'His personality just draws people in'; BV grad Matt VandeBerg º and the Mrs. º co-host Iowa Hawkeyes football podcast

Matt VandeBerg made a mark at Brandon Valley where he excelled as a wide receiver, safety, punt returner, kick returner and punter for the Lynx.

After graduating in 2013, he had aspirations of taking those talents to college football’s highest level, and he got it. The Big Ten’s Iowa Hawkeyes came calling, and over the next four years, VandeBerg was a formidable target in black and gold where he finished his career with 134 catches for 1,686 yards and 10 touchdowns.

He’s the first player from Brandon Valley to play at the FBS level and he saw some big moments in the process. He was Iowa’s leading receiver in 2015 with 65 catches for 703 yards and four scores. He also had four receptions for 64 yards and a score in the Rose Bowl later that season.

So, it’s no wonder that the Brandon native bleeds black and gold. Along with his wife, Laura, the pair have parlayed their Iowa success into a weekly podcast about Hawkeyes football called ‘Talkin’ Hawks with the VandeBergs.’

Laura was a cheerleader at Iowa and graduated with a Mass Communications degree. She’s the current host of Hawkeye Sports where she interviews players and coaches at live sporting events.

She was approached to start a podcast where she asked if she could include her husband who knows the intricacies of the sport. Matt jumped on board and ‘Talkin’ Hawks with the VandeBergs’ was launched.

The one-hour podcast drops every Monday morning at 5 a.m. and can be found on popular social media platforms. The format seems to reach every demographic as the duo recaps the previous week’s game where Laura talks about what she saw at the game and discusses what the average fan might see. Matt breaks it down further with analytics for those more entrenched in the sport.

A 30-minute segment hits the middle of the show where Laura and Matt interview an Iowa player.

“Iowa is more about family, and we don’t necessarily want to talk to these guys about football. Everybody talks to them about football,” Matt said. “So when we get them, we just kind of talk about what got them here, what made them come here, what’s their home life like.”

The last 15 minutes is reserved as a preview to the upcoming opponent, filled with some fun facts about the team – like mascot names and unique aspects about the school – that Laura presents.

The fun vs. analytical format seems to be working. The first two videos of the podcast on YouTube garnered 7,000 views. That’s on top of an estimated 500-600 on traditional podcast formats.

“It’s performing well. We were expecting anywhere between 3,000-5,000, so to come out with 7,000 is pretty strong,” Matt said. “To not have a product and come out like that, we feel pretty positive.”

Matt is a realtor in Cedar Rapids where he and Laura now call home. He said he gets back to Brandon about once per year, and that included earlier this year when he was inducted into the Brandon Valley Athletic Hall of Fame.

He finished his Brandon Valley career as the all-time leader in receiving yards (2,291) and interceptions (21).

“He’s very knowledgeable in the game of football,” said Bill Freking, the offensive coordinator at Brandon Valley when VandeBerg played. “His personality and ability to talk to anyone, anytime, anywhere about a variety of different things. His personality just draws people in.”

Clearly, the podcast has been drawing people in. Listenership is at a high mark, and they’ve been able to sell sponsorship. The duo’s future in the broadcasting world seems bright.

“We’ve been able to monetize it which is cool because we didn’t really have a product to sell,” Matt said. “But I don’t know if there’s an end-goal. We’re just having fun with where we’re at. The numbers will dictate what we’ll do.”