Published Jan. 31, 2023
BY ELLA GAILY
The man in the San Francisco ‘49ers broadcasting booth has 20 years of experience at sports radio station KNBR and is also decorated with the titles of San Jose Sharks primary press box announcer, San Jose Giants official scorer and ‘49ers radio broadcast executive producer. But he once was just Mike Hohler, a sports-enthused student at Carmel High School with enough determination to fill the stadium he now watches from above.
Hohler in the Levi Stadium broadcasting booth at the 49ers Wild Card game Jan. 14. (courtesy of MIKE HOHLER)
Quitting baseball by eighth grade, Mike Hohler had an unconventional story within the sports industry.
“I played one football game my freshman year,” reflects the class of ‘95 alum. “I recovered a fumble on defense, but the next day I called it quits!”
Far from disheartened, he listened to the radio religiously not only to hear Giants games, but to score them. From falling asleep to the game on school nights to scoring games in the back row of Salinas’ stadium, his passion quickly became apparent to himself and those around him.
“[Science teacher Pat] Stadille was a diehard Giants fan,” says Hohler, also noting former CHS English teacher Tom Clifford and once Carmel Middle School principal Karl Pallastrini as encouragers. “He brought out my passion and made me feel like it was okay to be a crazy Giants fan!”
Sophomore year Hohler applied for the position of the official scorer for the CHS varsity baseball team, a position he held through his junior year.
“It was my senior year when I got the nerve to ask the athletic director, Lisa Fraser, to announce the basketball games.”
Hohler and friends in broadcasting receive championship rings from the minor-league San Jose Giants’ 2021 California League Championship win. (courtesy of MIKE HOHLER)
When Hohler received college acceptances soon after, many wouldn’t have pictured his success beginning with five years at home, but announcing the CHS basketball and football games post-graduation before leaving for Baltimore in 2000 was the best step for him.
“I had this thought of not doing four-year college and instead doing broadcasting school. I wanted to learn about what I could do as a career instead of doing more science and math.”
The Broadcasting Institute of Maryland is a rigorous six-month program where Hohler’s skills landed him two internships a month in. The second internship, at a sports radio station called WJFK in Washington, D.C., hired him soon after, and he remained there for a year and a half, even serving as the assistant producer for the Baltimore Ravens before returning to Carmel Valley in June 2002.
Hohler was hired by KNBR that September, and in 2005 became the full-time producer of two radio shows, shows for which he’d previously taken overnight shifts, answered phones and booked guests.
“When I was 10 years old, on a summer day, I’d sit on the couch and watch a baseball game on KNBR, and I’d get ready for school listening to the morning show. Getting to do this every day is a dream come true.”
After years of hard work, it paid off for the alum as he made his way up the ranks at KNBR, gaining experience as he went.
Hohler working a ’49ers event at Levi Stadium. (courtesy of MIKE HOHLER)
“I got promoted in Nov. 2021 to director of content, which held more responsibility,” Hohler recalls. “In October 2022, the program director promoted me to assistant program director.”
Though enjoying filling in to do play-by-play for the San Jose Giants when needed from about 2009-2016, Hohler realized his true passion was within official scoring and announcing with the ability to travel, all of which were able to come to fruition throughout the various positions he holds today.
Hohler has also spent almost every winter break announcing the local varsity basketball tournament at CHS from 2002 until the pandemic. While he had ‘49ers commitments in 2021, his absence in winter 2022 was because he wasn’t asked to return.
“I’ve never been one to overstay my welcome. If there’s a senior who wants to do it, please do the games! Because if there’s a kid like me, I wouldn’t want to take their spot, but I’d absolutely come back if I was asked. It’s so much fun and really is returning to my roots.”
