have been your favorite calls of your young career? And then what is one that you wish you had back and redo?
NE: Yeah, these are tough. I've been really fortunate in my early portion of my career to get some amazing calls already, get some amazing games. The top of the list includes a game from this year, which was Ohio State and Notre Dame. And, I mean, it's very rare that you get essentially a walk-off touchdown to end a game between top ten teams who are undefeated and basically fighting for their playoff lives in many ways. So that's special. That'll always be special. Last year, I got a chance to call the Vikings-Colts game. It was the largest comeback in NFL history. The Vikings were down 33-0, and they found their way all the way back at home. Amazing scene, amazing environment.
And then in my four years with the Clippers on radio, I had a really amazing opportunity to do some classic NBA games. And I'm a huge NBA guy. And so I would say two in particular that stood out. One would be game six of the second round in 2021 when the Clippers made it to their first ever conference finals, down 25 to Utah, they come back and win. And then down 35 in the regular season the next year in DC to the Wizards. Second largest comeback in NBA history. They won that game on a four point play. Just a crazy, crazy game. So those are two from there that stuck out.
My regret call would be from the Clippers, and it was my first year. It was a Clippers-Celtics game, and it was a huge moment right before the All-Star break, two really good teams that were towards the top of their conferences battling in a double-overtime game. And towards the end of regulation, the Clippers had a massive shot. It was Marcus Morris who made the shot, and I think I was sort of scrambled in my head. I called him Marcus Smart, and, you know, you just have to move forward with it. But certainly one that if I could get back, I would.
What's kind of the one thing that your dad taught you about the business of play-by-play that's really stuck with you?
NE: Yeah, I think the word you use that's key is “business,” because most people think he just sat me down and he said, ‘hey, this is how you call a game.T his is how you prepare for a game. This is how you do this and that.’ And there were moments where we talked things through, and there were moments where I looked to him to get the advice that I needed in the moment. But the biggest thing I took away was when I was younger, I would go to the games with him, and I would see how he interacted with everybody. And when I say everybody, I mean everybody. That means his producer, that means his partner, that means writers, that means camera people, that means custodians, that means anybody who was in the area that he knew or recognized him. It was this humility that he walked around with. And I said, ‘okay, that's it right there. That's what I need to figure out. That's the secret sauce.’ And so what I realized is it's just being a good person and taking a genuine interest in all the people around you .Because if you bring positivity and camaraderie, generally the show benefits and your broadcast benefits, because everybody else is in a good place and everybody else wants to do well and everybody else wants to work together as a team, because that's what it is: It's a team effort at the end of the day. So more than anything else, I think that's what I've taken away from him.
Who are some other play by play commentators that you've looked up to?
NE: I mean, my dad's at the top of the list, but I've definitely tried to take from a variety. Mike Tirico, who's now my teammate at NBC, is someone I've known for a long time, and is someone I respect at an immense level. I think he's just so versatile. He can do everything that you ask of him. So if you need him to do play-by-play, he can do it at a super high level. If you need him to host, he can do it at a super high level. And what always stands out about him is that he always feels happy, excited, proud, and genuinely pumped to be at the event he's at. And I think that's a big deal.
Mike Breen is high on the list as a basketball side. I love the way that he meets the moment. I love the way that he has command over the broadcast. I think Dave Pasch is wonderful. I think Adam Amin and Jason Benetti are two guys that I really respect and I try to take bits and pieces from. But it's hard for me just to name a handful because I'm such a student of the craft that I go back and I watch even older tape from 40 or 50 years ago to see what I can take from all these different generations. So those are kind of some of the modern guys that I would say I pattern and tailor. I think Kevin Kugler was a guy when I was on radio. I just think he's really good at it. He's really good at the craft and especially on the radio side. So you take certain bits and pieces, as I mentioned, from everybody, and you try to blend it into your own style.
When calling college football versus college basketball what are the biggest differences? Do you have a preference?
NE: The biggest difference has to be the preparation, because there's 100 guys you need to learn for a college football team that all don't have singular numbers necessarily. There are guys that share numbers, and so you have to worry about that and just worry about more volume, right? And the biggest difference is that you have more time within the game to actually get some of the information in because of just how the game is set up. It's play-break-play-break-play-break. Basketball is continuous. And I grew up around basketball. I've always had a passion for it. I've had a love for it. I tried to play it as long asI could, realized I was too vertically challenged and probably athletically challenged as well. But I love the sport. I love the game. And so the biggest, I would say, similarity between the two that I love is that we get to tell the stories of these kids and just how much they've maybe been through before getting to college, or now in college, and what they have to go through as a student athlete. And now with the NIL stuff, I love telling those stories. And so I'd say football allows you to do that and expand on it a little bit more. But basketball, there's something about the adrenaline. There's something about that constant movement and the highlights and all the little things that eventually add up. I'm excited because I haven't been to a majority of the Big Ten venues yet on the basketball side, and I've heard nothing but amazing things. So it'll be a magical season ahead.
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