The man of many colorful pants will no longer be strolling the sidelines at East Idaho high school sporting events.

Matt Gittins, the sports director at KPVI News 6, has decided to take on a new challenge within the Idaho State University athletic department. Gittins spent four and a half years at KPVI.

In a statement posted on his Facebook page, Gittins said "the one thing that will ALWAYS stay with me is how much you, the viewers, mean to me. The friendships formed are something I truly cherish. It's because of you that I loved what I did. Being on TV is great, but being out with you at games, events, or just running into each other randomly is better."

Gittins emphasized that it was his decision to leave. 

"The best thing to say is that I didn't see eye-to-eye with the new station management", Gittins said, "I wasn't fired and the new opportunities came at the right time."

KPVI was recently bought out by Idaho Broadcast Partners, a subsidiary of Frontier Radio Management. The station immediately made a number of changes to its staff and programming, including severely reducing the amount of local sports coverage and resources available to Gittins.

Gittins believes his move to ISU will come without too many bumps in the road.

"I can't wait to be a Bengal!" Gittins said, "I have spent a lot of time of that campus while at Channel 6, so the transition should be smooth".

IdahoSports.com created 'East Idaho Game Night', a travelling series of high school sports games promoted on television, radio, and the internet. KPVI was the television sponsor with Z103 serving as the radio sponsor. The first season of 'East Idaho Game Night' began during the 2013-2014 winter sports season and was a huge success.

"We appreciate the opportunity we had to work with KPVI and Matt Gittins during the inaugural year of 'East Idaho Game Night'", said Paul Kingsbury, President of IdahoSports.com. "However, in light of the direction the new station management at KPVI was taking, we decided it was time for a change. We are happy to welcome aboard our new partners at KIFI Local News 8."

"Like IdahoSports.com, the management at KIFI Local News 8 is willing to invest money and time into local sports coverage. We, along with Z103, look forward to a very long relationship with Jeff Landers, Chris Renkel and the entire team at Local News 8 to bring eastern Idaho fans the best coverage possible and to continue to make 'East Idaho Game Night' a wonderful event for everyone involved."