As Ryen Russillo officially launches the next act of his career, he’s bringing some familiar faces with him to Barstool Sports.
On Monday, the longtime sports media personality released the final episode of The Ryen Russillo Podcast for The Ringer. And as he alluded to his impending move to Barstool, he revealed that producers Steve Ceruti and Kyle Crichton will be joining him in making the jump.
“I’m going to have an announcement today, but everybody already knows, but whatever. Just trying to follow the rules here,” Russillo said. “I think it’s now safe to say something that we’ve known here for a while: Ceruti, Kyle are both coming with me on this new endeavor. So everything you’ve heard on this show, it’s going to basically be the same show. I don’t see anything that would be different.”
To that end, the feed for Russillo’s new Barstool podcast — titled The Ryen Russillo Show — is now active with a brief teaser episode. The podcast’s description references its signature “Life Advice” segment, which Ceruti and Crichton have both been staples of over the years. Russillo has since revealed that the show will officially launch on Nov. 3.
While it’s not uncommon to see podcast producers remain with shows even as they move to new platforms, Ceruti and Crichton’s moves from The Ringer remain notable nonetheless. A senior podcast manager at The Ringer, Ceruti was previously involved in The Bill Simmons Podcast and was a co-host of The Ringer Soccer Show. Crichton, meanwhile, also previously produced The Bill Simmons Podcast and is The Ringer founder’s actual nephew.
In the nearly two months since it was first reported that Russillo would be leaving The Ringer for Barstool, the ex-ESPN host has been adamant his show will remain the same, and we now know that include keeping two of its producers/on-air contributors. As for his own exit from The Ringer, Russillo expressed gratitude for the six years he spent with the company, which marked his first post-ESPN role.
“Leaving ESPN and feeling like you’re kind of starting over and wondering, ‘hey am I ever going to be one of those guys? Am I ever going to be like one of those guys? Am I going to be somebody who’s got enough juice to like figure out a way to carve out?'” Russillo said. “I would look at the people I was friends with. I would look at the people that were older than me — now I feel like I’m older than people — but that was definitely a time where I was just ready for a change. And it feels kind of cool now because I feel the exact same way. So thank you to the audience because, again, none of this happens without you responding, whether it was stuff at ESPN and and then cranking it up to another level here with Spotify and Ringer.”
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.