Kyle Brandt, who has been with the sports show since its premiere in 2016, took some time between rehearsals ahead of the relaunch to talk to Deadline about the show’s changes and how he would handle being bicoastal.
Brandt will continue to co-host the show alongside Jamie Erdahl, Peter Schrager, and newcomers Akbar Gbajabiamila and Sherree Burruss. However, the morning show host is splitting his time between LA and NY, which he says will not be difficult.
“What’s difficult to do is to wake up at five in the morning and have about six minutes to come up with something original to say about Dak Prescott,” he told us. “I had a six-hour flight to get here, I have 50 things to say about Dak Prescott. I’ve had more material for these practice shows in LA than I’ve ever had for a normal show in New York.”
He continued, “I’m just at the point where the wife and two kids and a dog in a crowded house — there’s not a lot of quiet refuge. So I plan to use the airlines for that and I’m gonna have so much to say.”
When the show returns to the NFL Network from their studios in Inglewood, California, viewers will notice that the clubhouse vibe from their New York has been upgraded to a massive studio with lights and TV screens everywhere.
“This is unbelievable,” he said. “[It’s] like this fever dream Technicolor acid trip of energy.”
Good Morning Football studio photos in Inglewood, Calif.
Brandt has been rehearsing with his GMFB co-hosts ahead of their relaunch and noted the special connection he has already started with new co-host Akbar Gbajabiamila.
“I did my first segment with Akbar, and I feel like we were friends from high school or something like that,” he said about his new co-host, noting his “wildly experienced” past doing television and adding, “He’s such a good storyteller.”
The move for the show also meant that not everyone could make the cross-country trip, including Jason McCourty, who decided to leave.
“Jason is going to do things, he’s not going away,” Brandt said about his now-former co-host. “He made some decisions, that I completely respect, and most of them were about family and home life. He gave us two killer years, just broke records, huge stats, he trended, he made the Pro Bowl… Just one of the most likable people you’ll ever meet.”
Amid the changes, Brandt said that he never considered leaving GMFB , noting that he has been with the show since its inception and is “really proud of it.”
“This is the closest thing I ever had to a business that I started,” he noted. “I was here in 2016 when we wanted to do this young, cute, lively morning show. And on the fourth day of the show, Colin Kaepernick took a knee, and that’s all we talked about for the next month.”
Kyle Brandt, Jamie Erdahl and Akbar Gbajabiamila during rehearsals for ‘Good Morning Football’
He continued, “We got a really quick trial by fire. And then the Covid shows, the Damar Hamlin shows… The good, the bad, everything. I’ve been through it, all the different sets, so, this is my baby. I don’t mean individually, Peter has a huge hand in that and everyone who has been through here. It’s cool to be one of the OG’s. I don’t know how good I am at doing television but I’m good at doing Good Morning Football . And I like doing it.”
Many viewers are skeptical about the show losing its essence with the move. Still, Brandt assures fans that “the second that first topic comes up and we scream out, ‘The Lead Block,’ and then we’re off to talking about whoever’s training camp, it’s going to be like, ‘Oh, it’s Good Morning Football in a bigger studio.’ That’s my reassurance. We didn’t break it. We’re not going to change it. Once the talking starts, you’re gonna get real familiar with it fast.”
On the show’s last episode from their NYC studio , Brandt was seen running through the Manhattan streets after delivering an emotional speech. Brandt teased how GMFB would tie the last broadcast from their studio in NYC to their fresh start in LA.
“I don’t want to ruin anything, but let’s just say that the four-month hiatus was actually me running across the country like Forrest Gump,” he joked. “I wasn’t home with my family. I actually jogged across the United States with the same sweatshirt — I just got here two days ago, and we will portray that on the show somehow.”
Good Morning Football relaunches on Monday, July 29, at 8 a.m. ET on NFL Network. It will be followed by an extension titled GMFB: Overtime starting at 10 a.m. ET on The Roku Channel.
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