Interview With Todd McShay (Mr. ESPN)
With the NFL Draft right around the corner, I spent the last two weeks racking my brain trying to think of how I could finagle an interview with Mel Kiper Jr. And then it hit me. Why do we need Mel Kiper Jr. when one of my best friends runs the draft at ESPN? I’m obviously talking about ESPN analyst Todd McShay. If you’ve watched SportsCenter or read ESPN.com over the past two weeks you couldn't have missed him. He’s been everywhere. But what you may not have realized is that before Todd took over at ESPN he was 1/3 of the Barstool Sports Radio Hour. So with the NFL Draft this weekend, I decided to sit down with him and find out how he went from sitting at The Place listening to me talk about American Idol to now being one of the top NFL analysts at ESPN.
Stool - Ok let’s start at the beginning. How did you go from Swampscott High School to one of the top NFL Scouts at ESPN?
McShay - As you know I played football in high school. I went to college at the University of Richmond and wanted to continue playing so I tried to walk on. I wasn’t even close to good enough. I was a QB in high school and I think Richmond gave me #33 when I showed up which was a pretty good indication I wasn’t going anywhere. And then they asked me to play some defensive back and I think I played one game in my life at defensive back in high school. Needless to say it didn’t work out. But I stuck around and basically ended up being a gopher for the coaching staff. I knew I wanted to stay in the business. During college, I got an internship with a guy named Gary Horton, who started a company called the War Room. Essentially the War Room was designed to be the 31st scouting department in the NFL. The concept was to sell our content to NFL teams. We were basically a cross check for each team’s internal scouting departments. After graduating college I became a full time employee of the War Room. So I worked my way up doing college and pro scouting. The War Room was eventually bought by ESPN and with it I made the transition to doing more media stuff as opposed to strictly scouting.
Stool - So would you describe yourself more as a media personality now than a scout?
McShay - I still watch film and do all those things that I always did to prepare. But at the end of the day instead of writing the advanced scouting reports and sending them to NFL teams, I’m going on TV or radio and writing articles for ESPN and giving my info to fans instead. That’s really the main difference. We give our info to fans rather than teams now.
Stool - When did the name of your company switch from the War Room to Scouts, Inc.?
McShay - ESPN changed the name to Scouts, Inc. when they bought us. They wanted to brand it differently. They wanted to use Scouts, Inc. not only for the NFL, but for college football, high school sports, basketball and baseball. ESPN wants to expand the Scouts, Inc. brand and I think eventually have it be their Insider section.
Stool - Do you have a set schedule with ESPN? In other words, what’s a typical day like?
McShay - I really don’t have a set schedule. I wake up in the morning lots of times thinking I only have one article to write and then I get four phone calls from four different shows. There are so many different arms at ESPN that you never know what people will be asking you to do. But the days always fill up. Today for example today I have to write an article this morning, I have a chat on Espn.com at noon, I need to finish an article for ESPN the Magazine and then I need to tape segments for ESPN News and Sportscenter. And two days ago I only knew about the chat.
Stool - What about your schedule during football season. Didn’t you do Game Day College Radio last year? What did that entail?
McShay - Yes, I went to a different college game every Saturday with Dave Rebson and Jerry Dinardo for ESPN Radio and did a seven hour radio program. I had a blast.
Stool - Now before doing ESPN College Game day you were part of the Barstool Radio Hour. How would you compare the ESPN gig to the Barstool Radio Hour which I guess was the most unique radio hour in the history of radio? And are you surprised that our show didn’t get picked up?
McShay - Umm, there is a little different atmosphere working with you and Elio Imbornone compared to Dave Rebson and Jerry Dinardo. I guess less professional is what I’d call it. Also, College Game Day is on seven hours. The Barstool Sports Radio Hour was one hour. At the end of seven hours we feel like we don’t get enough in on College Game Day. At the end of one hour with the Barstool show, I was wiping my brow glad that we were done. Although you’ll be happy to hear that we have a comment suggestion box at the bottom of our articles on ESPN where people can log on and leave me a comment. I’ve actually gotten more negative comments about the one hour radio show that nobody listened to than anything I’ve ever done at ESPN. I just got a comment the other day that said "How am I supposed to trust this guy when he was one of three idiots sitting at a bar doing a one hour radio show talking to themselves every Wednesday?”
Stool – At least somebody was listening. But I’d still argue that anybody who knows talent knows that show had gold written all over it. I mean we did things that were outside the box like the time Elio made radio history by placing a bet with his bookie live on air. I doubt that has that ever happened during your time at ESPN radio?
McShay - No, it hasn’t. And thankfully at the time I wasn’t employed by ESPN so they couldn’t do anything about it. If that happened today I’d have some legal issues on my hands.
Stool - Okay, you’ve spent the last five years traveling to a different college game every single Saturday. So you’ve been to virtually every single major college in the country. Where would you play if you were a major D1 recruit?
McShay - I would go to USC. And then I would go to Texas #2. Yeah, USC or Texas. I’d make them duke it out for my services.
Stool - What campuses have the hottest chicks in the country?
McShay - Mind you I’m a married man now so I’m under the look but don’t touch policy. But the most beautiful women I’ve ever seen are at Ole Miss. It’s literally shocking. I mean your heart is fluttering the whole time you're there. It’s just a tiny little area called the Grove and you just want to start crying. LSU is #2. And they party too. The Ole Miss girls are reserved. But Baton Rouge is insane and no holds barred. Third I would say USC. But it’s more because they dress the part.
Stool – Speaking of hot women, have you ever seen Erin Andrews? Is she hot?
McShay - I travelled with her for two years for College Game Day. She’s a very beautiful woman and she’s funny. She’s a great person.
Stool - Sticking with the college theme, the Stool has an ongoing debate with BC. They think they’re a tier 1 athletic program and I kind of think they’re a joke. From everything you’ve seen, how would you rank them in terms of their overall football program? I’m talking everything from the team on the field to atmosphere, to perception.
McShay - Let’s just deal with the six BSC conferences. If you broke up all the schools in those six conferences into 5 tiers, I’d put BC in the 3rd or 4th tier. And here is why. They overachieved under [former Boston College head coach Tom] O’Brien for the entire time he was there. But when ESPN College Gameday came to BC and I was able to interview people associated with the program, I was shocked to see the lack of support from the community. The students are great, but the city just doesn’t care. College Gameday had to scrounge up people to go in the background for the Friday Night Gameday preview telecast. There were two people in the back and one was on the cell phone. It was embarrassing for BC, it was embarrassing for ESPN.
Stool - Do you know anything about the BC new coach?
McShay - No. To be honest I was shocked when they brought him in. Obviously he has a background with BC and was an offensive coordinator with Green Bay. He’s a tough guy. A high energy guy, but he has his work cut out for him.
Stool - Do you sweat Kirk Herbstreit?
McShay - I don’t even know what you mean.
Stool – Well would you rather be sitting on the NFL Draft Desk or College Game Day Desk?
McShay - I’d pick the NFL Draft Desk.
Stool - Ok, so is it safe to say that you aspire to be like Mel Kiper Jr?
McShay – At one point I’d like to be on the desk on Saturday and Sunday for the draft with Mel and be able to debate players with him.
Stool - How would you compare yourself to Mel Kiper Jr?
McShay - Obviously, we’re in the same exact market in terms of focusing on the NFL Draft. But I think we go about scouting in different ways not that either way is right or wrong. I do lots of film scouting and give opinions on my personal evaluations where he spends lots of time talking to teams and finding out what teams think and like. My evaluations are more what you’d hear a scout telling a GM where he is more what he’s hearing about players. I’ll say one thing about Mel: He has a steel trap mind. If I had his mind I could work half the hours.
Stool - Let’s move onto this year’s draft a little bit. There are a million mock drafts out there and they are all similar. I’ve always been skeptical of how this can be? I mean how is it that everybody starts with a blank slate and comes up with almost the same exact thing?
McShay - Well Mel and I don’t compare notes if that’s what you’re asking. There are lists within the league. There is a Blesto list which is essentially created from a huge a scouting combine. All NFL teams send a scout to be part of this Blesto combine. They’ll go all over the country and get the heights and weights of the best prospects in the country. I think this year there are almost 975 players on this list. You take that and you just evaluate the guys. Personally, I rank each position and then I rank position values. If traditionally there are 5 WR’s that go in the first round I take the top 5 WR’s on my board and place them in the first round. But I know what you’re saying; how are there 975 players on this massive list and 20 different media outlets all have the same 20 players in the top 40? I can’t tell you. I rank them and evaluate them and that’s just how it turns out. But one team can see a guy workout and think he’s great and another team can get a totally different take. I talked to two teams yesterday who saw the same Ted Ginn workout and one team thought it was great and another team said they weren’t impressed at all. So you can get two totally different views on the same players.
Stool - How would you rank the Pats in terms of an organization when it comes to the draft?
McShay - They’re absolutely unique. You can’t get a beat on them which is good judging by their success. They’ve set the trend in drafting for value and not reaching for need. They always find players that fit their scheme. And they don’t like drafting certain positions. I mean I don’t think they haven’t drafted a LB in the first round since Belichick has been there.
Stool - What would you say about the NFL Draft in terms of an event for fans to attend?
McShay - It is a blast for the first 7-10 picks. And then I could see how it would become very monotonous after that. I can’t imagine sitting there as a fan because there is so much just sitting around.
Stool - Do you have a signature or trademark selection that is your shining moment in the draft? Conversely what was your worst pick or biggest bust?
McShay - The bust is Charles Rogers. I thought he’d be a great player. The problem I have is that I don’t always get the background checks. I don’t have a nine man staff I can send out to follow him all over town. As far as my best pick ever, I did say Tom Brady was the most underrated player in his draft class. I didn’t think he’d be this good, but you can read what I said about him at the time. And I also said that Ben Roethlisberger was the best QB in his draft class. Obviously he was horrible last year, but I still think he’s the best of his year.
Stool - Any guy for the upcoming draft that you want our readers to keep an eye on?
McShay - Jacoby Jones.
Stool - I don’t even know who he is.
McShay - Right because he played DII at Lane College so you couldn’t gamble on him. If there is going to be a Marcus Colston this year, it’s going to be him.
Stool - I’d say it’s a pretty well known fact among our group of friends that I know the most about football. Would you agree with that?
McShay - You’re absolutely ignorant when it comes to football. You’re a gambler and you come at it from a gambling perspective and then you try to spout out scouting tips. Your track record is abysmal when it comes to both
Stool - Okay let’s keep this interview about you rather than me. Do you drive to Bristol to shoot the ESPN on air stuff?
McShay - I go to Bristol for the 2 weeks leading up to the Draft, but most of the time I’m in a studio in downtown Boston called Video Link.
Stool - Now I’ve noticed your cloths that you wear on air. They look nice and expensive. Do you buy them or does ESPN buy them?
McShay - I buy them. My wife makes lots of the buying decisions as well. Some of the on air people at ESPN have a wardrobe budget in their contract. I unfortunately do not. I’ve spent an awful lot of money on cloths. And the thing is that you can buy a tie that looks great in person and you see it on TV and you’re embarrassed for yourself. I hate to say it too, but there is makeup involved and that can get all over you and then you have to trash a perfectly good shirt or something.
Stool - Speaking of makeup Jamie Chisholm and I did a TV show on CN8 (weren’t asked back by the way) and they put makeup on us. I felt kind of weird. Do you feel like a little bit of a sissy when they put makeup on you?
McShay - Let’s just say I feel like less than a man.
Stool - I’ve known you a long time. I think you’re funny. But on TV I don’t think you come across as funny. Do you feel restricted in what you can say or how much of your personality you can display?
McShay - I’ve gotten to the point on the radio that I say whatever I want and let anything fly. But the TV I do is generally like a two minute spot. You don’t have a chance to be funny. I just got to get my info out there. If I was on a show for an entire hour I’d like to get my personality out there more.
Stool - My advice to you would be to get your personality out there more so you can separate yourself from all the other draft guys out there. It’s all about creating the Todd McShay brand.
McShay - Well maybe when this interview is over you and I can talk about putting together a business plan.
Stool - Have you ever bumped into Bill Simmons at ESPN and been like my buddy has a problem with you?
McShay - You still have a beef with him? I think he just got a major extension with ESPN. We get an internal email from ESPN every week telling us what was the most read article. I’ve had it once. Bill Simmons gets it like 40 out of 52 weeks a year. But he dissed you so if I see him in the hallway I’ll bring it up.
Stool – I appreciated that. Now if you had to scout me as a pop Warner player how would you describe me?
McShay - LaDainian Tomlinson-esque. By far the best Pop Warner player I ever played with. I thought maybe we had a chance to play in Florida at Disneyworld for the championships because every time you touched the ball you scored. Unfortunately you peaked at 9 years old and were no help in High School.
Stool - Well I did have a major shoulder injury that pretty much eliminated me from contention. More importantly what are the odds in that one of your two minute segments on ESPN that you slip up and say check out barstoolsports.com?
McShay - Same odds as the Raiders winning the Super Bowl.
Stool - Can we have that as a bet then? If the Raiders win the Super Bowl will you give us a shout out?
McShay - If the Raiders win the Super Bowl next year the very first time I’m on the air after they win I will open with “I’ll get to your question in a minute to whoever the announcer is and say “Barstool Sports is a MUST read, you can check them out at barstoolsports.com”
Stool – It’s a bet. Okay well thanks for sitting down with me. It’s more than Woody was ever willing to do.