About Bennett Koerber

I received my PhD (2022) in history from Carnegie Mellon University where I studied the histories of sport (primarily college football) and higher education. I am now a senior research associate with Taylor Research Group, a litigation and environmental research company. I am passionate about all things outdoors and LSU Tigers football. Originally from Lafayette, LA, I now live in Pittsburgh and enjoy all the city has to offer!

Bennett Koerber graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in 2022 after completing his dissertation - "Liberal Arts Football: Athletics, Academics, and American Higher Education, 1906-1948”. He is currently a senior research associate with Taylor Research Group, a litigation and environmental research company. He can be reached at bkoerber@andrew.cmu.edu.

NBN Episodes hosted by Bennett:

Matthew Bentley and John D. Bloom, "The Imperial Gridiron: Manhood, Civilization, and Football at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School" (U Nebraska Press, 2022)

July 30, 2023

The Imperial Gridiron

Matthew Bentley and John D. Bloom
Hosted by Bennett Koerber

The Imperial Gridiron: Manhood, Civilization, and Football at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School (University of Nebraska Press, 2022) examines the …

Gregory J. Kaliss, "Beyond the Black Power Salute: Athlete Activism in an Era of Change" (U Illinois Press, 2023)

April 14, 2023

Beyond the Black Power Salute

Gregory J. Kaliss
Hosted by Bennett Koerber

Unequal opportunity sparked Jim Brown's endeavors to encourage Black development while Billie Jean King fought so that women tennis players could earn…

Thomas Aiello, "Dixieball: Race and Professional Basketball in the Deep South, 1947-1979" (U Tennessee Press, 2019)

March 3, 2023

Dixieball

Thomas Aiello
Hosted by Bennett Koerber

In Dixieball: Race and Professional Basketball in the Deep South, 1947-1979 (U Tennessee Press, 2019), Thomas Aiello considers the cultural function o…

Andrew McIlwaine Bell, "The Origins of Southern College Football: How an Ivy League Game Became a Dixie Tradition" (LSU Press, 2020)

November 2, 2022

The Origins of Southern College Football

Andrew McIlwaine Bell
Hosted by Bennett Koerber

College football is a massive enterprise in the United States, and southern teams dominate poll rankings and sports headlines while generating billion…

Brian D. Bunk, "From Football to Soccer: The Early History of the Beautiful Game in the United States" (U Illinois Press, 2021)

September 19, 2022

From Football to Soccer

Brian D. Bunk
Hosted by Bennett Koerber

Across North America, native peoples and colonists alike played a variety of kicking games long before soccer's emergence in the late 1800s. Brian D. …