Dean DeVore will not be returning for his 24th season as Penn State football’s public address announcer this fall, per a report by Cory Giger of DKPittsburghSports.
Exclusive: New from me tonight: A big change is coming to the Beaver Stadium experience this fall, per a source.
How do you feel about this, Penn State fans?https://t.co/tJvM6vmvdV— Cory Giger (@CoryGiger) April 25, 2023
DeVore was on the mic for PSU’s annual Blue-White Game April 15, but Giger reported that Penn State officials “have sought to move on from DeVore and had already begun seeking replacements as of last month,” per a source with knowledge of the situation.
The source didn’t indicate to Giger why DeVore was being removed, only that Penn State “wanted to make a change.”
DeVore had been Penn State’s PA guy since 2000, meaning that he’s been the No. 1 Beaver Stadium voice at Penn State for this entire millennium. He succeeded another famous Penn State voice, Steve Jones, who became the team’s radio play-by-play announcer in 2000 and has held that job since.
DeVore graduated from Penn State in the late 1980s.
His first PA gig came doing Penn State men’s lacrosse in the spring of 1989. From there, he began getting more PA opportunities, becoming PSU volleyball’s PA announcer in the 1990s and, by his estimation, announcing five Final Fours throughout the decade.
When DeVore was a student at PSU, he was a member of the University’s famous “Blue Band” and has continued to be the band’s voice decades later, always introducing the band at Beaver Stadium for its pregame and halftime routines. Giger reported that his source told him that “a recent ‘incident’ at a university sporting event may have jeopardized him (DeVore) being able to continue with roles in other university-related events.”
As with anybody with a voice heard by 100,000+ people, opinions of DeVore’s work varied. Some loved his enthusiasm (“first downnnnnnn Pennnnnn Stateeeee”), while others didn’t care for his style (a Rivals message board poster called him the “worst PA announcer I have ever heard” in 2018.)
Regardless of where people stand on Dean DeVore, he’s been a massive part of the Beaver Stadium experience, and Happy Valley Saturdays will be different this fall.
PSU opens its 2023 season at Beaver Stadium Sept. 2 against West Virginia.
Update: Penn State has confirmed that DeVore is now longer the football PA announcer and is no longer with Penn State Athletics as a whole.
”We do not have further comment,” Athletics spokesperson Kris Petersen said Tuesday afternoon, “and this is a personnel matter.”
