Alyssa Lang is an American

sports reporter Sports journalism is a form of writing that reports on matters pertaining to sporting topics and competitions. Sports journalism has its roots in coverage of horse racing and boxing in the early 1800s, mainly targeted towards elites, and into t ...

and anchor. Lang is a college football

sideline reporter In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as a sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time live commentary of a game or event, traditionally delivered in the present tense. There are two main types of sports broadcast ...

for the SEC Network, where she has hosted the programs ''SEC Now'' and ''Thinking Out Loud''. She has co-hosted her own program, ''Out of Pocket'', starting in 2020, and she was joined on the program by

Takeo Spikes Takeo Gerard Spikes (; born December 17, 1976) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for Auburn Tigers football, Auburn Tiger ...

in 2023. She previously worked for the

Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is List of municipalities in South Carolina, the second-mo ...

TV station

WLTX WLTX (channel 19) is a television station in Columbia, South Carolina, United States, affiliated with CBS. Owned by Tegna Inc., the station maintains studios on Garners Ferry Road ( US 76– 378) in southeastern Columbia, and its transmitter i ...

and later for

First Coast News First Coast News is the newsroom of television stations WTLV (channel 12) and WJXX (channel 25), the NBC and American Broadcasting Company, ABC affiliates in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. It is owned with the stations by Tegna Inc. T ...

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

Career

Lang graduated from the

University of South Carolina The University of South Carolina (USC, SC, or Carolina) is a Public university, public research university in Columbia, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1801 as South Carolina College, It is the flagship of the University of South Car ...

with a degree in broadcast journalism in 2015. While in university, she joined the TV station

in Columbia as an intern in 2013. She also worked for SPEEDTV and GamecockCentral.com around this time. She had been working as a weekend sports anchor before she left the station in 2016 to join

. After two years at First Coast News, Lang joined the

SEC Network SEC Network (SECN) is an American multinational sports network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which operates the network, through its 80% controlling ownership interest) and Hearst Communications (which hold ...

in 2018 as a studio show anchor and host, where she has hosted the SEC Network programs ''Thinking Out Loud'' and ''SEC Now''. In 2020, she was announced to be co-hosting

ESPN Radio ESPN Radio, which is alternatively branded platform-agnostically as ESPN Audio, is an American sports radio network and extension of the ESPN television network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the banner "SportsRadio ESPN". The netw ...

's ''Primetime'' show on Sunday afternoons with co-host

Field Yates Field Minister Yates (born April 23, 1987) is an American sportswriter and analyst, who is an NFL Insider at ESPN where he provides NFL and fantasy football insight. A graduate of Wesleyan University, where he was a two sport athlete, and a form ...

, and she was given her own show, ''Out of Pocket with Alyssa Lang'', on the SEC Network. ''

The State A state is a political entity that regulates society and the population within a definite territory. Government is considered to form the fundamental apparatus of contemporary states. A country often has a single state, with various administrat ...

'' of Columbia in 2021 called her "one of the faces of the SEC Network" and praised her for being "cognizant of the place she holds as part of ESPN's star-studded college football lineup" while " aintainingthe realness and effervescent personality those in Columbia recall so clearly." In 2023, football analyst

was announced to be joining Lang on ''Out of Pocket'' as a co-host. Lang has also worked for WCNC in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...

. In 2022, she was announced to be guest host of ''

The Paul Finebaum Show Paul Finebaum (born July 26, 1955) is an American sports author, former columnist, and television-radio personality. His primary focus is sports in the Southeast United States. After Finebaum spent many years as a reporter, columnist, and sport ...

'' (which would make her the first woman to guest host the show) after she hosted a radio version of the show earlier that year. Lang co-hosted

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

SportsCenter ''SportsCenter'' (SC) is an American television sports news broadcasting show broadcast by ESPN. Originally anchored by Chris Berman, George Grande, Greg Gumbel, Lee Leonard, Bob Ley, Sal Marchiano and Lou Palmer, it premiered on Septem ...

with

Linda Cohn Linda Cohn (born November 10, 1959) is an American sportscaster. She has anchored ESPN's ''SportsCenter'' since 1992. Early life and education Cohn grew up in a Jewish family on Long Island, New York (state), New York. As a child, she would w ...

the first week of July 2024.

Personal life

Lang is a native of

Huntersville, North Carolina Huntersville is a large suburban town in northern Mecklenburg County, North Carolina Mecklenburg County () is a County (United States), county located in the southwestern region of the U.S. state of North Carolina, in the United States. As o ...

. When she was young, she spent weekends in the fall traveling from her home in

Charlotte Charlotte most commonly refers to: *Charlotte (given name), a feminine form of the given name Charles ** Princess Charlotte (disambiguation) ** Queen Charlotte (disambiguation) *Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, a city * Charlotte (cake) ...

to football games at

Virginia Tech The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech (VT), is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...

in Blacksburg, where her parents are alumni. In high school, Lang's

public speaking Public speaking, is the practice of delivering speeches to a live audience. Throughout history, public speaking has held significant cultural, religious, and political importance, emphasizing the necessity of effective rhetorical skills. It all ...

teacher told her parents during a parent-teacher conference that she could have success in

broadcasting Broadcasting is the data distribution, distribution of sound, audio audiovisual content to dispersed audiences via a electronic medium (communication), mass communications medium, typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio waves), ...

because of her skill in speaking in front of her classmates. Lang's

fiancé An engagement or betrothal is the period of time between the declaration of acceptance of a marriage proposal and the marriage itself (which is typically but not always commenced with a wedding). During this period, a couple is said to be ''f ...

is football analyst Trevor Sikkema. After a 2022 game, Lang asked

Mississippi State University Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, Un ...

coach Mike Leach for advice for her upcoming wedding, and Leach in response recommended that she take the opportunity after the football season to "elope".

References

{{Reflist

External links

Alyssa Lang's bio
at ESPN Living people American television reporters and correspondents University of South Carolina alumni American sports journalists Women sports journalists American women television journalists 21st-century American women Year of birth missing (living people)