First Take is in search of a new host. And on Thursday’s program, the star of the show Stephen A. Smith got another turn attempting the dual role as host and panelist. But if Smith and ESPN are serious about doing what’s best for the program, they need to take a lesson from an old friend in Skip Bayless.
Bayless has lost his place on national television after unceremoniously leaving FS1 and his flagship show Undisputed. Since that time, he’s continued forward with his own podcast in an attempt to cling to whatever relevance he has left as a professional sports agitator.
But while the downfall of Skip Bayless began with his high-profile breakup with Shannon Sharpe on Undisputed, it was accelerated when the decision was made to reboot the show with the provocateur in a hosting role. Instead of having someone to play off of and spar with, Bayless was trying to hold court over an athlete panel consisting of big personalities like Richard Sherman, Keyshawn Johnson, and Paul Pierce.
To say the experiment did not work would be an understatement. Ratings continued to slide, Bayless was out, and the program was canceled a year later.
At the moment, ESPN is auditioning hosts to take over for Molly Qerim after her stunning and abrupt resignation. Qerim suddenly walked away from First Take and ESPN in the midst of negotiations over a new contract after a decade in the role.
And make no mistake about it, being the moderator of First Take is one of the most challenging roles on television. You have to always be at the top of your game, never knowing what might come your way in a live (sometimes heated) debate environment. And you have to get others involved while also knowing that you’ll never be the star of the show alongside Stephen A. Smith. Somehow, Qerim was able to sustain herself and shine in the role for a decade.
It’s clear that ESPN is wasting no time in trying to find a successor. Already this week we have seen Amina Smith, Shae Peppler Cornette, Peter Schrager, and Smith himself sit in the anchor’s seat.
There are several worthy candidates inside ESPN that could do a great job, but taking a look at what happened when his former debate partner tried his hand at hosting should show the network and Smith himself that it should not be the first choice.
The show flows much better with a true moderator being able to set up Smith and his debate partners. And it turns the volume and intensity down a little bit, which is sometimes very much needed. Smith is not a point guard that is there to set up his teammates and then get out of the way, he’s a scorer.
If anything, it dilutes what makes First Take the juggernaut it has become over the last decade. Thursday’s show saw him lead a panel featuring three of ESPN’s biggest NFL analysts in Mina Kimes, Ryan Clark, and Dan Orlovsky.
“This is a horrible, horrible organization right now.”
—@stephenasmith on the New York Giants pic.twitter.com/2WQ2pLhsoC
— First Take (@FirstTake) September 25, 2025
Of course, in writing this, it’s a very real possibility that hosting is a direction that ESPN and Stephen A. Smith himself want to go. It’s not something that is widely known, but Smith is the executive producer of First Take. So in some aspect, it’s not just that he would approve of whoever ESPN might peg to host the show, but that he would make the decision himself. What we could be watching is the sports version of Jeopardy! auditioning a bunch of really cool guest hosts until Mike Richards gave himself the job. If you recall, that didn’t work either.
It’s definitely not in his DNA as someone who has taken pretty much every single media opportunity that has come his way in the last few years, but it would best serve Stephen A. Smith if he took a less is more approach and allowed someone else to host First Take.
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