Justin Walters is the latest member of the ACC Network and its roster of hosts, ESPN has announced.

Walters previously worked for PIX11 News in New York City and served as a college football and basketball reporter for CBS Sports over the past three years. Walters will debut on Wednesday, Dec. 6 anchoring halftime coverage of the ACC Network’s men’s college basketball doubleheader. He will also host the network’s signature basketball show Nothing But Net.

“We’re excited to add Justin to our ACC Network team. He is both talented and versatile, an ideal combination for this role, which will include hosting shows in studio and on the road, as well as reporting and conducting interviews in the field,” said ESPN Senior Vice President of Production Michael Shiffman.  

Born in Brooklyn and raised in Mount Vernon, N.Y., Walters graduated from La Salle University with a Bachelor of Arts in broadcast journalism. He is an active member of The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) and Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. 

Prior to PIX11, Walters was the sports director and anchor for WRNN-TV/Fios1 News in the greater New York City area, where he covered both high school and professional teams throughout the tri-state area. His most memorable assignments included the Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Conor McGregor fight in Las Vegas and Mariano Rivera’s unanimous Hall of Fame induction in Cooperstown, N.Y. He started his career in 2013 with WBBJ-TV in Jackson, Tennessee.

“Joining ESPN is truly a dream come true,” Walters said. “Growing up watching some of the greatest and recreating a broadcast as a kid…this is a full circle moment. I’m grateful to ESPN and ACC Network for this opportunity and thrilled to be a part of the team. I’m ready to put in the work!”

With his former team, the Carolina Panthers, in search of a new head coach this offseason, there was a report last week from Joseph Person of The Athletic that the man who was the Panther tight end for 9 years and current FOX broadcaster Greg Olsen would be interested in the position if he was approached for it.

Olsen was a guest on The Rich Eisen Show on Thursday and he told Eisen that being a coach is not something that he is actively trying to pursue at this time.

“This is not something I’m chasing. This is not something I’m actively pursuing. I would call the A game at FOX for 30 years if that was what was in the cards. We all know how this world works. People come and go. Opportunities come and go. I’m never a believer in slamming the door on anything that you love.”

“That became kind of a big story this week. Obviously, there’s a lot of speculation and rumor and whatnot. I think the best thing I would say is ‘Who wouldn’t?’ This is a city that I love,” Greg Olsen admitted. “This is a team that I played the bulk of my career for. I want to see them have success. I live here, my kids are here.”

He continued by noting that he would listen to the offer if approached, despite not angling for the job.

“I would be crazy to entertain and take that conversation. This is a game I love. This is a game that I have been involved in my entire life. How that all plays out, I don’t know.

“I love doing what I do now. Calling games, studying games, I love doing this. How that future unfolds, a lot of this is out of any of our control.”

Greg Olsen took that question and used it to bring out a larger conversation as to why people overreact if a former player without as much coaching experience gets immediately dismissed as an idea for an open spot such as what happened when Jeff Saturday went from ESPN to being the interim coach of the Colts last year.

“What I will say is a larger conversation that has nothing to do with me, we saw it last year with Jeff Saturday taking over. I think there is an instant reaction that unless you have lived the NFL lifestyle in that ladder, you can’t be successful. I think we have to be careful saying experience leads to competence in all industries.

“Look at John Lynch. John Lynch had no experience in personnel and I’d say he has done a good job. We have to be careful thinking experience is the only prerequisite to be good at anything, coaching, broadcasting. Why do we just dismiss that as a pathway? Other sports don’t dismiss it. I don’t have the answer, but I think it’s an interesting conversation.”

As for answering the question itself, Eisen thought it was great because it showed how genuine Olsen is without trying to dismiss the question the second it was asked to him despite how difficult it is to answer. 

Thursday Night Football is off to a historic start in 2023 thanks in part to a thrilling contest between the Seattle Seahawks and Dallas Cowboys. Seahawks/Cowboys averaged 15.26 million viewers and attracted a peak audience of almost 18 million viewers on Prime Video, making it the most-watched game ever on Prime Video and the most streamed NFL game ever.

The previous high was the Sept. 14 matchup between the Minnesota Vikings and Philadelphia Eagles at 10.4 million viewers. Seahawks/Cowboys was also the sixth TNF contest to average more than 12 million viewers.

Through 11 weeks, TNF is averaging 12.58 million viewers, an increase of 29 percent from last season’s 11-game average. Unsurprisingly, TNF wins Thursday night each week, because nothing beats NFL football in the United States, to the tune of 151 percent viewership over the second program of the night.

This growth comes alongside news that the Black Friday game between the Miami Dolphins and New York Jets produced TNF’s lowest ratings of the season, averaging just 9.61 million viewers.