Jeff Dantzler, Jon Stinchcomb get the call to lead Georgia’s football radio team

Kirby Smart talks about pride, passion and energy on the football field, and now Jeff Dantzler and Jon Stinchcomb will be bringing that to the broadcast booth for the Georgia Bulldogs Sports Network.

Dantzler will be “Calling the Dawgs” with his singsongy delivery and soft Statesboro drawl, delivering play-by-play while former UGA All-American and NFL Super Bowl champ Jon Stinchcomb will provide detailed color analysis.

“There’s nothing like college football on a Saturday, and specifically Georgia football, so it’s something I’m most familiar with and look forward to,” said Stinchcomb, who played for the Bulldogs from 1998-2002 and had one season of overlap with Smart, who was an administrative assistant in 1999.

Stinchcomb’s next take on Smart will be coming from up high in the Sanford Stadium broadcast booth, but he still remembers his view on the future Georgia head coach from below when he was a redshirt freshman offensive lineman.

“Kirby has always had an air about him, not a big ego guy, but there was certain gravitas about him. He walked around with a chip on his shoulder and an expression that he belonged,” Stinchcomb, 46, said. “That approach was part of his success. He was a team captain and All-SEC player and certainly a leader in the locker room.

“Kirby was a guy his teammates looked at and realized there was a right way to go about things.”

Stinchcomb, who played eight NFL seasons with the Saints, plans to go about things in his new role the same way. He’s already consulting with other broadcasters and brainstorming ways to be in midseason form when the opening game kicks off.

“I just really enjoy the live-action breakdown and commentary,” Stinchcomb said on “DawgNation Daily” this week, “and trying to give insight to fans as to what they might miss or where they can direct their eyes and appreciate and enjoy the game in a different way.”

Georgia figures to look every bit the contender fans have become accustomed to, but things will sound different on the radio waves with two new voices.

“Jon and J.D. (Dantzler) will mesh quickly,” Former Georgia coach Jim Donnan predicted when contacted by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I expect many thrilling broadcasts ahead.”

Excitement and energy have been staples for the 53-year-old Dantzler as he’s provided analysis for Georgia baseball games since 1995, and even before that, as he’s handled play-by-play for the UGA women’s basketball since 1993 in roles he will maintain.

But, as Stinchcomb noted, there’s nothing like Georgia football, and Dantzler shared that calling games from Sanford Stadium has always been his dream.

“I grew up loving Georgia and idolizing Larry Munson and Dan Magill,” Dantzler said. “In my best Vince Dooley voice, I can imagine him saying from up above, ‘It’s a great opportunity, now don’t foul it up.’”

Dantzler’s self-deprecating humor aside, getting the job to make the football calls comes at a time where he has had another departed figure on his mind, with his wife Emily having died from cancer at 41 just over a year ago (April 28, 2025).

“Today is actually the one-year anniversary,” Dantzler told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in his Tuesday interview. “She would be extraordinarily proud, and I’m heartbroken she’s not here every day. I wish she would have been here to see this, but I know she’s looking down with great pride.”

Dantzler, like others, views the timing of his career break as bittersweet.

“I think it’s a coincidence, but you know, God works in mysterious ways.”

Indeed, and the decision to put Dantzler behind the mic for football has been met with great enthusiasm for those who have enjoyed his work on the pregame and postgame football shows with former Georgia kicker Kevin Butler since 2009.

“You talk about an honor,” Dantzler said of working with Butler, “We’ve also been doing ‘The Bulldog Brunch’ from the Hilltop Grille since 2010, and I will continue to do that with my great hero and friend Kevin Butler.”

Stinchcomb’s football broadcast experience started while he was still a player with the New Orleans Saints.

“I was calling the games for the (New Orleans) VooDoo,” Stinchcomb said, referring to the former Arena Football League team. “More recently I’ve been calling the Saints’ preseason games the past 15 years.”

Dantzler’s football experience goes back to working as a sideline reporter for a 1991 UGA football JV game against Georgia Tech, and after that, calling Clarke Central High School football games during the 1992-1993 season with current UGA broadcast baseball sidekick David Johnson.

In 2009, Dantzler recalls, he had an opportunity to call an ACC football game between Maryland and Wake Forest on ESPN+ with Donnan.

“We had a play-by-play guy get sick, so I told the producer JD (Dantzler) and I had done a coaches radio show for five years,” Donnan said. “He did a terrific job, and it led the way for him to do a lot of other events with ESPN and the SEC Network.”

Dantzler’s extensive experience has Georgia senior associate athletic director Tray Littlefield convinced great things are ahead for the new broadcast team.

“I’ve sat beside Jeff as he’s called many games, and he’s extremely talented, with all the tools to be successful,” Littlefield said.

“Jeff’s passion and the excitement he expresses for the events is obvious, and the rhythm of his calls and knowledge he shares with the fan base make him ideal for this role. Jeff and Jon will have some unique calls that fans will love.”