Sports TV is full of surprises. Consider this: Marcellus Wiley could succeed Colin Cowherd on a national show for the second time, on a second network.
Sources tell Sporting News that Fox Sports is interested in luring Wiley from ESPN, where he co-stars on "SportsNation" with Cari Champion and LZ Granderson (4 p.m. ET). The 43-year old Wiley could play multiple roles at FS1, the sources add, but the network is intrigued by the possibility of pairing the former NFL All-Pro defensive lineman with Jason Whitlock on "Speak for Yourself" (5 p.m. ET).
Cowherd has told Fox executives and colleagues he plans to step down this year to focus on his TV/radio simulcast of "The Herd with Colin Cowherd" (noon ET) and on "Fox NFL Kickoff," his NFL Sunday pregame show with Charissa Thompson (11 a.m. ET).
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Like Wiley, Whitlock is a former football player (he played collegiately at Ball State). Unless it makes him the sole host surrounded by a rotating series of guests, FS1 could seek to pair Whitlock with another big talk-show personality such as Wiley.
“If Charles Barkley was Shaq’s size he would have 10 rings… Charles Barkley gave more to the game than Shaq.” — @WhitlockJason weighs in on the Shaq vs. Barkley feud pic.twitter.com/1qpCiZBgph
— Speak For Yourself (@SFY) May 9, 2018
Wiley succeeded Cowherd as Thompson's co-star on "SportsNation" in 2012 when ESPN still filmed the show in Bristol, Conn. ("SportsNation" is now filmed in Los Angeles.) He has been a mainstay on the quirky program ever since. Wiley also co-hosts "Afternoons with Marcellus and Travis" on ESPN Radio's KSPN in Los Angeles.
ESPN and FS1 declined to comment for this story.
Wiley won't be the first personality from "SportsNation" to jump to other ESPN/FS1 shows. Since ex-ESPN wunderkind Jamie Horowitz created the irreverent afternoon program in 2009, it has served as a launching pad for TV personalities.
The original show turned both Cowherd and Michelle Beadle into bankable stars. Horowitz parlayed his golden touch with "SportsNation" and "First Take" into the top programming job at FS1 before he was suddenly ousted last year.
Will all the minutes catch up to LeBron this round?
— SportsNation (@SportsNation) May 3, 2018
The crew is united in their opinion On the Go with @Toyota: https://t.co/eGdkV1klUD
Beadle left "SportsNation," and ESPN, for a lucrative offer from NBC Sports in 2012. She returned to ESPN and her old show in 2014, then jumped to Mike Greenberg's new "Get Up" weekday morning show with Jalen Rose this year.
Cowherd left "SportsNation" in 2012 to focus on "The Herd." Despite ESPN's best efforts to keep him, he joined his mentor, Horowitz, at FS1 in 2015. Cowherd and Whitlock launched "Speak for Yourself" in 2016.
Thompson and Max Kellerman also co-starred on "SportsNation" before moving on to better things. As mentioned, Thompson has her own NFL pregame show with Cowherd. When Skip Bayless left ESPN in 2016, ESPN put Kellerman with Stephen A. Smith and Molly Qerim on "First Take," which is now one of ESPN's biggest shows.
With Kristine Leahy leaving "The Herd" for her own, unnamed show, sources said Joy Taylor is likely to leave Bayless and Shannon Sharpe's "Undisputed" on FS1 to fill Leahy's spot next to Cowherd.
Will Bayless and Sharpe replace Taylor with another moderator? Not necessarily. The two have worked the show by themselves when Taylor was absent, with Bayless effectively serving as his own moderator. Other long-running discussion shows such as ESPN's "Pardon the Interruption" with Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon don't have moderators at all.
FS1 has big plans for "Speak for Yourself." Once Cowherd leaves, the network expected to expand the show from one to two hours.
