Behind the Mic: NBC Sports Suspends Jeremy Roenick; Reports Indicate David Fizdale’s Return to ESPN After Knicks Firing

Behind the Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, including new deals, departures, and assignments compiled from press releases and reports around the industry. In this week’s edition, NBC Sports indefinitely suspends an NHL talent, a former New York Knicks coaches is reportedly returning to ESPN, Fox Sports ramps up college football playoff coverage with a stellar on-air cast, and a former NFL player returns to ESPN  98.7FM ESPN.

According to SportsBusiness Daily, NBC Sports has suspended Jeremy Roenick following inappropriate comments the NHL studio analyst made on a Barstool Sports podcast about other on-air personalities at the network.

Roenick played 20 NHL seasons with the Chicago Blackhawks, Arizona Coyotes, Philadelphia Flyers, San Jose Sharks, and Los Angeles Kings before moving into television. He has been an analyst at NBC Sports since 2010…

…According to SNY, reports are pointing towards former New York Knicks head coach David Fizdale making a return to ESPN as an NBA analyst later this season. During his tenure at the helm of the Knicks, Fizdale finished with a 21-83 record and was subsequently fired from his position after starting the 2019-20 season at 4-18.

Before accepting the head coaching job, Fizdale served as an ESPN analyst two seasons ago…

FS1 College Football Playoff Preview, featuring host Joel Klatt and analysts Urban Meyer and Matt Leinart will come back for a second, one-hour edition on Thursday, Jan. 9, in advance of the championship game on Monday, Jan. 13.

The first program on Friday, Dec. 20 featured contributions from Fox College Football reporter Bruce Feldman as well as features on Ohio State running back J.K. Dobbins and Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley. The show also included the latest edition of “Urban’s Playbook,” in which Coach Meyer demonstrated what has made Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow so successful this season at LSU.

In addition to going in-depth on both College Football Playoff semifinals, Klatt, Meyer, and Leinart broke down the San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl, featuring No. 22 USC vs. No. 16 Iowa on Friday, Dec. 27 on FS1, while Feldman reported on Trojans coach Clay Helton and Illinois coach Lovie Smith ahead of the Illini’s showdown with Cal in the Redbox Bowl on Monday, Dec. 30, on Fox…

…Former New York Jets linebacker Bart Scott will return to 98.7FM ESPN New York on Thursday, Jan. 2, teaming with Alan Hahn to host Bart & Hahn on weekdays from 1-3 p.m. ET. The new two-hour show will enhance the local weekday afternoon lineup and lead directly into drive-time leader The Michael Kay Show.

Scott will also contribute regularly to Get Up! (8-10 a.m.) and First Take (10 a.m. – noon), ESPN television’s daily morning shows.

Password must contain the following:

A lowercase letter

A capital (uppercase) letter

A number

Minimum 8 characters