Outkick is expanding its digital audio offerings. Dan Dakich was a guest on Monday’s edition of Outkick 360, and he announced that people will soon be able to hear him more on the network. His new show, Sack Up with Dan Dakich will start next month and air from 9-11 am Eastern on weekdays.
In a nod to the BSM Top 20, Jonathan Hutton introduced Dakich by saying “Number one and number two are together again. Pleased to announce that Dan Dakich joins the Outkick network starting next month.”
When asked why he was drawn to Outkick, Dakich answered that he was interested in expanding his conversations.
“I don’t mind talking politics. I don’t mind talking about things that maybe ESPN didn’t necessarily want me talking about. I’m not gonna do games at ESPN, and that was as much my choice as their choice. I was there for ten years, I got paid for all of my games. I got to pay for seven people’s college education off of it. I got to pay for people’s chemo treatments. I got to do a ton of stuff because of the money and that’s fine, but there’s a whole world out there that I want to have influence in.”
That was not the only time ESPN was mentioned during the appearance. He described his love for radio and audience feedback as similar to his love for coaching. Success is determined by results. He said that wasn’t always the case when calling college basketball games at ESPN and that was frustrating.
“I had everyone of my bosses at ESPN tell me ‘you are the best guy we have at ESPN, period.’ And I am like ‘Okay, then why am I not doing North Carolina/Duke’ or ‘Why am I getting bumped by Vitale and Bilas to do the Indiana/Purdue game? It’s a big game.’ It’s not a meritocracy and I like meritocracy.”
As for his exit, Dakich seems very much at peace with not being part of World Wide Leader anymore. He joked that the network hiring Matt Jones of Kentucky Sports Radio was the last straw for him.
“Once ESPN hired him, I was good with not being there. I’ll tell you that right now. Once I saw that dumb ass got hired, I was cool.”
Dan Dakich did not address the future of his show on The Fan in Indianapolis. The new Outkick show will end an hour before his local show starts. It is reasonable to assume he would do both.
He promised that even when he veered into political or social discussions, “it’s gonna be all sports based. It’s gonna be a ton of gambling.”
BSM readers may remember that Tyler McComas profiled Dakich and his attempt to work off the money he lost betting on the NCAA Tournament by delivering food for DoorDash. Dakich told Outkick 360 that he only has one more week of driving before he is at his stopping point. He also revealed that it was losing $4000 on the first round of the tournament that started that journey.
