Former insurance agent turns into star NFL analyst

James Koh, Korean-American NFL analyst / Courtesy of James Koh

James Koh, first Asian-American host on NFL Network, boasts broad knowledge of game

By Steve Han

James Koh was an insurance agent in the San Francisco Bay area in 2003 after earning his bachelor's degree in legal studies from the University of California, Berkeley. In Koh's own words, he was making "great money in a great city."

But all of that changed after he came home from work one evening and turned on the TV to watch "Sports Center" on ESPN.

"I want to do that," he told himself.

Over the next 10 years, Koh succeeded in transforming himself from an insurance salesman to a celebrated sportscaster.

By 2013, Koh became a Fox 11 sportscaster in Los Angeles and won the Emmy Award four times. He worked his way up the ladder in the media industry, starting from a country music DJ as well as a play-by-play high school basketball commentator for KPQX, a radio station in Havre, Montana, where he gave himself the nickname "Korean Cowboy."

He made quite a few more stops along the way before becoming a television news anchor at Fox 11, working as a fill-in newsman at KBAK in Bakersfield and KSWB in San Diego.

In the fiercely-competitive TV industry, Koh's rise as a country music DJ in Havre, a small city with a population of approximately 9,300, to a news anchor in L.A., the second biggest market in the U.S., was uncommon to put it mildly. But the 42-year-old has now navigated through another trailblazing trajectory, transforming himself from a news presenter to a football analyst.

"I want to be on ESPN as their lead football analyst," Koh said, munching on a slice of pizza at a sports bar in El Segundo, California. When asked if he would want to be on ESPN as a news anchor instead of an analyst on "Sports Center," he answered without hesitation: "Nah."

Since leaving Fox 11 in 2014, Koh became the first Asian-American host on the NFL Network and eventually settled his roots in the world of American football, as he boasted his broad knowledge of the game on the National Football League's flagship TV network to land jobs that required him to go beyond presenting news, including writing for The Athletic, New York Daily News and Yahoo Sports as an NFL columnist, and eventually becoming an on-air analyst for DIRECTV's NFL coverage, a position he has held from 2018 to this day, and also on Amazon Prime's "NFL Next and Thursday Night Football" between 2019 and 2021.

"I want to be one of ESPN's top sports personalities," Koh said. "Let me be out there, verbally sparring with Stephen A. Smith. That'd be great TV, awesome TV. There isn't somebody who does what I do, which is smashing you with energy, smashing you with personality, and backing it up with information. I bring a lot of humor to the table. That's the way I am in real life, too. I'm a big energy guy, so when I'm on TV, I'm not out of character. If you're asking me what my dream goal is, that's it right there. Let me be one of the prominent stars on ESPN."

James Koh, left, poses with his colleagues at DIRECTV's Fantasy Zone Channel. Courtesy of James Koh

If Koh were to land his dream job at ESPN one day, he could potentially work alongside Mina Kimes, another prominent Korean-American NFL analyst, whose expertise is more concentrated on statistical analysis. In other words, unlike at NFL Network, Koh would not be the first Korean-American on-air talent.

"Literally, the only sports analysts that are Korean-Americans right now are me and Mina Kimes. By the way, she's like way smarter than me. Compared to her, I'm a basic idiot. Compared to Mina Kimes, I'm a moron. There's reason why she's wildly successful. I'm successful too, but she's next level. I love what she does. I'm a fan. I couldn't do what she does, but I'll tell you this, though. She couldn't do what I'm doing, you know? We're just two different breeds."

Truthfully, that's not to say Koh is in any way a minor leaguer compared to the proverbial big shots, such as Smith and Kimes at ESPN and Skip Bayless at Fox Sports. DIRECTV STREAM, the online platform that has catapulted Koh's career as an NFL analyst, has approximately 13.1 million subscribers across the country. Koh also prefers the laidback, unconventional style of new media over the buttoned-up atmosphere of traditional television news.

"I'd show up with a mohawk and they don't care. My bosses at DIRECTV, who I love, they let me be me. When I interviewed there, though, I did have to convince them," Koh recalled.

The decision makers didn't think Koh had what it takes as a sports analyst, since he's primarily been a news anchor his entire career.

"Every opportunity I got, I was analyzing sports. I slowly accumulated these clips, so that when the opportunity comes, I can say, 'I can do this and let me show you.'" he said.

James Koh at the studio of DIRECTV's Fantasy Zone Channel / Courtesy of James Koh

Born in Seoul, Korea, Koh immigrated to Houston, Texas with his parents, Hyung-bun and Doo-young, and brother Albert Koh, in 1980. Koh's parents had initially wanted their sons to become lawyers. Koh, whose childhood nickname was "score whore" for his habit of checking game scores throughout the day, knew that his calling was elsewhere, however.

"I'm not your cookie cutter guy," Koh said. "I rub a lot of people the wrong way. Does race come into play? Maybe. If a white guy is doing what I'm doing, will people care? Maybe not."

He went on to talk about people criticizing him online.

"I get this a lot: 'Oh, I can do what you're doing.' Yeah, you could do what I do, because like you said, I'm not that talented. So, the question really is, 'If I'm not that talented, and you think you could do what I'm doing, why aren't you doing it?'" he said. "That's a philosophical question. Honestly, though, the question is not, 'Could you do what I'm doing?' The question is, 'Why aren't you doing it? Why am I where I'm at, doing what I'm doing and being successful, but you're over there trolling me behind a screen?'"

For all his burning ambitions to one day become a lead analyst on ESPN, Koh did stress that he has never been the type of person who looks too far ahead.

"I've gotten to places where Korean-Americans have never been to," Koh said. "But honestly, I get annoyed when people ask me where I want to be in 10 years. I barely know what I want for lunch. I can't think that far ahead. I'm 42 now and have two kids. I'm in this weird spot because I've been doing this for 15 years, right? Am I still young or am I too old? Media nowadays is skewed young. I have a lot of fun doing what I'm doing, which I think resonates with a lot of people. Don't get me wrong. Learning never stops. I promise you. I analyze myself more than any other prominent on-air person. I still spend time watching myself and asking, 'Where can I improve?'"

Koh himself does not know where his future lies. He does know, though, that he'll be having a ball.

Steve Han (stevehan35@gmail.com) is a freelance journalist based in Los Angeles. He has previously written for Goal, FourFourTwo and KoreAm Journal.