By BRENT MARTIN
Northwest Missouri will be well represented in the Missouri Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame next year.
In fact, Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville will see two veteran broadcasters inducted.
The voice of the Northwest Missouri State Bearcats, John Coffey, will enter the Hall in the 2026. But so will longtime Northwest instructor and general manager of the Northwest radio station KXCV/KRNW, the late Sharon Bonnett.
Coffey remembers how kind Bonnett was to students and how much she cared about Northwest broadcast students.
“You knew that she cared about you and that’s the one thing that really stands out,” Coffey tells KFEQmmunity. “Over and above from a working relationship or from a student relationship she just had that caring instinct and that remained in place long after you graduated from Northwest and the KXCV program.”
Bonnett graduated from Northwest in 1965. She served as producer, program director, and eventually general manager of KXCV/KRNW, winning multiple MBA awards as well as national Corporation for Public Broadcasting Awards. Bonnett died in 2023. Northwest named its radio studio in her honor.
Coffey actually nominated Bonnett for the MBA Hall of Fame and received the call that she was selected. Later, Coffey got another call. This time, he learned he would be inducted next year.
Coffey enters the Hall for a number of reasons, but especially for marking the milestone of broadcasting 500 consecutive Northwest games on the Bearcat Radio Network. Coffey reached the milestone in a 21-14 Northwest win over Missouri Southern State University September 20th in Joplin. Coffey graduated from Northwest in 1982, returning to Maryville to work at KNIM in 1983. He became the voice of the Bearcats in 1985 and has called all 10 of the Bearcats’ NCAA Division II national championship contests. Coffey has served as KXCV/KRNW General Manager since 2019.
Coffey says calling 500 consecutive Northwest football games is something he couldn’t imagine when he started.
“It’s just been a pleasure to be able to call Northwest games through the years,” Coffey says. “I guess one thing that really helps as far as getting to that number was the amount of post season games that Northwest has played. It comes out to about two or three or four maybe extra seasons of games just from the standpoint of going into the playoffs as many years in a row as they did. So, that helped get to the mark a little bit quicker than it ordinarily would.”
Of all the games he broadcast, including national championships, a 1996 playoff win against the University of Nebraska-Omaha in icy conditions in Omaha stands out.
“I remember that game really as the point that you knew that this football program had arrived. From that point on, Northwest turned into what became a dynasty,” Coffey recalls. “That game to me stands out as a major one. Of course, the national championship games all have significance, but that game in particular I think really stands out for what it meant for the history of the program.”
Northwest defeated UNO 22-20 on November 23rd of 1996, losing by a point to #15 Northern Colorado the next round.
Northwest would go on to win back-to-back national championships under Coach Mel Tjeerdsma in 1998 and 1999. Northwest has won six total NCAA Division II National Championships.
You can follow Brent on X @GBrentKFEQ
