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Eli Gold prepares to work with John Parker Wilson on Alabama broadcasts: ‘It’s going to be a lot of fun’
By Jake Rill
Published:
John Parker Wilson is returning to Alabama to serve as the color analyst on Crimson Tide radio broadcasts, and longtime play-by-play man Eli Gold is excited to have the former quarterback back on campus.
Gold recently discussed his new broadcast partner with AL.com’s Mark Heim, noting that he thinks Wilson is a good fit for the color job.
“He was a great choice,” Gold told Heim. “There’s no question he knows his X’s and O’s. That goes without saying. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”
Gold has been the play-by-play broadcaster for Alabama since 1988. Wilson replaces Phil Savage, who had been the color analyst since 2009 before leaving to become the general manager of the Phoenix team in the Alliance of American Football, a new spring league that will begin in 2019.
With the season nearing, Gold said that he plans on sitting with Wilson during the next two Alabama scrimmages to do practice broadcasts ahead of their first game together.
“John Parker and I have been friends for years,” Gold said. “He’s a wonderful young man. It’s going to take a little time for us to get our timing down. …
“Hopefully, we’ll be more comfortable with each other after the 10th game than we were with the first game and more comfortable after the 100th game than we were after the 30th game. There’s a process of getting used to your broadcast partner.”
Fans can hear the new radio tandem for the first time when Alabama opens its season against Louisville in Orlando on Sept. 1.
Jake Rill contributes to news coverage for Saturday Down South. He has covered the SEC since 2016.
