Byron Anderson: The Voice of the Texans

BY JACOB BACK

Contributing Writer

“Here we go, to move to 2-0 and shock the nation. High snap, kick is up and it is good!”

That was the voice of Tarleton State University radio announcer Byron Anderson after Tarleton shocked the nation and upset Army on Aug 29, 2025.

Anderson is the Associate Athletic Director for External Relations at Tarleton. He does play-by-play for a range of Texan sports on ESPN+ and manages the Tarleton Sports Network, as well as overseeing all media, broadcasting and marketing operations.

In his college days, Anderson wasn’t always a Tarleton Texan. Anderson went on to gain many all-region and all-conference honors as well as two national championship appearances at Richland Junior College. As his two years at Richland were coming to a close, he was on the lookout for somewhere bigger, with more opportunity.

Part of what attracted him to Tarleton was the atmosphere at the football games.

“I had a buddy that played football here in 1996,” Anderson said. “I came to every home game that year, and that made me fall in love with Tarleton football.”

In the fall of 2000, Anderson made his first appearance on the field for the Texans’ baseball team.

“Tarleton was always just a peripheral,” Anderson said. “I had opportunities to go to Purdue, West Virginia and Texas Tech to play. But the thing was, I could play two years here instead of just one at the other schools.”

As a student-athlete at Tarleton, Anderson earned many accolades, such as captain and MVP of the 2002 baseball team.

Anderson not only left a legacy on the field, but he was also leaving a mark on the media world. He worked part-time at KSTV, a local radio station in Stephenville, along with part-time work at KPIR, a station located in Granbury.

His primary focus while in school was getting tape so he could make a career out of play-by-play.

“That was my original dream. It was a way to get on the air and start getting some exposure,” Anderson said.

After a successful time as a student-athlete and radio host at Tarleton, Anderson was ready to take on the DFW sports radio market.

“I got on ESPN radio in Dallas. I worked there for five years. Then I got a part-time job hosting on the weekends with The Ticket,” Anderson said.

In 2016, the tides changed. Anderson got a call from Troy Jones asking if he knew anyone who wanted to be an assistant athletic director and present radio, sell advertising and do fundraising back at Tarleton. Anderson immediately answered that he would come back to his home turf.

“I really did not appreciate Stephenville and Tarleton until I moved to DFW and we had kids,” Anderson said.

Anderson is married to former Tarleton State volleyball player Mary Irvine, and together they have two children.

“As soon as we had kids, I was dying to move back here because it’s such a great town to raise kids. And Tarleton is a great place to work, not just to go to school,” Anderson said.

In that moment, the Voice of The Texans was born. Anderson started out doing play-by-play for Tarleton’s football and men’s basketball teams, as well as a color commentary for women’s basketball.

Since Anderson’s return to Tarleton, he has contributed to much of the department’s growth, such as the transition Division I, ESPN+ being integrated and selling advertisements to donors like North Texas Ford Dealers for the Tarleton Sports Network.

“Just to go back and to get to be part of the team that was responsible for taking [Tarleton] from Division II to Division I, that was awesome being an alumni,” Anderson said.

Among all of these achievements, Anderson expressed how much being a part of the 2025 Tarleton vs. Army win meant to him. In fact, he made a commemorative piece that, when pressed, plays the final call.

“That moment right there, man, that’s a lot of work by a lot of people,” Anderson said. “We had more than 500 fans there, and so many of those people are donors, and that right there is the culmination of so many things. To get to be the voice of that is so fun.”

Anderson added how much he thought alumni and fan involvement changed that day.

“Every time we have a big game against somebody now, you might go ‘cause we might win,’” he said. “That was the one where it’s like, ‘I want to go be a part of Tarleton’s history.’”

Anderson added that most people who are alumni here have two football teams. They have their big football team they cheer for, and then you have Tarleton. He said Tarleton is second fiddle for a lot of those folks. But Anderson thinks there will be a day when Tarleton will be down in the big dance.

“Part of the draw being at Tarleton is just how everyone treats each other. Same thing in Stephenville. So, we’re really happy to be here,” Anderson said.

On that shining day, when the spotlight hits, the Voice of the Texans will likely be making another historic call.

“Plant that purple flag, light that stack,” Anderson said.