Countdown to 2022 IUFB Kickoff: 40 Days (Rhett Lewis)

Written by: TJ Inman (@TJHoosierHuddle)

The 2022 Hoosier Huddle Countdown is churning along as we reach 60% completion. If you squint through the haze of the mid-summer heat, you can see just an outline of the 2022 season coming into focus. Today, we take a slightly different approach to the profile and set our sights on new IU radio color announcer and former IU player: Rhett Lewis.

Name: Rhett Lewis

Hometown: Metairie, Louisiana

Position: Former Wide Receiver and new Color Commentator for the IU Radio Network

Radio broadcasts for Indiana football sounded remarkably the same for the past 17 years. Don Fischer, as always, was on play-by-play. Buck Suhr was on color commentary. Joe Smith handled the pregame, halftime and postgame duties. The times, they are a changing. Don Fischer is still plugging along as one of, if not the, preeminent voices in Indiana sports but 2022 will be Joe Smith’s final season and Buck Suhr exited after 2021. A new color commentator was needed and IU turned to a former player with great broadcast experience to fill the role.

Rhett Lewis was born and raised in Metairie, Louisiana and was the son of a world-class athletic trainer. His father, Dean Kleinschmidt, worked for the New Orleans Saints for 31 years and was in the NFL for 41 seasons total. He was the head trainer for the Indiana Hoosiers from 2004 to 2006. That time around football endowed his son, Rhett, with a love for the game. He walked on at IU from 2001 to 2005 as a wide receiver and special teams contributor, graduating with a degree in sports broadcasting and a masters in sports administration. His full name was Rhett Lewis Kleinschmidt but he only uses Rhett Lewis now and his broadcasting career took off. In 2014, Lewis began a five-year stint as anchor and reporter at a station in Boston. That led to several roles with the NFL Network including NFL Now, NFL Total Access and Path to the Draft plus radio roles on SiriusXM. He never stopped following IU and really got plugged back in with the program during the past few seasons. When Suhr stepped down from his spot in the booth, the former IU wideout jumped at the chance.

“You don’t stop being a Hoosier when you take the helmet off for the last time,” Lewis said in a release by Learfield Communications. “The passion for ‘The Glory of Old IU’ always remains. I’m so thankful to Scott Dolson, Coach Allen, Mark Deal and Jeff Keag for allowing me to connect with IU Football these last few years in a way that was so accessible and welcoming. That connection made me want to get even closer to program. When Buck Suhr retired after a fantastic 17-year run in this role the fit was too good to be true. Most importantly, to get to work side-by-side with the legendary Don Fischer, the best voice in the business, is an absolute dream come true.”

Rhett Lewis and his wife Kayna (also a broadcaster for ABC News) have two young children, Conway and Wylder. His first broadcast will be September 2 as IU opens the 2022 season against Illinois.

The countdown continues with a new profile each and every day so come back to hoosierhuddle.com daily!