ALBANY, N.Y. -- The Bill Schwanke Award, named after the longtime radio voice of the Montana Grizzlies, is presented annually to the top play-by-play radio broadcaster in the Football Championship Subdivision.
The winner for the 2023 season is Rodger Wyland, voice of the UAlbany Great Danes. Wyland was one of seven finalists for the award.
As a radio personality at ESPN Radio 104.5 The Team in Albany, Wyland is tasked with Great Danes play-by-play duties for both football and basketball. Alongside those responsibilties, Wyland has served as a weekend sports anchor and is the current sports director at WNYT-TV NewsChannel 13.
A 1984 graduate of the Big 10 Conference’s Penn State University, Wyland was also a student broadcaster, doing play-by-play for Nittany Lions basketball at WPSX-TV.
His work has earned him numerous awards through the years, including the Iris Award (an honor for local television programming excellence presented annually in the United States by the National Association of Television Program Executives) for a half-hour athlete feature and three New York State Broadcasters Awards for local sports coverage.
He can now add the Bill Schwanke award to his resume, becoming the third winner to join past recipients Gary Rima of Northern Iowa and Tyler Merriam from South Dakota State.
A voting panel including Tim Brando from Fox Sports, Paul Pabst of the Dan Patrick Show, Freddie Coleman from ESPN, as well as Kevin Marshall and Stone Labanowitz from FCS Nation Radio, decides the winner.
Follow FCS Nation Radio on X (@FCSNationRadio1) for updates. Press inquiries can be submitted to Kevin Marshall at (406) 241-8875 or fcsnationradioshow@gmail.com.