Did Kirk Minihane just troll his way into exposing the NFL Insider Industrial Complex? The polarizing Barstool Sports personality has broken every major Patriots story since their season ended, including the team’s re-hiring of Josh McDaniels. Minihane posted his scoop Tuesday at 3:42 p.m. EST: “Sources: Josh McDaniels will be named offensive coordinator of the Patriots. Announcement is imminent,” he said.
Approximately 50 minutes later, Ian Rapoport shared his report: “Throwback: The #Patriots are expected to hire Josh McDaniels to be their offensive coordinator, sources say, his third stint in this role,” posted the ubiquitous NFL Insider. Then the deluge began. Suddenly, nearly every so-called “Patriots Insider” was reporting the same piece of news: McDaniels was returning to New England. They all credited an unnamed “source.” No word on whether it was the same one…
The Patriots are hiring Josh McDaniels to be their offensive coordinator, per source. A familiar face in New England, McDaniels is back for his third stint with the organization. pic.twitter.com/JyXgqbSCaj
— Dianna Russini (@DMRussini) January 21, 2025
The Patriots are hiring Josh McDaniels as their offensive coordinator, per source.
— Jeff Howe (@jeffphowe) January 21, 2025
Josh McDaniels it is https://t.co/EC0uoE84BW
— Ben Volin (@BenVolin) January 21, 2025
Sources w/ @DougKyed: #Patriots expecting to land Josh McDaniels as their new offensive coordinatorhttps://t.co/BPylsNIzlq pic.twitter.com/ztfT0kNqKB
— Andrew Callahan (@_AndrewCallahan) January 21, 2025
News story: Patriots expected to hire Josh McDaniels as offensive coordinator; will serve as top mentor for QB Drake Maye. https://t.co/KOO6ggBOEc
— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) January 21, 2025
The whole exercise of crediting sports reporters for “scoops” is nothing more than media glad-handing. But that’s precisely the point. Whenever a venerated insider like Adam Schefter or Rapoport breaks a transaction, their names are plastered everywhere. Every reporter “can confirm” the story, while mentioning that Schefter or Rapoport “had it first.” However, that wasn’t the case for Minihane, though ESPN did mention on its ticker that “Barstool Sports” broke the McDaniels news.
How often do you see this on the ESPN ticker? pic.twitter.com/nDwYnc5fqy
— Ben Koo (@bkoo) January 22, 2025
As a host on Boston’s WEEI, Kirk Minihane rose to prominence as a sports talk radio host who claimed to hate sports, hammering the Red Sox and his colleagues for arguing about starting rotations. Minihane preferred to castigate beat writers, whom he accused of covering for each other, recognizing that Boston fans held a deep antipathy for many of the region’s sportswriters. He positioned himself as the ultimate truth-seeker, battling a biased sports media establishment. “I’ve been doing it since I was at EEI,” Minihane told me. “I don’t like that they are the lords of ‘this player, this owner, this guy needs to be held accountable,’ and then you just ask them why they’re not crediting the guy who broke [the story], and they run away. It’s like a secret club. I’ve never understood it.”
Minihane’s latest expedition started Jan. 5, when he declared on his show the Patriots would hire Mike Vrabel as their next head coach. One week later, that’s exactly what happened, but the story was not considered “official” until Rapoport relayed it.
“The next head coach of the New England @Patriots will be Mike Vrabel. That’s all I can tell you for now. But I can tell you that’s 100% going to happen.”https://t.co/rKX1AzPjiz pic.twitter.com/nvAf2Urt09
— The Kirk Minihane Show (@kirkminshow) January 6, 2025
#KirkWasRight https://t.co/htBRJW5BIE
— The Kirk Minihane Show (@kirkminshow) January 12, 2025
Sensing a theme, Minihane followed up with another report 10 days later: Patriots exec Robyn Glaser was leaving her role. A long-time Kraft lieutenant, Glaser ascended to executive VP of football business and became a symbol of the Patriots’ downfall. If the news came from a respected member of the NFL Insider class, it likely would’ve been taken as gospel. Instead, it was dismissed. Albert Breer, SI‘s senior NFL writer, denied Glaser’s departure on air. Soon, the wagons started circling…
Two people told me today that the Robyn Glaser news floating around X is false. She is still with the Patriots
— Ben Volin (@BenVolin) January 16, 2025
Two days later, ESPN’s Mike Reiss reported that Glaser was indeed stepping down.
Sorry? https://t.co/kWkVTIEMLJ
— Kirk Minihane (@kirkmin) January 17, 2025
The debate over who determines what is news versus what is dismissed as innuendo isn’t unique to sports media. There’s a widespread reckoning with news media as millions of Americans tune out and turn to streamers. Trust in the mainstream media remains at an all-time low, a trend extending to sports. ESPN’s brand has suffered due to years of cuts, declining quality, and political disputes. The gatekeepers are losing control, and they’re scared. In the sports media realm, the gatekeepers for the valuable commodity of NFL intel seem impenetrable. We know from Schefter’s leaked emails that he collaborates closely with NFL front offices.
Everyone works for properties directly owned by, or financially entangled with, the NFL. It’s no coincidence that when one of them breaks a story, an avalanche of confirmations follows. Nobody reports news inconvenient for the hand that feeds. Schefter’s analysis of the Patriots’ coaching search showed that while it was obvious Vrabel was the front-runner, it would’ve been inappropriate to state this reality due to the NFL’s Rooney Rule. So, the Patriots engaged in two sham interviews with Byron Leftwich and Pep Hamilton, who hadn’t coached in the league recently. Schefter spread legitimacy to those interviews by claiming Vrabel’s hiring was uncertain. Four days later, the announcement came. Surprising!
Here’s how Adam Schefter broke the news of the Patriots hiring Mike Vrabel on ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown: pic.twitter.com/DvdFbJyuiX
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 12, 2025
With Schefter’s control over information, others scramble for scraps, leading to protectionism. In the past, players and coaches needed reporters for publicity, but now, they can share their messages through social media. This also includes agents and personnel who exchange information with Schefter and his ilk. The prevailing question is: “What can you offer me?” For most traditional media, the answer is little.
For Minihane, the answer is entertainment. He claims many Patriots employees are fans of his podcast, preferring him over the Boston Globe. This brings us to another reason Minihane probably isn’t receiving his due credit: he’s a troll, and his provocative style can be alienating. For instance, he often cold calls Boston Globe CEO Linda Pizutti, the wife of Red Sox owner John Henry.
“Kirk, Kirk. I really wish you wouldn’t do this,” she said on his show Wednesday, clearly caught off guard. “I think you’re a great person, but I just don’t like you calling me for a surprise interview.” Minihane continued to press. “You’re the managing editor of a newspaper. And you won’t take questions? That doesn’t make any sense,” he stated. “I’m not doing a surprise interview,” she replied, ending the interaction but signaling that she won’t be the last power-broker to hear from him.
Disclaimer: Alex Reimer worked with Kirk Minihane on WEEI from 2016-18.
