TVSpy
Following a heated interview with Mike Singletary, coach of the San Francisco 49ers, KPIX‘s Dennis O’Donnell is being benched. The station announced last week that Kim Coyle would replace O’Donnell as host of the “Coach’s Corner” sports segment.
On the heels of a difficult 49ers loss, O’Donnell asked Singletary about reports from Yahoo! Sports that the team’s coaching staff was having trouble communicating efficiently during games. The question rankled Singletary and the rest of the interview was an awkward back-and-forth with the coach forcefully giving vague answers to O’Donnell’s straightforward questioning about Xs and Os. (Video here)
“O’Donnell’s questions were not unusual nor particularly aggressive, but Singletary was irritated because he’d been asked so many questions on the subject,” The San Francisco Examiner pointed out.
Since the segment is produced as part of a contracted partnership between KPIX and the 49ers, the team has editorial input. Moving forward, Coyle will conduct interviews with Singletary at the 49ers headquarters.