The future of Mike and Mike in the Morning on ESPN and ESPN Radio has been a topic of conversation for a while now. Most in the industry expect the show to come to an end in the not do distant future.
But how does that sit with Mike Golic? After all, he’s been part of the network for over two decades, and is expected to remain on the show when longtime partner Mike Greenberg shuffles over to television to launch his new morning program.
The ESPN talk show veteran spoke to Mike McCarthy of the Sporting News about the program’s future and said that if the show comes to an end, working alongside his son, Mike Golic Jr., would be a welcomed opportunity.
Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated first reported that Greenberg was expected to land his own TV program on the network and the debut program would launch in the next few months.
Mike and Mike have been together on radio since 2000, and added a television simulcast of their program in 2004. They have become one of the most successful national radio programs, and were inducted into the NAB Radio Hall of Fame last April.
For Golic, he’s spent 22 years working for the company, and his preference is to be a part of the mix, provided the network sets up the show for success. As he told McCarthy, “I would imagine I would continue to do that show. We haven’t gotten that far, quite honestly, as to if the show is going to end, when it’s going to end, and when it ends, and if it does end, what’s going to happen with the show?” I would imagine I would be doing it with somebody else. Who that is? I don’t really know.”
Although the stakes are much higher this time around, Golic has gone thru change before. Prior to Greenberg signing on as his partner in 2000, the former NFL defensive lineman worked alongside ESPN Radio original Tony Bruno.
“Tony was my first partner at ESPN,” Golic told McCarthy. “Then he left, and I had Greeny for the next 18 years. If, in fact, it is going to change, if Greeny is going to go do his thing in New York, I believe, it’s not like the show is going to end. ESPN keeps going. People have gone on to other networks. People have switched shows, and they still keep going. If I do it with another partner, I look forward to it. I love doing the show. I enjoyed doing it with Tony Bruno, and I’ve enjoyed 18 years with Greeny. If we move on from that, I’ll enjoy it if I do it with someone else next.”
Trey Wingo has been mentioned as a possible candidate to join the morning mix. So too has Golic’s son Mike Jr. who works on the network’s early morning show with Robin Lundberg. Golic says the possibility of sharing the room with his son has a special appeal.
“Oh, it would be awesome,” said Golic. “He’s on our show every Friday now. I’ve done other things with him. We did a bowl game last year together. We’ve done some radio bowl games. We did the Pinstripe (Bowl) for ESPN, Northwestern against Pittsburgh, this past bowl season. What wouldn’t be great about that? He’s fantastic. He’s way beyond what I was when I first started in this business. He’s way smarter than me. He speaks better way better than I do. I’m still better-looking than him. That won’t change. It would be great. We’ll see where it goes. Either way, I’m sure we will still share some desk time and studio time and booth time.”
Jason Barrett is the President and Founder of Barrett Media since the company was created in September 2015. Prior to its arrival, JB served as a sports radio programmer, launching brands such as 95.7 The Game in San Francisco, and 101 ESPN in St. Louis. He also spent time programming SportsTalk 950 in Philadelphia, 590 The Fan KFNS in St. Louis, and ESPN 1340/1390 in Poughkeepsie, NY. Jason also worked on-air and behind the scenes in local radio at 101.5 WPDH, WTBQ 1110AM, and WPYX 106.5. He also spent two years on the national stage, producing radio shows for ESPN Radio in Bristol, CT. Among them included the Dan Patrick Show, and GameNight.
You can find JB on Twitter @SportsRadioPD. He’s also reachable by email at Jason@BarrettMedia.com.
