Jonathan Coachman to E.S.P.N.

[WrestlingDude]

Ever since Ive learned that Mick Foley would be replacing Johnathan Coachman, I have been asking myself, whats next for the Coach?

I mean he was a pretty good color comentator, both on raw and smackdown so i wasnt rly sure why they replaced him.

I heard that he was punished once by being attacked by wrestlers after he didnt leave the announce table when wrestlers were colliding into the table, is that part of the punishment?

So wats left so Johnathan Coachman? Does he go back on being a heel on Raw? Or maybe Smackdown. Does he become a backstage interviewer or even go to ECW now. For all we know, hes been fired for sum unknown reason.

[atomikenrtia]

well he has been doing more work outside of wrestling, especially in the field of arena football broadcasting.

personally, i liked the coach... much more than I will ever like Foley at the announce booth. Foley sucked it up at One Night Stand, he sucked it up at Backlash... honestly the only reason he doesn't suck moreso than Adamle, is because he actually has a wrestling background.

I hope the Coach goes back to Raw, and come back heel. I don't know what role he would have... certainly I would hope they wouldn't have him come back and be somebody's assistant, but I think a mouthpiece role would be pretty interesting to see. Maybe have him be the mouthpiece for a heel stable. That might be a good role for him. Maybe not?

[AnthonyMango/NoFate007]

I originally thought that, with Regal winning the King of the Ring and returning to active duty, he would relinquish his GM position and Coach would just go back to that.

Now that that hasn't happened....I don't know.

One option is for him to replace Estrada...but he doesn't really matter enough to warrant any change anyway. He won't replace Vickie (unfortunately) cause they already have Teddy. Regal's still GM of Raw, so that cuts Coach out, and for anything Regal wouldn't do, Vince would......hm......

Maybe he'll just not really have a role for a while? Lol. The only other option I can think of would be the manager to someone, but I can't think of who that could be.

[Danmen001]

According to most sources, the reason coach left announcing was because he was doing outside work, away from the WWE.

Although I too originally thought that coach would get the Raw GM spot back during Regal's push too. It looks like Regal wants that spot to keep himself in power. (Which is heel smart.)

What is left for Jonathan Coachman, is for him to do some work, part manager or something backstage, and keep his career as a sports announcer on ..... whereever. He will also probably just work by whatever the sports industry want him to do.

[PsxMeUP]

It's back to him being everybody's punching bag, which is fine by me.

And here is why I think that...

He's got horrible timing when delivering lines so he can't have any positions that require him being spontaneous, so that rules out color commentating. Something happens in the ring and it takes him 1 minute to explain it. And when he does find something to say, it's usually not that funny and/or interesting. He's also got a high pitched voice. I remember HHH mocking him about that at one point, during a show. The guy doesn't have the face of a heel. He looks like a cuddly teddy bear and a pushover, so that rules out any "mean streaks" like Regal is on right now, but with all the aforementioned flaws, he can't be a face character. What's left for him? Being a heel's sidekick. And with him not being a wrestler it means him getting beat up by all the faces in the business... Which is fine by me, because that's all the guy is good for on camera.

Better?

[TheOneBigWill]

The main reason WWE has replaced Jonathan Coachman with Mick Foley as the Smackdown color announcer is because Coachman has been quietly telling people for awhile now that he wants to leave the company to focus on sports broadcasting and WWE wanted to be ready incase he did leave. He recently interviewed with ESPN and had been doing additional broadcast work for both the MSG Network and CBS' College sports broadcasts of late.

And now, I can report that ESPN has actually hired Coachman as an anchor. Most in WWE believe that Coachman will finish up with WWE soon, if he hasn't already. No word yet on when Coachman will debut with ESPN.

With this being reported, its all but official that The Coach's days in the W.W.E. are numbered and its likely that he'll just fade away completely without any mention of him leaving the company, until they quietly mention on their website that they wish him the best of luck.

The question I have for most of you, is what will this do for the future of announcing? Obviously The Coach wasn't the best announcer, but certainly better than Adamle and several others from the passed. So do you feel the Coach will ever be back in the W.W.E.? Do you think he'll completely leave wrestling behind, without looking back?

What are your thoughts on this decision by Coach? Will you miss him as an on-air character?

Personally, while I can't say I enjoyed his announcing, I will miss him as an on-air kiss ass. He played the role perfectly, and likely won't be a huge loss but will definately be unreplacable.

[HellBoundPower]

I've always liked Coach, especially when he turned heel. He was funny when The Rock was making fun of him, especially at Wrestlemania X-8 when he prayed and said, "What up G?". Then when he turned heel, he got a cocky edge, and played his kiss ass role to perfection. I also thought he was a decent announcer.

Since he's leaving for ESPN, I'm very interested to see what they have him doing on there. If they put him on a show, have him as an interviewer, or whatever. I personally think he'll be back in the WWE at some point, but until then I just have to wish him luck.

[Sicko]

what out of all people Michael Cole is making fun of you during the broadcast, I am not sure if he was on good terms with the WWE anyway, going to ESPN in a huge upgrade over the WWE no doubt about that so good for him if he got hired by ESPN

don't have to worry about people yelling in his ear while he is trying to call a match, don't have to take everyones finisher because he made a mistake LOL (if that is true)

he does seem like the type that they bully around backstage

[PsxMeUP]

The WWE won't miss him. There are some talented wrestlers who can replace him, should Mick Foley quit. Matt Striker is awesome on the mic. I can definitely see him behind the desk. Jericho only has a few more years of wrestling in him. After that he could make a good announcer. Same for HBK. I'm sure some would appreciate the change of pace and higher job security.

[kiriyama]

I never been much of a fan of the Coach... but he does have a great voice. But to be totally honest, it never seemed to hold the label "this is a wrestling announcer's voice". You know? He sounds like he'd be perfect over there at ESPN, I'll miss the guy... and I'm sure Hornswoggle will miss terrorizing him. Besides... I'd rather get a bigger paycheck than get harassed by grown midgets who claim they're children.