On Wednesday, Fox Sports officially announced the hiring of former ESPN analyst Emmanuel Acho.

Acho revealed that he auditioned for Speak For Yourself back in 2016, but didn’t get the gig.

In their release announcing Acho’s hiring, Fox noted that Acho will cohost a “revamped version” of Speak For Yourself with Marcellus Wiley, beginning on June 22nd. Acho will replace Jason Whitlock, who left Fox after his contract expired last weekend, on the show.

This week, Acho garnered widespread attention and acclaim for his series “Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man,” which featured Acho and Matthew McConaughey in the second episode.

Going from Whitlock to Acho sure is a significant change for Speak For Yourself, and it’ll be interesting to see what the show looks like in two weeks. Acho is quite different from Whitlock in many ways, including age, background, and TV experience (not to mention his viewpoint on various hot button topics), and the show’s long-time viewers are likely in for quite a change with Acho in the host’s chair alongside Wiley.

FS1’s daily schedule is still returning to normal following the COVID-19 shutdown. While Undisputed and The Herd have returned to broadcasting from Fox’s studios, First Things First (which is filmed in New York) and Speak For Yourself are still broadcasting remotely, while NASCAR Race Hub has been a hybrid of studio/remote broadcasting. Lock It In, Fox’s gambling show, still hasn’t returned to the airwaves (with, you know, minimal live sports to bet on) and is posting remotely created videos on social media.

About Joe Lucia

I hate your favorite team. I also sort of hate most of my favorite teams.