Jeopardy! executive producer Mike Richards played a role in the show’s rotation of guest hosts before he got the late Alex Trebek’s old gig, The New York Times reported.

Though Richards himself did not appear in the roster, according to the Times, he was among a select group responsible for selecting which guest-host appearances were evaluated by focus groups, which in turn influenced Sony’s choice for a Trebek successor. Other supervising producers reportedly did not enjoy such power, the Times sources said.

Sony said in a statement that though Richards oversaw the effort to replace Trebek at first, he stepped down when he became a candidate to take the job. Former champion and current consulting producer Ken Jennings likened the succession process to “choosing a new pope.”