Podcast

Yogi Roth

#478: How a Popular College Football Analyst Became an Emmy-Winning Storyteller

I used to get pumped about this time of the year.

Summer is ebbing. Hints of Fall sprinkle through the air.

And it’s the kickoff to NCAA College football.

That was one of my favorite parts until the PAC-12 conference imploded as colleges prostituted themselves for media money.

I’m particularly bitter because my WSU Cougs were left in the dust along with the Oregon State Beavers.

But our guest this week has a different take. As one locker room door closes another one opens.

Yogi Roth, a football analyst who I followed for the past decade on the PAC-12 Network calling games and who is now with the Big-10 Network, joined me to talk about his take on NCAA football.

But more importantly, he details how he has used his talents both on and off the football field to become an EMMY-winning filmmaker and best-selling author including his latest book, 5-STAR QB: It’s Not About the Stars, It’s About the Journey.

A graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, Yogi walked on to the football team as a wide receiver and earned a full athletic scholarship.

He transitioned to coaching and joined the USC Football staff while earning magna cum laude with a master’s degree in Communications Management at the Annenberg School for Communications and Journalism.

He also taught a class titled Storytelling: The Internship to Pac-12 student-athletes.

Yogi co-authored the New York Times best-seller Win Forever with former USC and NFL Seahawks’s Super Bowl-winning coach, Pete Carrol.

His second book detailed his journey migrating from the East Coast to the West Coast called From PA to LA.

In 2022, Yogi released his third book, 5-Star QB, an Amazon best-seller, and his first children’s book, Finding Free Fun.

As a filmmaker, he recently Executive Produced and Hosted All American Stories on the CW and has produced or directed multiple documentaries with the Pac-12 Networks, NFL Films, Bleacher Report and ESPN, including the Emmy-nominated film Keep Climbing: 2013 Elite 11, and the award-winning film Life In A Walk.

As a media personality, Yogi has been a host/college football analyst for ESPN, Fox Pac-12 Network and in 2024, Big Ten Network, as well as a correspondent for Entertainment Tonight on CBS, beach volleyball on TBS for the last decade and college football with NBC.

Takeaways:

Yogi’s passion for storytelling has shaped his career as a football analyst and filmmaker, allowing him to connect with athletes and share their stories.
How to follow your heart and let the story flow, rather than outlining and planning every detail.
Y-Option is Yogi’s new venture, a platform that aims to provide thoughtful and credible coverage of college football from the West Coast perspective.
Yogi wants to fill the void left by the Pac-12 Network and create a platform that tells the stories of West Coast teams and athletes.
He believes that storytelling is essential in bringing hope, inspiration, and connection to the world.