Matthew Ryan is a proven executive leader whose career spans transportation engineering, construction services, and complex organizational management. With prior roles including CEO and president of S&ME, Inc., and now CEO of TMC in Orlando, Matthew Ryan has built a reputation for strategic communication, operational clarity, and leading teams through fast-paced, high-stakes environments. His background also includes senior leadership positions at HDR, Industrial Piping Inc., and Infrastructure Management Group, as well as earlier work supporting federal agencies such as the Government Accountability Office and the U.S. House of Representatives. Matthew Ryan’s emphasis on precise communication, situational awareness, and disciplined preparation mirrors the skill set required for effective audio-only football announcing. These shared principles help explain why clear, reliable, and well-timed communication is essential when announcers must guide listeners through a game without visual cues.
Announcing High School Football for Audio-Only
Some people attend high school football games in person, while others follow by sound alone – through a gym speaker, a radio, or a livestream with limited visuals. In those moments, especially when sightlines are poor or equipment is minimal, the announcer becomes the listener’s main view into the action. That role changes how announcers describe the game, primarily when no visual cue supports the audio.
Clear communication starts with pacing. Announcers can’t afford to get ahead of the play, but they also can’t fall behind. Words must land in rhythm with action, fast enough to keep up, but never rushed to the point of confusion. To do that, announcers trim sentences to essentials: who had the ball, what changed, and when it happened.
To help listeners orient themselves, announcers rely on consistent spatial language. They call out yard markers, sidelines, directions of movement, and field position as the play develops. These details replace what viewers might usually see and let remote audiences track progress and location through concise, familiar cues.
Identifying players presents a separate challenge. Fast substitutions, crowded scrimmage lines, and jersey changes all complicate real-time tracking. Announcers use number spotting, roster sheets, and shorthand cues to keep up. They connect each play to a clear individual without slowing the pace or miscalling key moments.
Tone control matters as much. Announcers have to match the energy of the moment without losing clarity. Crowd noise, emotional swings, and sudden momentum shifts all influence how a voice carries, but announcers keep sentence clarity and timing consistent to make the message understandable.
Before any play begins, announcers prepare the tools they’ll need in motion. They review player names, build rosters with pronunciation notes, and create quick-reference sheets for common formations or frequent contributors. This preparation reduces missteps and supports real-time decisions under pressure.
Special teams plays, such as punts, kickoffs, and field goals, demand different preparation. These moments run faster, compress more, and shift position unpredictably. Announcers switch from standard rhythm to condensed phrasing, often with less time to identify individual players. They use pre-game notes on kicker numbers, return specialists, and formation tendencies to stay oriented as the field resets.
Once the game begins, announcers continue updating their notes to reflect emerging patterns – such as who’s seeing more touches, which players sub in on key downs, or whether a formation signals a shift in tempo. These markings help them make sharper calls later in the game without relying solely on memory. Dynamic notes let announcers track changes while anchoring their calls in prior events.
Announcers also know when not to speak. During a delayed call, multiple flags, or a player injury, silence helps more than speculation. They pause, assess the moment, and resume only when they can offer something reliable. That timing reinforces audience trust.
Even experienced announcers miscall plays or mispronounce numbers. The difference is in how quickly they adjust. A brief correction keeps the audience aligned and restores flow. Live communication rewards agility over perfection.
In the long run, announcing sharpens a person’s ability to deliver clear updates while tracking rapidly changing conditions. That discipline proves helpful in roles such as disaster response briefings, live troubleshooting, and managing fast-moving teams in dynamic environments. People trained to speak with focus and timing often end up leading when communication drives decision-making.
About Matthew Ryan
Matthew Ryan is the CEO of TMC in Orlando, Florida, and a longtime executive leader in engineering, construction, and infrastructure services. Formerly president and CEO of S&ME, Inc., he has guided major organizations through growth, operational alignment, and large-scale project delivery. A George Mason University BS and MBA graduate, he serves on professional boards, including the Design Professionals Coalition executive committee. His career reflects a commitment to clear communication, strategic leadership, and high-performance team management.
