– Baron Miller, ESPN coordinating producer, on Jason Fitz
ESPNU’s college football studio lineup is a bit more musical now, as Jason Fitz — fiddle player and musical director of country music group The Band Perry – joins CFB Daily on Mondays at 4 p.m. ET, alongside co-hosts Mike Golic Jr. and Elika Sadeghi.
In addition to being a Grammy-nominated musician, Fitz is a regular host on SiriusXM Mad Dog Sports Radio and quarterback of “The Jason Fitz Show,” a football podcast that has featured guests ranging from Rex Ryan and Jay Gruden to Fall Out Boy and Charlie Daniels.
“When you hear ‘Grammy-nominated internationally touring musician’, you normally don’t think ‘This guy should host a college football show’,” said ESPN coordinating producer Baron Miller.
“After hearing his podcasts, I learned that Jason is not only opinionated but also a very educated college football fan. His strong views and high energy is something that I am excited for viewers to see. Add Elika Sadeghi and Mike Jr. to the mix, and this gives ESPNU a very different kind of college football show on Monday afternoons.”
Fans also can help Fitz get “pumped up” for the show by suggesting songs to add to his playlist. The Backstreet Boys, Aerosmith, 2Pac, and NEEDTOBREATHE have already made the list.
Front Row asked Fitz about his new role and how he’s combining his passion for sports and music.
– Jason Fitz
What appealed to you about working for ESPNU?
Some brands are simply iconic and if you grow up a sports fanatic, ESPN is at the top of that iconic brand list. Think about it in the simplest terms. When sports news breaks, where do you turn? When you grab the remote control to find out what is happening on a game, what channel do you always seem to have memorized?
ESPN is engrained in our minds, our hearts, and our culture. I’m beyond excited to be an incredibly small part of a much bigger picture here. My role is to be the voice of every single person watching. The incredible family at ESPNU has put me in a lane to get great football content weekly, find fresh angles and make relatable and great television.
How will the show differ from others on ESPNU?
There’s no doubt viewers have a million options on where to get their sports media from, and we’ve been discussing the answer to this very question nonstop for weeks. I think what it comes down to is personality and debate. I’m a lifelong musician who grew up all over the country as a college football and NFL fanatic.
I have, obviously, a much different background than most guys on TV, and bring a different perspective because of it. When you combine that with Mike – a fun personality who is fresh out of the college football experience – and add in Elika – an incredibly smart and opinionated person – you are going to get something different.
What’s your most memorable college football moment?
I think my favorite CFB memory is from 2013. The Band Perry was on tour in Europe for a month, and the boys are big Alabama fans. I’ll never forget being in a European double decker tour bus driving through the mountains desperately trying to get Wi-Fi to somehow connect so we could find some streaming site to watch ‘Bama and Auburn. Everyone was yelling and cheering. It serves as a reminder of the passion this game creates in all of us.
Baron Miller produced the video above.
