In a mini-shake-up, 1050 ESPN Radio is removing Brandon Tierney as Stephen A. Smith’s midday sidekick and handing Tierney his own nightly talk show.
Tierney will host a local program from 7 to 10 p.m. that will push the taped Jim Rome Show back to 10.
Max Kellerman, who had been working the 7-to-8 p.m. slot, will no longer have his own show.
For the time being, Tierney will be Smith’s second banana, but in the near future Smith will no longer have “BT” at his disposal.
For Tierney, who often makes little sense, it is hard to say if the move is a promotion or a demotion.
While having his own show would seem to be a positive career development, moving off Smith’s program is not necessarily a good thing.
ESPN-1050 is now built around Mike & Mike in the Morning, Smith and Michael Kay.
Tierney’s new role is more akin to Steve Somers’ on WFAN. But 1050 likes to play up the fact it is a younger, hipper alternative than its competitor down the dial.
“One of my goals for the show is that we can be out a couple of times a week at restaurants or bars in the tri-state area so we have a presence,” 1050 ESPN Radio’s Mike Thompson said.
As far as Smith’s new sidekick, Thompson is undecided at this point if he will go inside or outside the station.
Meanwhile, Kellerman will remain at the station as a guest host. Next week, Kellerman will fill in on Kay’s afternoon drive-time show.
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Can Notre Dame win the national football championship this year?
“They have a chance to win the national championship on offense,” said former Fighting Irish coach Bob Davie, who will be an analyst on ABC’s Notre Dame-Georgia Tech game Saturday night.
“But there are unknowns on defense and the kicking game.” Davie said that coach Charlie Weis’ NFL resume is what propelled him to his first-year success last season.
“He had enough confidence to change a lot of things,” Davie said. Plus, Davie added, “Charlie Weis realizes that all that matters is winning. You are going to judge him on one thing at the end of the day:
Did he win? And that is his No. 1 responsibility.”
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NBC’s Jerome Bettis put the issue into the forefront by revealing he doesn’t think Bill Cowher will coach the Steelers next year. So who will replace him?
“Ken Whisenhunt, [the Steelers’ offensive coordinator,] would be the most logical choice of all the guys there,” Bettis said.
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Hey, NFL analysts, this is what we want to hear: Cris Carter on Sirius NFL Radio on Monday said the 49ers are a little above minorleague football. Carter went on to say San Francisco coach Mike Nolan has the 49ers moving up. Still, Carter said what he was thinking without putting it through a public-relations gatekeeper. Good stuff.
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NFL Network will further invade ESPN’s turf with its own collegefootball highlight show. College Scoreboard will be on at 4 p.m. on Saturdays. Butch Davis will be one of the analysts.