News Taffy

Jonesboro radio personality Mickey Ryan has been named as the Red Wolves' associate athletics director for external relations, Arkansas State Director of Athletics Terry Mohajir announced today.

Ryan comes to A-State as a well-known public figure within the region and state who gained notoriety the last eight months as a radio personality hosting one of East Arkansas Broadcasters’ (EAB) popular afternoon sports-talk shows. He brings more than 20 years of experience in sales, broadcasting and marketing with him to ASU. Ryan has enjoyed a successful broadcasting career at multiple radio and television stations in Arkansas, Tennessee and Kentucky.

The Arkansas State University alumnus returned to Jonesboro in March of 2010 as a radio show host on the sports-talk based 103.9 FM The Game before accepting a position with EAB’s 95.3 FM The Ticket in September of 2012. During his tenure at both stations, Ryan was also involved with sales and served as sales director at The Game. Ryan’s “Game Time with Mickey Ryan” afternoon show became one of the highest rated sports radio programs in the area. The Ticket saw a double-digit rise in accounts, and Ryan was instrumental in adding top sales to The Game through his role in bringing St. Louis Cardinals’ baseball and Dallas Cowboys’ football games to the station.

Since returning to Jonesboro to cover his alma mater, Ryan has been involved with various functions and radio broadcasts associated with ASU Athletics. He has worked as a sideline reporter for A-State football games, a pregame football show host, handled some play-by-play duties for Red Wolves’ baseball and served as emcee for ASU’s Sun Belt Conference championship celebration at Liberty Bank Stadium and its inaugural “The stAte Awards.”

Ryan says he is leaving one great situation to step into another one.

“It’s really hard for me to leave (EAB president and owner) Bobby Caldwell, (general manager of the EAB Sports Network) Scott Siler and East Arkansas Broadcasters because I love radio and they’ve been really good to me, but as an alumnus and lifetime fan of Arkansas State, this is a dream come true for me,” said Ryan. “I look forward to helping advance the university any way I can. I’m excited to work with an athletics director the caliber of Terry Mohajir. Also, we are fortunate to have (ASU Chancellor) Dr. Tim Hudson’s university leadership and (ASU System President) Dr. Chuck Welch’s vision for the university system.”

As the Red Wolves’ Associate Athletics Director for External Relations, Ryan will supervise marketing, multi-media, ticket sales, promotions, fan experience, social media (marketing and sales) and special events.

“I am excited that Mickey Ryan has accepted a position with our athletics department,” said Mohajir. “I believe Mickey’s experience and background will help us move another step closer with our continuing efforts to build a national brand. The support we received from EAB and Bobby Caldwell to hire Mickey has been fantastic, and we look forward to growing our partnership.” Prior to his time at 103.9 The Game, Ryan was a successful realtor at Crye-Leike in Brookland, Tenn., while also working in radio, television and commercial acting. He spent 13 years with Crye-Leike as a broker, sales manager and recruiting director. During his time with the realty company, he consistently ranked among the top sales executives nationally and was a regional “Rookie of the Year.” He was awarded multiple multi-million dollar sales club awards as well.

His experience in radio and television extends back to 1989, when he served as a play-by-play and color commentator for KNEA (Jonesboro) after earning his bachelor’s degree in communications from Arkansas State University. Ryan has also served in various capacities at WSMV-TV (Nashville, Tenn.), HGTV (Hollywood, Calif.), WLAC Radio (Nashville), 104.5 The Zone (Nashville), KAIT-TV (Jonesboro) and WBKO-TV (Bowling Green, Ky.) Ryan will begin his duties at A-State in June.