(September 10, 2019) Staying busy after losing a job helped Dave Schultz stay optimistic while pursuing his next gig. It paid off. Schultz is the new Program Director and Afternoon Drive host on Sports Radio 105.5 FM WNSP in Mobile, AL.
Schultz most recently spent more than five years as PD and AM Drive host at 103.7 The Game in Lafayette, LA. He’s excited for his new opportunity.
“105.5 is very well known throughout Alabama,” Schultz says. “It keeps me in the South, which I enjoy and Mobile is basically a mirror city of Lafayette. Both have Sun Belt schools in town and both are dominated by larger SEC schools.”
Schultz parted ways with 103.7 The Game earlier this year. Instead of moping, though, he stayed busy. Schultz continued covering the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns and LSU, started a podcast and was eventually given a Sunday morning show on ESPN 1420 in Lafayette.
“The late, great Cajuns Baseball Coach Tony Robichaux always preached to his non-starters, ‘you need to work while you wait.’ And honestly until Robe passed, it hadn’t occurred to me that’s what I was doing,” Schultz recalls.
WNSP has employed STAA members in the past. When they decided in early July to hire a host and a program director, General Manager Tim Camp contacted STAA again. Around the same time, Schultz was referred to Camp by another sportscaster in the area.
One challenge Schultz faced in his sportscasting job search was age. “I turned 50 at the beginning of July. Based on who was hired at some other openings, I think age was something that was holding me back. I’ve got almost two decades of broadcasting experience, work extremely hard and had ratings success in Lafayette, but still struggled to find work.”
One thing Schultz says helped him stay positive is the weekly STAA Insider emails he receives. He’s been an STAA member most of the past nine years. “Many of [STAA’s] stories about struggling or keeping you head up always seem to arrive in my in-box at just the right time,” he smiles.
Now, Schultz is eager to take his optimism, experience and expertise to Mobile. It’s a market he says is quite similar to the one he left in Lafayette. “Both are two hours from New Orleans. It’ll take time to learn the specifics of Alabama, Auburn, South Alabama and Mobile High School football, but generally speaking, the topics of the SEC, SBC and NFL will be the same.”