Voice of the Bearcats inducted into Missouri Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame

MARYVILLE, Mo. (KQTV) -- John Coffey has called more than 500-straight Northwest Missouri State football games and for his years of service, the Voice of the Bearcats has been inducted into a statewide Hall of Fame.

On Saturday night, Coffey was inducted into the Missouri Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame.

"I'm very humbled to be a part of it," Coffey said. "I'm not sure it's all sunk in even though I received a notice that I was going in in December."

Coffey, the Voice of the Bearcats, and KXCV/KRWN general manager, always wanted to be a sports broadcaster. While growing up, he listened to Hall of Famers broadcast Kansas City Royals and St. Louis Cardinals games.

"Listening to Cardinal baseball, in particular with Jack Buck and Harry Caray at the time," Coffey said. "The Royals came on, and this is something that's a very big honor for me, listening to Denny Matthews (on the radio), and to go in with Denny means an awful lot to me, as well."

The longtime broadcaster turned his dream into a reality. He has called hundreds of high school games. Coffey has called thousands of Bearcat games, too.

Last fall, Coffey broadcasted his 500th consecutive Northwest football game.

He isn't just a sports broadcaster though. Coffey is a mentor to a lot of college students at Northwest.

"From a student perspective, he always goes out of his way to make sure students have the ability to learn and grow," said Sam Reeves, a former student and current KXCV underwriting sales associate.

He has helped broadcasters get better at KXCV and on the Bearcat Radio Network like Matt Tritten, who worked at KXCV in college and was the Bearcat Sideline Reporter for Coffey. Tritten now works with Coffey at KXCV as the program and sports director.

"The majority of my career working alongside John, and obviously, the games are a lot of fun and in the office, but there are just a lot of long road trips around the MIAA making it out to big games and a lot of milestones for northwest Missouri State athletics. John has been there and for a few of those, I've been able to be by his side, too."

The 2026 MBA Hall of Fame class featured John R. Beck, Jr., Sharon Bonnett (former KXCV general manager), Coffey, Dan Dierdorf, Les Garland, Denny Matthews, and Lisa Rose.