Co-Hosts
Monday:
Joe Rexrode covers Michigan State football and men’s basketball for the Detroit Free Press, a beat he covered at the Lansing State Journal from 2003 to 2012. He succeeded Jack Ebling on the beat at the LSJ, after helping Ebling as a stringer during the 1999-2000 year — covering a 10-win MSU football team, a Nick Saban departure and a national championship for Mateen Cleaves and Co. Rexrode authored the 2006 book, “Stadium Stories: Michigan State Spartans.” A 1999 MSU graduate, he lives in Okemos with his wife, Katie, and children Jack, Brennan and Caroline.
Email: jrexrode@freepress.com
Twitter: @JoeRexrode
Tuesday:
Born and raised in Lansing, Graham Couch returned to his hometown in September 2012 to be the Lansing State Journal’s sports columnist. This former Sexton Big Red spent the previous decade covering Western Michigan University and the esteemed Freeport (Ill.) Pretzels. His career goals still include a professional basketball career in Europe.
Email: gcouch@lsj.com
Twitter: Graham_Couch
Terry Denbow is the voice of reason, experience, and sounds the warning of “unintended consequences” every Tuesday on The Drive during our At Issue discussions. Terry came to MSU in 1982 as Director of Public Relations. He later became assistant Vice President for University Relations and held the position of vice president for university relations until his retirement in 2010.
Prior to coming to MSU, Denbow worked for the public relations departments at the University of Alabama and Penn State University. A native of Beaver, Pennsylvania, Terry is an ardent Pittsburgh Steelers and Pirates fan and is a graduate of George Washington University.
Wildcard Wednesday:
Dan Kilbridge is currently enjoying his sixth year on the Michigan State beat, fifth with 247Sports. He graduated from MSU in 2010, loves the Chicago Bears and is running out of excuses for Jay Cutler. He hates knee-jerk commentary, Twitter trolls and the Green Bay Packers. He would like to break 100 on the golf course again some day and see the Chicago Cubs win the World Series. We’re not sure which is more likely to happen this decade.
Twitter: @MSUDanK
Neil Koepke, who covers Michigan State hockey for MSUSpartans.com, is one of the longest-tenured and most-respected college hockey journalists in the business. Koepke has covered college hockey for 39 seasons, which includes 25 years as the Michigan State hockey beat writer for the Lansing State Journal. Prior to joining the LSJ, he spent 13 seasons as the University of Michigan beat reporter for the Ann Arbor News and one year as an analyst with Ken Kal, now the voice of the Detroit Red Wings, on Michigan radio broadcasts on WAAM.
Koepke has covered 34 NCAA Frozen Fours, including Michigan State in seven of its Frozen Four appearances (1986, 1987, 1989, 1992, 1999, 2001, and 2007). In all, he has covered thousands of hockey games, from the NHL to the NCAA to the prep level. There is simply no journalist in North America with more hockey knowlege.
A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Koepke began playing hockey at age 11 and spent one season playing for the Ohio State University freshman team as a goaltender. He graduated from the University of Detroit in 1970.
A native of Waterford, Mich., Matt Charboneau has covered everything from high school sports and city council meetings to the Final Four and the Stanley Cup Finals in more than 20 years as a journalist. He began his career at the Lansing State Journal while finishing his degree at Michigan State before spending more than 11 years at The Oakland Press and The Flint Journal. In 2006 he arrived at The Detroit News and was an assistant sports editor before taking over the Michigan State beat in the fall of 2010.
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @mattcharboneau
Thursday:
Rico Beard has worked in the media for 16 years covering not only Michigan State Athletics, but also all of the Detroit Sports Teams (Lions, Tigers, Pistons and Red Wings). He has worked behind-the-scenes in television in Detroit (Fox2) and Lansing (Fox47), and is currently the co-host of the Ryan and Rico Show, heard weekdays from 10:00 a.m. to Noon on Detroit Sports 105.1 FM. Currently, Rico is a Contributing Writer for Spartanmag.com. He has covered 7 Final Fours, 3 Stanley Cups, 2 NBA Finals, 3 Bowl Games and 2 World Series.
Email: goldrush9@yahoo.com
Twitter: @RicoBeard
Friday:
Tom Crawford’s career is marked by 25 years of Corporate PR, 10 years of Sports Talk radio, and 3 years out of the gate as a Houston sportswriter. And he will attribute ALL of his success to that sacred B.A. degree he earned at the University of Michigan. #PureMichiganArrogance
Be sure to check out Tom’s Blue Belly Blog.
Email: tom.crawford91@gmail.com
Twitter: @BlueBellyTom
Special Contributors:
The Drive’s NFL Insider, Josh Williams, has spent the last 5-years covering the NFL and College Football, over 30 games covered live on-location and dozens of interviews with major NFL Executives, coaches and players.
Producers:
The Drive with Jack Ebling would be a daily ride on the Titanic if not for Doug Warren manning the controls. He is a proud husband and father, an avid reader and a terrible musician. Like many of you, he has the curse of being a Detroit Lions fan. He is The Drive’s official Detroit Lions and NFL historian. He is currently writing two books. One on the history of the Detroit Lions. The second is a comprehensive history of postwar Detroit (circa 1945-60).
Email: dutchclark@gmail.com
Twitter: @iamDougWarren
Mike Paceleo is a native son of the Lone Star State now living in Mid-Michigan. Living up to his Texan heritage, he’s loyal, friendly and quite outspoken. He loves his wife, Mexican food and the San Antonio Spurs. He also religiously follows the Texas Longhorns and the Dallas Cowboys, even if Jerry Jones gives him heartburn. He is also a top level trivia master and proudly embraces the mantle of being “a storehouse of useless information”. He is proud to bring his unique and off-kilter perspective to the Lansing airwaves.
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @mikepaceleo210
