Ex-Jet Vilma gets ABC college show
AFORMER Jet is getting a big promotion.
Jonathan Vilma is being moved to ABC’s college football studio show, sources told The Post. Vilma is replacing Booger McFarland, who was promoted to the team for ESPN’s “Monday Night Football.”
Vilma worked on ESPN2 and some studio shows last season. He first joined ESPN in 2015. Vilma will be joined by Kevin Neghandi and Mack Brown on the ABC show.
Vilma, 36, won a national championship with the University of Miami in 2001 and a Super Bowl with the Saints in 2009. He was suspended for a year during Bountygate in 2011, but that ban was overturned when former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue, acting as an arbitrator, ruled in Vilma’s favor over current commissioner Roger Goodell.
Quick Clicks: Yahoo Sports had the top two NBA news-breakers in the business, but soon it will have neither. Shams Charania will not return to the sports site, following his mentor and friendly rival, Adrian Wojnarowski, out the door. Charania is now an unrestricted free agent.
Clicker Consulting: If I’m ESPN and I’m paying Michael Smith $2.5 million, I strongly consider having him replace Mar
cellus Wiley on its afternoon talk show “SportsNation.” Smith, 38, hasn’t done much, except host “Around The Horn” for a week, since he left “SportsCenter” months ago. Wiley, meanwhile, will replace
Colin Cowherd on FS1’s “Speak for Your- self.” Cowherd, as part of his new deal, chose not to return to his program with Jason Whitlock.
On The Way Up: Taylor Twellman, ESPN’s top soccer analyst, has shown a lot of personality and a strong grasp of other sports filling in on “Get Up!” If (or is it when?) the show makes changes, Twellman is positioning himself as part of the conversation.
On the Way Down: One last takeaway from the World Cup: Ferando Fiore’s career at Fox Sports is going in the wrong direction. He began the event as the star of “World Cup Tonight.” During the tournament, Fox, to its credit, realized the show wasn’t working and added Kate Abdo as a co-host, but it was too late. By the World Cup championship game, Fiore was only briefly on the pregame show. Maybe there is appeal for Fiore, but without great insight into the game and with the humor forced, it was hard to see it in Russia.
Radio Dial: John Jastremski has a Chris Russo vibe on the FAN. He has been on a few times with Mike Francesa and gives the show a little life. If Francesa would be willing to have a partner again, JJ, as he is known, may be able to add to the program. This week, JJ is filling in for CMB from 1-3 p.m. He usually does the overnight shift. He has a fun sound, though, we still need to hear more of his content.