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Greg Olsen Wishes He Could’ve Called a Broadcast For This NFL Postseason

“You want the marquee primetime night games during the regular season. You want playoff games. You want games that matter.”

Derek Futterman

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Greg Olsen

As Troy Aikman’s contract with Fox is set to expire at the conclusion of the NFL Playoffs, the color analyst and former Dallas Cowboys quarterback is undoubtedly a highly sought-after free agent in sports media.

While Aikman has not ruled out a return to Fox, he recently suggested there is a chance Sunday’s NFC Championship game between the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams could be his final matchup in the Fox booth. There’s a possibility that Aikman could leave Fox to call games exclusively on Amazon’s new Thursday Night Football package with Al Michaels, the current play-by-play announcer on NBC Sunday Night Football. If Aikman were to leave Fox, the question then becomes who would be his replacement as Joe Buck’s new broadcast partner.

On Friday morning, The Mac Attack‘s Chris McClain and Travis Hancock spoke on the NFL playoffs and Carolina Panthers’ offseason with former NFL tight end Greg Olsen on WFNZ 610 AM in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Olsen started working as a Fox NFL color analyst full-time this season after occasionally calling games while an active player for the Panthers. Since going into broadcasting following his retirement from football in 2020, Olsen has received positive reviews. According to McClain and Hancock, he could be an ideal choice to join Buck in the booth.

“Olsen could end up somewhere in a front office down the line, but he’s doing a phenomenal job in TV,” said Hancock. “With the way he explains stuff [and] the way he talks [about] the game, if Troy Aikman does leave for Amazon and doesn’t do the Amazon-Fox double, Greg Olsen’s a natural number one with Joe Buck as well. I know that [Sean] Payton’s been named, but come on – Greg Olsen could very easily be their number one.”

Olsen has respect for Payton, who stepped down as head coach of the New Orleans Saints earlier this week and is reportedly contemplating an entry into sports media, whether in radio or television, in studio or in the booth. At the moment, Payton is not sure what is next for his football career, but Olsen knows from his experience playing against him that he was a savant of the game.

“I obviously had a lot of respect for his football mind and what he was able to do with those guys there,” said Olsen. “I understand from a fan standpoint, you always hate whoever you feel like is your enemy, but from the field I always liked competing against guys like that because they brought a good energy to the game.”

Olsen also talked about not being able to call any playoff games this year for Fox due to the way the schedule of broadcasting rights fell. Despite this, he looks forward to being on the mic for the big games down the road as his career in sports media continues.

“I’ve been sitting there watching every other network call multiple games,” explained Olsen. “Those are the games everybody wants. You want the marquee primetime night games during the regular season. You want playoff games. You want games that matter. That’s what every broadcaster really wants.”

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Doug Gottlieb: There’s a “Less Than Remote Chance” On Getting Oklahoma State Job

“I was offered a job to be an assistant coach at Oklahoma State last offseason. Initially, the plan was to be able to do radio and be an assistant.”

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Doug Gottlieb

For the first time in seven years, Oklahoma State is looking for a new head men’s basketball coach. The school fired Mike Boynton late last week after posting a 119-109 record. Fox Sports Radio’s Doug Gottlieb, a former Oklahoma State point guard, has openly and publicly campaigned for the position in the past. It was brought up again recently on The Doug Gottlieb Show.

“If you go back seven years ago, when I had just started at Fox Sports Radio, that’s when Mike [Boynton] was hired,” Gottlieb said, “and I was, I think, a finalist…What you should know since then is, yeah, I’ve tinkered around with college coaching. I’ve always tried to protect still doing the radio show. One, because I love this, and two because I’m treated really, really well. And three, I was never in a position I thought, financially, to just walk away from stuff and start all over.”

“…I have been a consultant this year for the program, spent a lot of time there,” Gottlieb continued. “Last year at this time I was actually a finalist for a job at Wisconsin-Green Bay.”

Later, Gottlied got right to the heart of the matter, saying, “I think there’s a less than remote chance that I would get that job, and I know that because I have a good relationship with the Athletic Director Chad Weiberg…He called me, honestly, right after the news broke and in the very nicest way possible said, ‘Look man, I just had a coach for seven years who had not been a head coach before. I can’t hire another coach who has not even been a college assistant before.’

Gottlieb makes a case for himself stating he thinks he would be welcome in gyms and homes where he would need to be in order to recruit. He also says he has many connections between his own coaching in AAU basketball as well as his family’s history and connections in the area. “I think I fit how college basketball is now more so than previously,” he said.

Gottlieb told his audience, “I was offered a job to be an assistant coach at Oklahoma State last offseason. Initially, the plan was to be able to do radio and be an assistant. Then that plan kind of changed, they were like, ‘Hey, you gotta make a decision. Do you want to do the radio show and all of the other stuff you do, or be an assistant coach?’ I wasn’t ready…my girls are seniors in high school, it felt like a sacrifice, frankly, not worth making.”

In the end, Gottlieb made it clear he knows he may never be the head coach at his alma mater and part of that is because of how much he enjoys what he is currently doing. “I am not chasing anything,” he said. “… It’s an itch that I don’t know if it will ever be scratched. I love what I do and the people I get to meet along the way. But, if the right thing presents itself and it feels right, well yeah. But, I don’t think I need to pack anytime soon to be the head coach at Oklahoma State. Even if I do believe that I’m the right guy there, I truly believe that.”

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Adam Crowley: Joe Lunardi “Should Be Ashamed of Himself”

“That is such a low-class, low-rent, jerkwad move that I’m never sticking up for the guy again.”

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Phot of Adam Crowley and Joe Lunardi
Credit: Audacy, FanBuzz.com

Adam Crowley, co-host of The Fan Morning Show on 93.7 The Fan in Pittsburgh, did not take kindly to a social post from ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi. Prior to the start of ‘Selection Sunday,’ the X account for the University of Pittsburgh men’s basketball team posted a graphic with some information about their resume to make the NCAA Tournament. Lunardi quoted their post and said, “The line with the 343 [Non-Conference Strength-of-Schedule] must have gotten cut off on my screen.”

In a bit titled, ‘Social Media’s Biggest Loser,’ Crowley chose Lunardi as his pick and said, “I’ve been defending Joe Lunardi for weeks, as the ‘messenger who was being shot.’ Joe is just predicting what the committee, in a flawed system, was going to do. That’s all he was doing. But, this was too far for me.”

In explaining to his audience the social exchange, Crowley said, “Pitt basketball tweeted out a worthy resume and posted a really nice graphic…It had all of the reasons why they should’ve been included in the dance.”

After reading the response from Lunardi, Crowley exclaimed, “Look, that’s why they got left out. Joe, you don’t gotta be dunkin’, man. That is such a low-class, low-rent, jerkwad move that I’m never sticking up for the guy again.

“And I get that he probably got worn down by Pitt fans…you gotta have thicker skin, Joe, and you don’t gotta be dunking on a fan base an hour before they find out that they’re not making the NCAA Tournament. That to me was such a low-class, jabroni move by him. It’s not a professional thing, its just a bad move on his part and I think he should be ashamed of himself.”

As he wrapped up the segment, Cowley added, “What do you hope to gain from that?… A big ‘L’ for Joe Lunardi there.”

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Report: Mike Missanelli Could Be Headed Back to 97.5 The Fanatic

“Mike’s name has come up. He’s a great talent, and we’ll just have to wait and see what happens. A lot of people are interested in the radio station right now. So I’ll leave it at that.”

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Photo of Mike Missanelli

As 97.5 The Fanatic in Philadelphia announced changes to its lineup last week, The Philadelphia Inquirer has reported there may be another change ahead. The newspaper reported former host Mike Missanelli could be headed back to the station and has had conversation with station management.

Program Director, Scott Masteller, who took over those duties in January of 2024, told the Inquirer. “Mike’s name has come up. He’s a great talent, and we’ll just have to wait and see what happens. A lot of people are interested in the radio station right now. So I’ll leave it at that.”

Missanelli had been with the station for 15 years before his surprise exit on the final day of May in 2022. At the time, Missanelli said on the air, “The station and I are talking about me remaining with the company in some kind of a role, but who knows. What I can tell you is they already have a replacement show under contract and I’m sure you’ll be hearing about that in the next few days.”

Andrew Salciunas has been moved from middays to mornings to work with John Kincade and Former Philadelphia Daily News writer Bob Cooney has been shifted to the midday slot. Speculation in the market has been Missanelli could jump in with Cooney should he return.

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