TOUGH NAMED MSU “VOICE OF THE BEARS” PUBLIC ADDRESS ANNOUNCER – El Dorado Springs native Jackson Tough has been named the new “Voice of the Bears” as the Missouri State University (MSU) Football Public Address Announcer.

Tough seemed destined for the new position, “I took my daughters to a MSU Lady Bears Basketball game several months ago courtesy of an old broadcasting friend who is now in sports marketing at MSU. We sat in the Bears suite visiting with Kyle Moats, Director of Athletics about sports and announcing. Fast forward, recently I received word that MSU wanted a demo of my announcing. I made it as a final four candidate, went to Springfield for a live audition and two days later they called to say I’m the new voice of Bears football. The extra bonus, my daughters who just started college think it’s awesome their dad will be on campus Saturday afternoons.”

Rick Kindhart, MSU Assistant AD, Communications said “It’s an exciting time to be at Missouri State, and we’re glad Jackson will be part of our football game-day atmosphere this fall.  His energy and experience make him an ideal fit, and we’re very excited to have him on board.”

Tough’s broadcasting career started in local radio calling Bulldog football games with his father (Jack Tough). After graduating from El Dorado Springs he attended Missouri State University in Springfield. As he says “he was bitten by the broadcasting bug” and worked as on-air talent and in marketing at KWTO (AM 560 News/Talk/Sports and Rock 99), KGMY “My Country” 100.5 FM and KGBX, as a station/sales manager. He then designed and managed Coyote Country 92.9. From there he went to Clear Channel Radio in Springfield, where he designed and put ESPN 1400 on air, (Springfield’s first sports station) along with managing the city’s largest rock station, US97. Tough came back to his hometown of El Dorado Springs so his daughters could live with him. He has been the CEO/Executive Director of the El Dorado Springs Chamber of Commerce since 2012, and has been honing his skills as the public address announcer for the Bulldogs football team and doing player introductions at EHS basketball games the last four years.

“I’m very blessed. I have passion for our community so the chamber will continue to be that outlet. And I have a great passion for announcing. I love calling my hometown Bulldogs games on Friday evenings and will continue to do that too.  It’s always been a dream of mine to announce college or professional football and I have reached that chapter in my life. You can even find me delivering announcements at the Church of Christ on Sundays and Wednesdays. I just enjoy keeping crowds informed.”

Missouri State University is the second largest educational institution in the state (just behind Mizzou) with over 26,000 students each year. The school has 17 NCAA Division 1 teams with 58 NCAA championship appearances. There are over 120,000 MSU alumni around the world.

Facebook Comments