Peyton Manning reportedly wants Bill Belichick to join Omaha Productions, team with Nick Saban for new 'ManningCast'
Peyton Manning is reportedly trying to expand the Omaha Productions family and sign a hot new talent who is on the market: Bill Belichick.
According to The Athletic's Andrew Marchand, Manning is actively pursuing Belichick, who parted ways with the New England Patriots in January after 24 years, nine Super Bowl appearances and six trophies. Belichick wasn't hired by any team and is without a job for the first time in 25 years, but Manning is apparently trying to change that.
Omaha Productions, Manning's production company, has produced the series "Peyton's Places" for ESPN, as well as satellite spinoffs "Papi's Places" with David Ortiz and "Sue's Places" with Sue Bird. The company is most famous for the "ManningCast," in which Manning and his brother, former New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning, do a casual alternate broadcast for "Monday Night Football" on ESPN.
According to Marchand, Omaha Productions wants to pursue the alternate broadcast route for Belichick, teaming him up with recently retired Alabama head coach Nick Saban. It's not known if ESPN is interested in a "ManningCast" spin-off, but they are reportedly interested in Belichick.
But what is Belichick interested in? That remains a mystery. He is reportedly "uninterested" in being part of any weekly studio show, which is primarily what networks like NBC, CBS and ESPN offer. "ManningCast" is quite different from studio shows, with the Manning brothers offering a running commentary of the game while carrying on conversations with each other and famous guests.
That kind of format might appeal to Belichick, and both he and Saban have the chops to handle a non-traditional broadcast. Saban loves to talk and has always been charming (he also recently joined ESPN's "College GameDay"), and Belichick has shown himself to be an excellent commentator and analyst over the years, even winning a Sports Emmy in 2021 for his analysis on NFL Network's “NFL 100 All-Time Team.”
The NFL coaching route may be closed to Belichick for now, but he has a lot of avenues to choose from going forward. We'll just have to wait and see which road he takes.
