Christmas football had a side dish from the sports media.

On Wednesday, ESPN’s Adam Schefter, citing league sources, reported that longtime NFL and college coach Pete Carroll is considering a return to play.

“Three teams – the Bears, Jets and Saints – are looking for a head coach who can help them reshape their culture,” Schefter wrote. “Few coaches have been more successful than Carroll.”

There’s no doubt about Carroll’s effectiveness as a coach at the NCAA and pro levels, but Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio seemed poised to question Schefter’s insider credentials.

“ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter reports that Carroll wants to be back,” Florio wrote. “That means, frankly, that Carroll’s agent specifically told Schefter this in the hopes that Schefter would put it out into the world in hopes of generating public opinion. Then Carroll’s agent Schefter will have a lot to thank.

“And that’s how the sausage is made.”

However, Florio wasn’t finished yet.

After destroying Carroll’s ability to help in a number of NFL scenarios, he turned his attention back to Schefter.

“It’s hard to blame Carroll’s agent for trying to use the media to publicize Carroll,” he continued. “That’s the agent’s job. However, it is not the job of the media to do PR for coaching candidates in return.”

Despite a busy day full of football and news, Schefter took a moment to respond to Florio’s claims about his sources – and didn’t leave much to the imagination.

“Everything you say here is 100 percent false,” the longtime ESPN newsbreaker wrote on X. “Continue with your guesses and Merry Christmas.”

It’s not the first time in recent weeks that Schefter has felt the need to defend his reporting.

He chatted with Fox Sports college basketball analyst and Wisconsin-Green Bay coach Doug Gottlieb about Michael Vick’s emergence as a football coaching candidate at Sacramento State University (he later took the job at Norfolk State).

“Jeez Shefty, edit what the agents are telling you… 0.0% chance Sac State has $50 million in zero,” Gottlieb wrote on X. “I need to raise money for a stadium, coaches and then zero . “To say it’s $50 million in zero is disingenuous.”

Schefter not only backed up his report, he also addressed the jugular and referred to Gottlieb’s poor record this season.

“And Jesus, Doug,” the ESPNer wrote. “A seven-game loss and last place in the Horizon League? Less time on social media and more time in the gym.”

These days, Schefter seems to have more time for these feuds, something his critics might want to consider in the future.