KillerFrogs Reaches Milestone: 500+ Articles Covering TCU Sports (Part One)

It took less than five months to cross that milestone; we’ve only just begun bringing you content on all of TCU’s teams.

It was mid-August and a friend, and fellow TCU fan, asked “Hey, what would you think about writing about TCU for Sports Illustrated?”

“Are you kidding me,” I asked? “Heck yes! Tell me more.” And with that, I was introduced to the KillerFrogs crew. Sure, I knew of KillerFrogs. After all, they had been around painting the world purple one person at a time since 1997. And I knew of Ryann but had never actually been introduced to her.

I met with Ryann and heard about the new partnership KillerFrogs was doing with Sports Illustrated. I immediately knew I wanted part of this start-up project. We had to move quickly. Football season was approaching, and we knew our best chance to start capturing an audience was during football season. We did it. We launched on September 14 just in time before the SMU game. Little did we foresee that two and half months later, we’d be looking down the barrel at a losing season and replacing a legendary head coach. But we were there and able to cover it all.

When we launched, it was Ryann and me. We knew we needed more writers. We eventually found our team – six writers plus Ryann all with a variety of experiences and a variety of connections to TCU sports. 

Our team is all pictured above as we gathered last week to toast the accomplishment of writing our 500th article – something we did in 138 days. That means that every day, we gave you at least three new articles to read or videos to watch on all of your favorite TCU sports.

We are commemorating the accomplishment in two parts. First, this article introduces you to the team. Tomorrow, we will travel down memory lane and recognize the 10 most viewed articles since we launched in September.

So, with that, meet the KillerFrogs Editorial Team (pictured left to right in the above photo):

• Barry Lewis – Editor/Publisher/Lead Writer – yep, that’s me – I came to campus the same year that Jim Wacker did, and I graduated the same year as Jamie Dixon. I’ve been writing about almost all sports since we launched.

• Adam Shirley – Adam doesn't live in the D/FW area and has a young daughter at home. He wasn’t able to join us, but we included his photo in our group photo. Adam brought you a unique analysis of football and soccer during the fall. His Keys to the Game and Opposing Players to Watch were quite informative. He’s looking forward to contributing when baseball begins later this month.

• Tyler Brown – Our resident sports ignoramus and humorist. Tyler wants to write the next great novel and wanted the challenge to write about topics unfamiliar to him. Hopefully, you’ve enjoyed his “Rules Reconsidered” or “Screwed Tapes” articles.

• Ryann Zeller – Our fearless leader and co-owner of KillerFrogs.com. She’s a TCU alum and former co-cheerleader who brings a wealth of TCU connections and knowledge that has helped us get where we are. And she’s the biggest cheerleader for all of the team.  "What this team of KillerWriters has done in such a short time is nothing short of extraordinary.  It takes a tone of time and dedication.  There are days that I sit back and I'm blown away by what we've accomplished.  I'm just so thankful for and proud of everyone. 

• Brett Gibbons – He’s not a TCU alum, but that doesn’t matter. He’s on a journey to visit all of the FBS football stadiums. We met him in October when he added AGCS to his list. And aren’t we glad he did. He brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise on college football. He’s covered recruiting, betting odds, the transfer portal, the coaching carousel, the CFP, and so much more. We are certainly looking forward to reading his analysis once baseball starts.

• Nick Howard – Nick is our utility player (to use a baseball term) or our ATH (to use a football recruiting term). Nick is a recent grad of Oklahoma Wesleyan where he played four years of college hoops. Hopefully, you’ve enjoyed his basketball knowledge when reading about both our men’s and women’s teams. Nick takes the camera to all press conferences. He is the voice of KillerFrogs on Twitter during football and basketball games. He’s everywhere we need him. And his enthusiasm is just infectious.

• David Tucker – Another TCU alum who has lots of knowledge on all sorts of TCU sports and past games. He’s so willing to take on any topic. He’s been doing more with women’s basketball, and he’s going to be the one to keep us informed on both golf teams. He’s also the one to go to when you want the perfect meme, especially if it slams SMU, UT, or that school in Waco!

So, there you go…. the team that brought you the first 500 articles. We’re glad to have you along for the ride. Here’s to the next 500!

Coming tomorrow: A look at the top 10 articles according to our readers

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