Matt Baker

About

When people find out I’m a sports writer, they usually ask what cool stuff I’ve covered. So here you go: eleven Daytona 500s, seven college football national championships, two NCAA Tournaments, Super Bowl LV, a Stanley Cup Final, the PGA Championship and Tom Brady's final game. But many of the highlights of my award-winning career happened before the first whistle or after the final buzzer. Games are only a small part of my job as a national college sports reporter at The Athletic. Because I combined multiple jobs into one as the Tampa Bay Times’ college football writer from 2015-24, I must work harder and smarter to find the best stories in an ultra-competitive environment. I comb through public records to find things others miss. I’ve crunched thousands of numbers to quantify coaches’ success and to discover which cities produce the most football talent. I’ve built relationships with people of all backgrounds to break national news, including the Jameis Winston scandal. I’ve interviewed everyone from billionaire businessmen and NFL superstars to architects and a guy who claimed he once saw a Bigfoot.My web traffic has more than doubled since 2016 thanks to my commitment to social media and SEO. I build my brand through dozens of TV/radio interviews (including CNN, ESPN’s Outside the Lines and The Paul Finebaum Show), speaking to local Kiwanis/Rotary Clubs and talking with kids from kindergarten through high school for the Great American Teach-In.When I’m not working, I’m usually running – either for sport (I’ve done a marathon and four half marathons) or for survival (I have an energetic son).