Mike Tirico started his career in the basement of a Syracuse University radio station. On May 10, 2026, he’ll stand at the podium in the JMA Wireless Dome and tell a few thousand graduates what that basement taught him.
Syracuse University announced this week that Tirico, Class of 1988, will deliver the 2026 commencement address at 9:30 a.m.. a homecoming for the broadcaster who became the most prominent voice in American sports television.
The Resume
Tirico’s path from Syracuse to the top of sports broadcasting is the kind of story the Newhouse School puts in its recruiting brochures. except it’s real.
He graduated with a dual degree in political science from the College of Arts and Sciences and the Maxwell School, plus broadcast journalism from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. His first job was at WAER-FM, the campus radio station. Then WTVH-TV in Syracuse as sports director, calling Syracuse athletics games for a local audience.
From there: ESPN, where he became the voice of Monday Night Football from 2006 to 2015. Then NBC Sports, where he now calls Sunday Night Football play-by-play and serves as NBC’s primetime Olympics host.
In February 2026, Tirico became the first U.S. broadcaster in history to call the Super Bowl and host a Winter Olympics in the same year. calling Super Bowl LX and then hosting NBC’s coverage of the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics in the same month.
MIKE TIRICO. BY THE NUMBERS
The Syracuse Connection
Tirico isn’t just an alum who shows up for speeches. He was elected to the Syracuse University Board of Trustees in 2016 and became Vice Chair in 2025. He and his wife, Deborah Gibaratz Tirico ’89, established the Mike Tirico Scholarship Endowment at the university.
The honors tell the story of a sustained relationship: the George Arents Award (2005, the university’s highest alumni honor), the Outstanding Young Alumni Award (1996), the Marty Glickman Award (2017), 2010 Sportscaster of the Year, and induction into the National Sports Media Association Hall of Fame in 2025.
His own words: “There is no place that has meant more to me than Syracuse University.”
THE CAREER ARC
COMMENCEMENT DETAILS
What to Know
- Commencement: May 10, 2026, 9:30 a.m. at the JMA Wireless Dome
- Tirico: SU Class of 1988, dual degree (Newhouse + Maxwell/A&S)
- First broadcaster to call the Super Bowl and host the Winter Olympics in the same year (Feb 2026)
- Five Sports Emmys, 2025 National Sports Media Association Hall of Fame
- Vice Chair of SU Board of Trustees (elected 2025)
- Started career at WAER-FM on the SU campus
Photo: Pexels. Sources: Syracuse University News, Daily Orange, CNYCentral.
