John Clay: ESPN has another hole to fill with Colin Cowherd's departure

ESPN Radio’s Colin Cowherd has been hinting around for a while, saying that he was moving/had moved to Los Angeles, etc. Finally, Thursday, the news dropped that Cowherd is leaving the network.

ESPN announced that Cowherd, who has been with ESPN since 2003, will leave when his contract expires later this year. Cowherd's show airs locally every weekday from 10 a.m. till 1 p.m. on WLXG-AM 1300 in Lexington.

John Skipper, president of ESPN, said in a statement:

"We’ve enjoyed a mutually beneficial run with Colin for over a decade. He came to national prominence on ESPN with his unique perspective on sports and society. Ending also bring new beginnings, for ESPN and Colin, and we thank him and wish him the best.

It’s the third major departure for ESPN, which parted ways with Bill Simmons earlier this year. The network announced last week it is cutting ties (again) with Keith Olbermann.

An article by The Big Lead on Thursday suggested Cowherd is headed to Fox Sports.

"The timing will leave a gaping hole in ESPN Radio’s weekday lineup and has broader implications about where some things are going both in Bristol — few will forget the great talent exodus of 2015 at ESPN, which has seen the network lose other outspoken voices in Bill Simmons and Keith Olbermann — and in general sports media. The difference here was that ESPN did make an aggressive bid to keep Cowherd, but was upstaged by Fox, who are clearly looking to make a big splash."

We shouldn’t forget that Scott Van Pelt also left his mid-day ESPN Radio Show to do the Midnight SportsCenter show from Los Angeles. His co-host, Ryen Russillo, now has that time slot to himself. Unlike Cowherd, SVP and Russillo talked a lot of college basketball.

As for Cowherd, I didn’t much care for him at first, but the more I listened the more I grew to appreciate his talents. It’s not easy doing a one-man three-hour radio show. Cowherd managed to keep it going. You either loved him or hated him.

Reports are Cowherd is likely headed to Fox Sports where he may have his own show on Fox Sports 1. The former producer of ESPN’s Sports Nation, which Cowherd once served as co-host with Michelle Beadle, is now at Fox.

Maybe ESPN will bring back Tony Kornheiser’s radio show.

This story was originally published July 16, 2015 at 1:03 PM with the headline "John Clay: ESPN has another hole to fill with Colin Cowherd's departure."