Coachman reportedly hired by ESPN
So now we know why Mick Foley replaced Jonathan Coachman as the color commentator on Smackdown, and it wasn’t solely because Coachman wasn’t any good. Coachman is leaving WWE to become an anchor at ESPN, according to a report on pwinsider.com.
Coachman, who began his broadcasting career as a weekend sports anchor in Kansas City, also has worked in recent years as a play-by-play announcer for College Sports Television and a studio host and reporter for the MSG Network’s sports and entertainment show MSG, NY. I have only heard Coachman announce wrestling, but from what I’ve read, his work with traditional sports is solid.
This seems like a good move for him, and — to be brutally honest — I don’t think his departure from WWE will leave much of a void. Being a wrestling announcer — especially in WWE — is a challenge because of the uniqueness of the genre, and Coachman never really cut it as a play-by-play announcer or color commentator.
I do think that he did a good job in his role as a heel authority figure, and he and The Rock did some classic interview segments together. Who could ever forget when The Rock made “The Coach” dance The Charleston?
The “E” in ESPN stands for entertainment, so Coachman’s WWE experience should serve him well in his new gig. And since Coachman also wrestled some for WWE, maybe he’ll do us all a favor and deliver a Rock Bottom to Stuart Scott.
Boo-yah!
Comments
In some respects you can draw a parallel between Coachman and Adamle . The latter was also a servicable "conventional " sports announcer at one time. I can't really think of anyone that has come from "sports" comentary to wrestling and succeeded . I happen to like Adamle partly because I'm familier with past work .... but then again I also like TNA .
Am I able to say that in this WWE venue ?
Posted by: jack in hebron | May 6, 2008 8:50 PM
Is it true Ashley is going to be in the Main Event for One Night Stand?
Bye Coach
RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: Good one.
Posted by: John | May 6, 2008 9:55 PM
WWE absolutely dropped the ball on this guy.
As a color commentator, he's horrible. As a play by play announcer, he's good (not great).
As an on-screen character, he's tremendous.
He could have easily been an effective general manager or even a manager (Umaga could have used him for the past few months).
Oh, well. ESPN seems like an upgrade for him. He's always had his eyes on being a legitimate sportscaster.
Posted by: Jack Windham | May 6, 2008 11:07 PM
i cant believe they dident do a "your fired" thing, could have fit into the regal story some how
RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: They still might. He may have some more WWE appearances to do before he's done.
Posted by: dank | May 7, 2008 12:23 AM
I'll miss Coach. He was always one of my favorite characters, he was the bad guy that rarely got his way. It was entertaining. Unlike this new garbage that makes Jack in Hebron more correct each week.
Posted by: Mr. Bronson | May 7, 2008 1:00 AM
I trying to think of my favorite Coach moments, but I don't have any. Oh, there was the time when, while he was hiding from DX, and he shoved Big Dick Johnson to the floor. That's about it.
Good-bye, Coach. I didn't like you as an announcer nor as a general manager, but I wish you well, nevertheless.
Posted by: Christopher | May 7, 2008 1:36 AM
Coach isn't too bad as a sports announcer. He has actually called a few games for local schools on CSTV/CBS College Sports. He's done play by play for Morgan State, Bowie, and Towson for them. He also called most of the Atlantic 10 basketball tournament for them in 2007.
I think it will be a good look.
I will miss Coach calling matches on Sunday Night Heat with D-Lo Brown.
OK, no I don't. But a good moment when DX shoved Coach headfirst into a wall, pulled his pants down to reveal he had on a thong, and then spray painted DX on his butt cheeks.
Posted by: J. Brown | May 7, 2008 9:09 AM
Have any idea of the whereabouts of the tag team the Legal Loonies, also known as the Katzens, Scott and Alan? They cracked me up, and they were huge, but never seemed to make it to the biggest stages.
Posted by: Hugh Schmeckel | May 8, 2008 2:34 PM
I've heard Coach's work during football broadcasts and he's pretty good. He wasn't ever good as an color commentator, he was serviceable as a play-by-play guy, but his work in his various heel roles were good. His bits with the Rock as an interviewer were great stuff, he always was a great foil for the Rock. Even going back to stuff with DX, he was always entertaining in his pieces, far more than I can say for Vickie Guerrero. I agree with Jack that they could have gotten a lot more out of his character than they did, but that's true about 99.6% of the personalities with the company. I'm not sure how a firing angle would go down now since all the general managers are heels.
Posted by: Joe Barber | May 8, 2008 4:29 PM