Tag: Mike Tirico

Brian Kelly Addresses Issues in Media Roundtable

Fresh off Monday night’s SportsCenter appearance with Scott Van Pelt, Brian Kelly continued to speak make the rounds Tuesday.

Fresh off Monday night’s SportsCenter appearance with Scott Van Pelt, Brian Kelly continued to speak make the rounds Tuesday. It started when he was interviewed by Mike Tirico. After that, he was the center of a virtual roundtable that hosted multiple media members. Irish Illustrated broke down some of the main points he made.

Unsurprisingly, the meat of the conversation revolved around how Notre Dame’s past, present and future has been affected by COVID-19. Testing players, not having recruits visit this spring and what this all means for training camp all were addressed. As for players and parents who are concerned about coming back to campus, Kelly said no program activities are mandatory, but openness and honesty are required.

Kelly also talked a little about how the recent racial issues that have been raised have allowed for dialogue among everyone in the program. Additionally, players having trouble with things like racial and mental issues have access to mental health specialists, and they’ve taken advantage of that during the pandemic. This is a time when everyone needs all the support they can get, perhaps now more than ever.

Kelly has a duty to keep his team sharp. When many experts are predicting the 2020 Irish will make some noise in the national championship race, no stone can be left unturned. He has no problem letting the media know that, so cool your jets if you’ve felt uneasy about how he might be handling all of this.

Mike Tirico seemingly alluded to Donald Trump’s golf cheating

When it comes to NBC’s Mike Tirico and golf, the longtime sports broadcaster has a history with Donald Trump.

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It’s been just over two months since professional sports essentially shut down in the U.S., but on Sunday, live sports made its slow return to action.

The TaylorMade Driving Relief — a match-play charity event for coronavirus relief at the Seminole Golf Club in Juno Beach, Florida — took place on Sunday. And as Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy, Rickie Fowler and Matthew Wolff were well into the competition, President Donald Trump called into the NBC broadcast for an interview with Mike Tirico.

Now, when it comes to Tirico and golf, the longtime sports broadcaster has a history with Trump — more specifically, Trump’s alleged cheating in golf.

And as Tirico signed off on the interview, it sure seemed like he hinted at that cheating.

Tirico said after Trump mentioned their past round of golf:

“I got to see firsthand — you’re a good putter, knock it to kick-in distance often.”

The specific incident between Tirico and Trump was detailed in Rick Reilly’s book, Commander in Cheat: How Golf Explains Trump. Trump allegedly threw Tirico’s ball into a bunker, via The New Yorker:

And Trump doesn’t only give himself unfair advantages: he’s also been known to hobble his opponents. On another occasion recounted by Reilly, Trump was playing with Mike Tirico, the sportscaster, who hit a long, soaring second shot into a par five, high-fived his caddie, and headed for the green. When he got there, there was no sign of his ball; it had somehow ended up in a sand trap some fifty feet left of the pin. “Lousy break,” Trump said. Tirico was so befuddled that he took a seven. Afterward, Trump’s caddie told Tirico that his approach shot had actually finished up about ten feet from the hole. “Trump threw it into the bunker,” the caddie said. “I watched him do it.

That sign-off remark makes a lot of sense now.

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Mike Tirico seemingly alluded to Trump’s golf cheating at the end of Driving Relief interview

Subtle.

It’s been just over two months since professional sports essentially shut down in the U.S., but on Sunday, live sports made its slow return to action.

The TaylorMade Driving Relief — a match-play charity event for coronavirus relief at the Seminole Golf Club in Juno Beach, Fla. — took place on Sunday. And as Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy, Rickie Fowler and Matthew Wolff were well into the competition, President Donald Trump called into the NBC broadcast for an interview with Mike Tirico.

Now, when it comes to Tirico and golf, the longtime sports broadcaster has a history with Trump — more specifically, Trump’s alleged cheating in golf.

And as Tirico signed off on the interview, it sure seemed like he hinted at that cheating.

Tirico said after Trump mentioned their past round of golf:

“I got to see firsthand — you’re a good putter, knock it to kick-in distance often.”

The specific incident between Tirico and Trump was detailed in Rick Reilly’s book, Commander in Cheat: How Golf Explains Trump. Trump allegedly threw Tirico’s ball into a bunker, via The New Yorker:

And Trump doesn’t only give himself unfair advantages: he’s also been known to hobble his opponents. On another occasion recounted by Reilly, Trump was playing with Mike Tirico, the sportscaster, who hit a long, soaring second shot into a par five, high-fived his caddy, and headed for the green. When he got there, there was no sign of his ball; it had somehow ended up in a sand trap some fifty feet left of the pin. “Lousy break,” Trump said. Tirico was so befuddled that he took a seven. Afterward, Trump’s caddy told Tirico that his approach shot had actually finished up about ten feet from the hole. “Trump threw it into the bunker,” the caddy said. “I watched him do it.”

That sign-off remark makes a lot of sense now.

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Georgia football HC Kirby Smart on how COVID-19 has hindered recruiting

NBC’s Mike Tirico spoke with Georgia football HC Kirby Smart on the impacts that the COVID-19 pandemic is having on recruiting.

Mike Tirico of NBC Sports spoke with Kirby Smart on Thursday afternoon about how recruiting tactics have changed and what he and the Bulldogs staff are doing to stay on top of things during the COVID-19 shutdown.

“Our ability to gather information on a kid comes from, number one, going to his high school and talking to the people who have been around him,” Smart said. “We rely heavily on that information.”

“The next thing, at a place like Georgia, you rely on camp information. When a kid comes to camp – how does he work? Does he work? Does he want to workout? Is he competitive? What are his skill sets?” – Smart continued. “When you take away the opportunity to have camps this summer and be able to recruit face-to-face, you put a lot of doubt in a lot of peoples heads.”

The NCAA extended its dead-period last week from April 15 to May 31 in the midst of shelter-in-pace orders across the country.

The dead-period keeps coaches from face-to-face meetings with recruits which includes off-season recruiting camps that programs like Georgia have come to rely on.

Although coaches may not meet recruits in person, they are still allowed to keep in touch through calls, texts and video chats.

“Kind of like the NFL does, we have to go back to old school and call people, get on virtually and find out if a kid is committed to the time he said,” Smart added. “A lot of these GMs now, they’re calling kids and they’re saying, ‘alright, is he going to be on time for the Facetime, is he driving a car? What is he doing?’ Well, we’re doing the same thing with a high school kid. If he is committed to the process and jumping on Zoom at the right time, he’s probably gonna be the right kinda kid to be on your team”

 

Georgia football HC Kirby Smart talks Jake Fromm on day of NFL Draft

Thursday afternoon, NBC Sports’ Mike Tirico spoke with Kirby Smart about Georgia football quarterback Jake Fromm ahead of 2020 NFL Draft.

Congratulations sports fans, we finally have something to watch. The 2020 NFL Draft is upon us and will be held virtually tonight at 8 p.m. on ESPN.

Georgia’s Jake Fromm is one of the many players expecting his name to be called this evening and NBC Sports’ Mike Tirico asked Georgia coach Kirby Smart about his thoughts on the Bulldogs star quarterback.

Smart said:

“A lot of poise and patience and just a joy to have in the organization. He does everything the right way .”

Fromm is projected as a late first-round to second round selection in most mock drafts and hopes to become the first Georgia quarterback selected in the first round since Matthew Stafford in 2009.

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Report: Drew Brees to join NBC in broadcasting role, post-retirement

Saints quarterback Drew Brees is planning to sign with NBC for his post-NFL retirement career, starting off as a Notre Dame analyst.

It hasn’t taken long for New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees to set up the next stage of his career. The New York Post’s Andrew Marchand reported Friday that Brees chose to sign with NBC after weighing an offer from ESPN, putting him in line as a possible replacement for Cris Collinsworth in the future.

However, NBC won’t just be throwing Brees into the booth once he’s hung up his cleats. The goal is for him to start off as an analyst for NBC’s weekly Notre Dame games while joining their Sunday night “Football Night in America” panels, reviewing the latest NFL action. That should give Brees time to get up to speed and prepare for a more prominent role in the network’s NFL coverage. If all goes according to plan, NFL fans could be hearing Brees and Mike Tirico (replacing Al Michaels) calling “Sunday Night Football” games in just a few years.

While Brees signed a two-year contract extension with the Saints earlier this season, only his first-year salary is guaranteed. He could retire after the 2020 season and leave just over $22 million in dead money on the 2021 Saints salary cap, or choose to play out the life of this deal and count for nearly $36 million next season. He certainly won’t be lacking for opportunities, whether he plays football again past 2020 or not.

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Brian Kelly to Guest with Mike Tirico Thursday Afternoon

Notre Dame head coach will make a national television appearance on Thursday. Find out how you can watch him!

Are you bored sitting at home all day?

If you’ve recently been forced to work from home and play part-professional and part-parent and another part-teaches, I’m sure that’s the furthest thing from what you are.  Seriously, major hat-tip to all doing that.  Having a five month old and attempting it is hard enough so mad respect to all of you.

But if you’re looking for something to do or a way to pass the time today Brian Kelly will join Mike Tirico on NBC Sports Network early Thursday afternoon (ET).

NBC Sports Network recently launched the show and has set up several guests for Tirico to chat with, most being connected to one of the NBC Sports broadcast properties.

I’m sure we’ll get the regular update on how Kelly has been spending his time and what the latest is in terms of the Navy game, start dates for school and everything else.  Who knows though, maybe we’ll get a good couple of stories along the way too.

Check it out coming up shortly and if you miss it we’ll get a copy of it for you here once it becomes available.