People tend to forget that before he was hired by the then-WWF in 2000, Jonathan Coachman had some extensive experience in sportscasting in his home state of Kansas dating back to his college days. What they won't tell you on WWE-TV these days is that Coachman has been doing some moonlighting away from Raw, and that moonlighting has him in the largest TV market in the Northeast.

Coachman can actually credit his boss, Vince McMahon, with sparking interest from other networks. In 2001, Coachman was a sideline reporter for the short-lived XFL while also appearing on Raw & Smackdown (pre-brand extension). 4 years later, that brief national exposure on NBC paid dividends, as Coachman was hired to call basketball & football games for College Sports TV (CSTV), a cable arm of CBS. However, shortly after the 2005 season started, Raw moved from Spike TV (then a step-sister network to CBS, owned by Viacom) to USA, owned by NBC-Universal. Whatever chance there might've been for Coachman to subtly plug his CSTV gigs the way John Layfield works in plugs for his Fox News appearances evaporated rather abruptly, since I don't think NBC wanted WWE to let Coachman promote his appearing on a network owned by one of NBC's rivals. Not only that, but because Coachman has played a heel the last 4 years, there's also an unwritten rule in WWE that prohibits the promotion of heels' outside gigs, unless your name is Triple H.

Last week, Coachman added another job, this time signing on as a contributor to Madison Square Garden Cable Network's magazine series, "MSG-NY", and is set to debut later this month. This gig, however, could also benefit the WWE, which has had issues in the past with Garden owner James Dolan. You'll recall that WWE hasn't had too many bookings in "The World's Most Famous Arena" of late, with the main sticking point likely being---what else?----money. With Coachman now in the MSG fold, WWE has someone who can help smooth things over between Dolan and the McMahons and make it possible for WWE to resume more frequent bookings at MSG. Raw will be at the Garden on 8/13, but beyond that? No one can say for sure.

Coachman, though, is already catching heat in NYC for signing with MSG. NY Daily News columnist Bob Raissman, in today's column, ripped MSG for signing Coachman. In fairness, MSG Cable isn't on Raissman's Christmas card list, either, since Dolan decreed a few years ago that his announcers for the Knicks & Rangers have to be "homers", shilling only for the home team and ignoring the positive accomplishments of opponents. Raissman's counterpart at the NY Post, Phil Mushnick, is likely to add some venom before this week is over, as he's repeatedly ripped McMahon and/or MSG for years.

Ultimately, Coachman stands to benefit greatly. CSTV has limited availability in much of the country (it's a premium digital channel in my area), and thus a lot of people couldn't see him. MSG, however, gives him the best opportunity to walk away from the contract extension he signed with WWE at the end of 2005. If he can succeed in separating himself from his Monday night persona and become a legitimate sports personality on the national stage, I don't see him sticking around with WWE too much longer. Not only that, but NBC might take a close look and give him some side jobs as well. I bring that up because another MSG personality, Al Trautwig, has worked for NBC and USA in the past. In the end, leaving WWE might be the best thing for Coachman. After all, it's helped his old pal the Rock.