Early in Tuesday\u2019s episode of\u00a0The Dan Le Batard Show, longtime guest host Greg Cote did what few on the show have been willing to do over the past year.<\/p>\n
As part of a played-up debate with newly added cast member Jonathan Zaslow, Cote made reference to the very high-profile absence of longtime cohost Jon \u201cStugotz\u201d Weiner<\/a>, teasing that Zaslow had replaced Stugotz as Le Batard\u2019s cohost. The comments \u2014 though they stood out for their rarity amid Stugotz\u2019s largely unexplained, prolonged absence \u2014 were clearly made in jest.<\/p>\n However, they struck a chord with Le Batard, who circled back later in the show to clear the air<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cIf it appeared flippant to our audience in any way that the Stugotz thing is something we are enjoying here privately as you react and get annoyed, please understand that I love Stugotz. I will always love Stugotz,\u201d Le Batard said. \u201cWe invited him to our (Miami-Indiana) watch party, we\u2019ve been inviting him all month to be on the show, and we want him around here. The door is wide open for him.\u201d<\/p>\n .@LeBatardShow<\/a> discusses @stugotz790<\/a> on today\u2019s show pic.twitter.com\/qR2a5R2qYL<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Mark (@lebatardshowfan) January 27, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Stugotz\u2019s separation from the\u00a0Le Batard Show and Meadowlark Media began last year, when the company extended its partnership with DraftKings. The new agreement did not include Stugotz\u2019s two podcasts, which he then took independent<\/a> while appearing far less frequently<\/a> with Le Batard.<\/p>\n Both hosts were largely quiet<\/a> about the split until the holiday season<\/a>, when Fox Sports Radio announced Stugotz as its replacement for Doug Gottlieb<\/a> on afternoons. While Le Batard praised Stugotz for earning the opportunity and promoted the new show, neither man fully explained the nature of their split or what the future would look like.<\/p>\n Stugotz initially claimed<\/a> he was booked for\u00a09 appearances on the\u00a0Le Batard Show\u00a0in January\u00a0under specific conditions<\/a>, but those conditions\u00a0have not come to pass. Stugotz has not appeared on the\u00a0Le Batard Show since last summer.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019ll give you whatever information he wants about when he\u2019s coming back. We don\u2019t know. I\u2019d love for him to be back,\u201d Le Batard said, taking on a more emotional tone. \u201cI don\u2019t want anyone in our audience thinking this is some flippant joke, because there\u2019s stuff here that would be funny and I would love to make content out of, but I\u2019m not going to, out of respect to a relationship that I really value and will always value.\u201d<\/p>\n Stugotz hired Le Batard as his co-host in 2004 at WAXY, a South Florida-based station he founded. The duo brought a national audience to its local show before ultimately joining ESPN about a decade later. Le Batard and the show\u2019s crew left the Worldwide Leader in early 2021, and the show signed a major licensing and sponsorship deal with DraftKings.<\/p>\n Given his self-professed love for radio<\/a> compared with the show\u2019s current format as a live YouTube and streaming show, Stugotz likely feels more at home at Fox. In a recent episode, he alluded to a \u201churtful\u201d exchange with Le Batard<\/a> that led to their falling-out, adding that he questioned his future in the industry as a result.<\/p>\n Le Batard has not addressed any such confrontation.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t want our audience to think that I\u2019m enjoying the fact that Stugotz isn\u2019t around here, and I don\u2019t want it to feel like that for anybody, here included,\u201d he said Tuesday. \u201cBecause I\u2019d love to have him back. I want him back.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\n