Trio tackles ‘Voice of the Aggies’ duties

For the 2025-26 season, the voices calling the action on the radio include a mix of familiar sound and fresh energy. 

Adam Young, NMSU’s director of broadcasting, who has served as the play-by-play voice for the television broadcast for several Aggie sports, added football radio to his responsibilities. 

“That’s probably been the hardest part of what I do – juggling seven different sports while also doing a little TV and radio,” Young says. “When I arrived in 2014-15, I was only guaranteed a couple of sports, and to have my role grow into what it is now has been really neat.”

This season marks the first since the retirement of legendary broadcaster Jack Nixon, who spent more than 40 years as the “Voice of the Aggies.” His departure left big shoes to fill – and two seasoned veterans stepped in.

Young handled the radio play-by-play for all six road games and the two midweek home games that aired on the CBS Sports Network. For the other four games, longtime Las Cruces voice Jeff Matthews ’89 was in the booth for radio play-by-play after years of calling local high school football games as well as Aggie basketball, baseball and softball.

“I’ve been fortunate to cover just about everything in Las Cruces,” Matthews says. “There’s nothing like the atmosphere on a football Saturday here. It begins early in the week with preparation, studying notes and player personnel. That way when the big moments come, I’m comfortable and in my element, and if I’m feeling it, hopefully the fans will, too.”

For men’s basketball, Russ Langer, the longtime voice of the Triple-A Las Vegas Aviators and University of Nevada, Las Vegas athletics, took over radio play-by-play. Langer, who attended NMSU for three years, says he has always felt drawn back to the Mesilla Valley.

“All of my play-by-play experience has been rooted in two philosophies: be yourself and remember that radio is a theater of the mind,” Langer says. “My job is to make the listener feel like they’re sitting courtside with me. Growing up admiring Aggie greats like Chuck Goslin, Albert ‘Slab’ Jones, Greg Webb, Ernest Patterson, Steve Colter and Jaime Peña, I’ve always loved the intensity that defines Aggie basketball. Las Cruces is a special place, and I’m thrilled to return to where my career began and build a strong connection with this community.”