A conversation with the ESPN Radio host about what just happened and what’s ahead.
If Mike Golic Jr.’s head is spinning right now, you’d understand.
The ESPN host just finished the final weeks of Golic & Wingo, which he was a part of, as was his father Mike Golic, who just finished an incredible run of over two decades on ESPN Radio shows. That included the emotional final episode in which Golic’s entire family paid tribute to Golic Sr. on his last day (he’ll still work as a college football analyst for ESPN going forward).
Then, Golic Jr. will co-host his own show from 4 to 7 p.m. Eastern with WNBA star Chiney Ogwumike starting Aug. 17 as part of a whole new on-air lineup for ESPN Radio.
As you’ll see in a conversation Golic Jr. had with For The Win this week, what helps him in this transition is having a mentor like his father and a new partner who he’s already friends with (this has been condensed and edited).
How did you get to know Chiney in the first place?
We’re the only ones right around age 30 or south of 30 that are on ESPN Radio consistently. So she originally when she came in to do SportsCenter early in the morning, she would come on with me and do First and Last from 4 to 6 a.m., she would come in and sit with me for an hour. She would do hits on Golic and Wingo later. Being younger and around the same events, we realized we have a lot of the same interests. We’re into the same music, we both like shoes a lot. I think gravitating toward one of the young people in the department was pretty natural.
Was that why you think ESPN put you together on the air?
I’m not sure about all that, but they had seen that relationship on air already in smaller instances. She has shown in a short time what a star she is already, so it’s only right to put her on a platform that would maximize her voice. Every time you put her in a position, she’s knocked it out of the park. I just think seeing how naturally we work together was appealing. That’s my guess.
What makes her a good co-host with you?
Because she takes who she is off the air and that doesn’t change on the air. A lot of people feel compelled to get a TV persona or filter their persona on air, but she’s authentically herself on the air. That was the first advice my dad gave me: “Be yourself, because you’re not smart enough to be anybody else, especially over the course of a three or four hour show.” That lends itself to radio.
What was it like to find out you were getting your own show and your dad wouldn’t be on in morning shows?
It was hard because for me, professionally, as excited as I am with what’s to come with Chiney, there’s not going to be anything that tops doing a show with my dad.
I grew up wanting to be my dad, to get to do the show with him for three years. Nothing will top that. It was kind of tough at first. What made it easier was knowing Chiney was someone we got along with so well and that my family loves so much. I think that helped make the transition easier. It was a tough couple of weeks to navigate. Now on the other side of them, I’m fortunate to have such a good landing spot.
What was his reaction to getting your own show?
He’s very excited. He’s lived this. As a part of Golic and Wingo, I was the third chair. I always joked: my name was on the show but we knew whose name was really on the show. I was fine with it. For as much as I’ve watched him be the man in that timeslot and watched him navigate this all and make it look a lot easier than it is, it’s helpful to have him as a resource as I go through answering a lot of questions as someone whose name is really on the show for the first time. Him and my mom have been so supportive.
That’s the best mentor you could ask for! What’s some of the advice you’ve gotten from him?
It goes back to that original advice. Being yourself is good enough. At some point, that’s the reason we’re all here and why you end up sticking around. For him, that was always square one. If you go into every situation like that, communicating with everybody involved, making sure people hear things directly from you. That way, you operate like that with a show unit, it makes everybody’s job easier. And also, be a good teammate and all that. That’s the thing I’m most excited about that does come naturally with Chiney.
Both her and I want to make sure that the others are put in a good spot to succeed on air. That was a thing my father did so well for me earlier on, he would put me spots where he knew I would win, so having seen that and understanding how important being a good teammate for me and my development in radio, I keep in mind going forward with dealing with our whole staff.
That last show was so emotional. How hard was it to get through it?
It was one of those things I had put off until the end. I knew that last hour would go like that. It was a celebration in a lot of ways, because what dad accomplished, we’ll never see again. Two decades plus in that timeslot on a national stage, I don’t know if that’s possible anymore. We really wanted to make it a celebration, but I felt I wanted to make sure my dad got the flowers he so richly deserved. I foolishly thought I wouldn’t cry. I rehearsed what I wanted to say a little bit, but I was going to speak off the cuff enough at that moment.
Also, I’m my mother’s son. As soon as I made eye contact with my mom, who brought a towel to our basement to wipe her tears because she knew she was going to be a mess, it was curtains on that one. It was tough but at the same time, to have a stage like that to make sure my dad knows how we all feel about him and what everything he’s done means to our family and a lot of people out there … It was appropriate for a show that had always been a family show whatever my dad had been involved, to finish it off with the family to get a chance to tell him what it meant to us.
I don’t know if he’ll ever be able to sleep late. I’m 30 years old so I’ve adjusted quicker, I was only doing it for five years. That alarm went off at 4:30 for 22 straight years. He’s enjoying it. It’s amazing through quarantine and the last few years, I’m learning new parts of my dad. He grew a beard, he’s playing golf all the time, but he’s also staying diligent. If there’s a college football season, he wants to be a part of our coverage. He’s thrown himself into that. I think he still has a lot left in the tank. He’s definitely enjoying the free time with my mom and my sister and her new fiance, and my brother and his wife. Having family around and close has made that transition to the late alarm clock even better.
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