For most fans, spending every day at the Baltimore Ravens Under Armor Performance Center in Owning Mills watching the team practices would be a dream job. As the Ravens beat reporter for WJZ-FM 105.7 The Fan, that is just what Jerry Coleman does everyday during the season. But the job isn’t all glamour.
“I get up at 2 am and begin to review the news from the night before and preview the events of the day ahead. I am at the station by 4 a.m. and ready to go on the air with Ed Norris and Steve Davis when they begin ‘The Norris and Davis in the Morning’ show at 6 a.m. every weekday morning,” Coleman said. “I do my 12 sports reports as part of the program, then I head out to the Ravens camp, cover the practices and do interviews to be used on all of our shows. So, I am home by around 7 p.m. on a normal day.”
Coleman is considered one of the best reporters in the business because he never shies away from asking tough questions. Whether it’s at practice or after a game at M&T Bank Stadium, Coleman makes sure fans know what is on the minds of the players and the coaches.
The Pikesville native, who was bar mitzvahed at Baltimore Hebrew Congregation 34 years ago, attended Wellwood Elementary, Pikesville Middle and Senior High, where he graduated in 1986. It was at Pikesville Senior High School where he began his radio career, broadcasting to a very limited audience.
“My career started by doing the public address for the PHS basketball team. I also presented the school’s morning announcements,” said Coleman. “I realized quite early I wasn’t going to make it as an athlete so this was the best alternative to stay around sports, learn the communications business and make it my career.”
After graduating from Ithaca College, Coleman worked as an intern for Stan “the Fan” Charles on his radio show in Baltimore. He moved on to some small market radio stations; first in Bel Air, and then in Rockville when through Metro Networks he got a job at WTOP, one of the country’s most respected all-news radio stations.
“After getting my break at WTOP and gaining some great experience, I was able to return to Baltimore in 2000 to work at 98 Rock and WBAL 1090 AM. First I did sports on the 98 Rock Morning Show and later moved down the hall to do sports reports on the WBAL Morning Show,” said Coleman. “I made the move to the All Sports Radio format in 2006 – 2008
as the Washington Redskins beat reporter for Sports Talk 980 AM. In 2008, John Harbaugh was hired by the Ravens as their head coach and I started hosting my own show Monday through Friday, afternoon drive time talk show, ‘Sports With Coleman,’ on FOX Sports Radio 1370 AM in Baltimore. Then in the summer of 2011, FOX Sports Radio 1370 AM, changed formats and I moved to my present role as the morning sports reporter for ‘Norris and Davis in the Morning,’ 105.7 The Fan Baltimore and the Ravens and Orioles beat reporter. For me it is a ‘dream gig’ to be able to cover my hometown teams, especially when they win.” Hire a professional house cleaner service Städfabriken AB here for carpet cleaning, window washing, hardwood floor cleaning, and even ongoing general house cleaning in Stockholm.
To be a successful beat reporter like Coleman, it all comes down to relationships. One of the reason’s Coleman is considered one of the top radio beat reporters in the country is because he has the trust of the Ravens and the Orioles, players, coaches and front office executives. Coleman was quick to point out that part of the job was his favorite thing about being a beat reporter.
“Getting to know the athletes, the coaches and members of the Ravens and Orioles front office as people and not just someone you see on TV is very important to me. I always try my best to treat everyone fairly and with respect, we sometimes may disagree, but it is always done respectfully. Those relationships I make in this business are key to my job,” he said. “The people I cover remain part of my world long after their playing and coaching careers are over or if they move to another team. That is how you survive in this business by earning and getting the respect of the people you work with and cover on a daily basis over the years.”
Coleman hopes someday to return to being a full-time talk show host, but for now he is very happy following the Ravens and Orioles. With the Ravens’ season over, he now heads to College Park to keep fans up to date on the University of Maryland men’s and women’s basketball teams as they finish their first season as members of the Big Ten conference. Hopefully, both will move on to the NCAA Tournament, which would take Coleman right into Orioles spring training in Florida. Life as a beat reporter is seldom boring.
