College Football: ESPN’s Game and Studio Roster includes more than 100 On-Air Commentators

Mike Humes

July 31, 2014

Chris Fowler Joins Saturday Night Football with returning Kirk Herbstreit & Heather Cox
SEC Network Lineup includes Brent Musburger, Jesse Palmer & Maria Taylor as Lead Game Team
Mack Brown & Butch Davis Join ESPN
Todd McShay Moves to Sideline Analyst Role
New Play-by-Play Partners for Rod Gilmore, Danny Kanell, Matt Millen, Brock Huard & John Congemi

ESPN’s 2014 college football game and studio coverage will include more than 100 on-air hosts, play-by-play announcers, analysts and reporters appearing across ESPN, ESPN2, ABC, ESPNU, ESPN3, ESPNEWS, SEC Network, Longhorn Network, ESPN Radio and ESPN Goal Line. The lineup is highlighted by announcers with familiar and new assignments, the addition of former coaches Mack Brown and Butch Davis, and nationally recognized former SEC players and renowned sportscasters on SEC Network. ESPN’s roster of experienced, knowledgeable and accomplished announcers includes multiple analysts who have won several of the most prestigious honors in football:

Six members of the College Football Hall of Fame: Mike Bellotti, Lou Holtz, Desmond Howard, Mark May, Chris Spielman and Andre Ware;
Ten National Championships: Todd Blackledge (Penn State in 1982), Mack Brown (as head coach of Texas in 2005), Ed Cunningham (Washington in 1991), Brian Griese (Michigan in 1997), Lou Holtz (as head coach of Notre Dame in 1988), Danny Kanell (Florida State in 1993), Trevor Matich (BYU in 1984), Greg McElroy (Alabama in 2009), Marcus Spears (LSU in 2003) and Tim Tebow (Florida in 2006 and 2008);
Three Heisman Trophies: Desmond Howard (1991), Tim Tebow (2007) and Andre Ware (1989);
Ten All-Americans: Kevin Carter (1994), Desmond Howard (1991), Mark May (1980), Matt Millen (1978), David Pollack (2002, 2003 & 2004), Marcus Spears (2004), Chris Spielman (1986 & 1987), Matt Stinchcomb (1997 & 1998), Tim Tebow (2007 & 2008) and Andre Ware (1989);
Eight Recipients of Top Player Awards: Todd Blackledge (Davey O’Brien, 1982), Desmond Howard (Maxwell Award & Walter Camp, 1991), Mark May (Outland Trophy, 1980), David Pollack (Chuck Bednarik Award & Lombardi Award, 2004), Chris Spielman (Lombardi Award, 1987), Matt Stinchcomb (William V. Campbell Trophy, 1998), Tim Tebow (Dave O’Brien, 2007 and Maxwell Award, 2007 and 2008) and Andre Ware (Davey O’Brien, 1989);
Seven Super Bowls: Kevin Carter, David Diaz-Infante (two-time), Brian Griese, Desmond Howard (also a Super Bowl MVP), Mark May (two-time), Booger McFarland (two-time) and Matt Millen (four-time).

Many of the commentator assignments include new pairings, highlighted by:

Chris Fowler, who called ESPN’s Thursday night college football series from 2006 to 2009, will join returning analyst Kirk Herbstreit and reporter Heather Cox on the weekly Saturday Night Football series on ABC. He will continue to host College GameDay with analysts Herbstreit, Lee Corso, Desmond Howard and David Pollack, and reporters Samantha Ponder, Tom Rinaldi, Scott Van Pelt and Gene Wojciechowski.
Sports broadcasting legend Brent Musburger, analyst Jesse Palmer and reporter Maria Taylor will be the lead game announcer for SEC Network telecasts. Palmer will also continue to work on ESPN’s Thursday night series with Rece Davis, Pollack and Ponder.
Former coaches Mack Brown and Butch Davis have joined ESPN as studio analysts. Brown will work on ABC with host John Saunders and analyst Danny Kanell, who will continue to work a Friday night game on ESPN or ESPN2, while Davis will be on ESPN2 with host Adnan Virk and analyst Robert Smith.
Todd McShay, an ESPN college football and NFL Draft analyst, will join Sean McDonough and analyst Chris Spielman as a sideline analyst on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC Saturday game telecasts.
Several of the Saturday game assignments will include new commentator and analyst pairings:
- Joe Tessitore, who will host the SEC Network’s SEC Nation from an SEC campus every Saturday (10 a.m. to noon), will return to call a weekly night game on ESPN, ESPN2 or ABC with analyst Brock Huard and reporter Shannon Spake. He will work SEC Nation with Tim Tebow, Marcus Spears, Paul Finebaum and Kaylee Hartung.
- Two new teams for ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC telecasts include Mark Jones, analyst Rod Gilmore and reporter Jessica Mendoza, and Bob Wischusen, analyst Matt Millen and reporter Quint Kessenich. ESPNU will also introduce two new teams: Adam Amin with analyst John Congemi, and Clay Matvick with analyst Anthony Becht.
- Announcer Tom Hart and analyst Matt Stinchcomb will pair up to work a weekly SEC Network game.
Dave Flemming, who has called select college football games across ESPN networks in previous years, will work Friday night games on ESPN and ESPN2 with Kanell and reporter Allison Williams.
Analyst Mike Bellotti, a member of the 2014 College Football Hall of Fame class, will work select Friday night games with Mark Neely and appear across multiple studio programs on ESPNU.

ESPN The Magazine College Football Preview Issue ESPN The Magazine’s college football preview issue – available on newsstands beginning Friday, Aug. 8 – will feature a wide variety of a college football topics. Content includes: a look at the parts of the sport that will be missed – and those not missed – with the new playoff and what the future holds; a dissection of the top 25 teams; a college football confidential on the biggest topics of the season according to 95 players; a not-so-serious look at the various schools playoff committee members are connected to and how those ties could influence their votes; a photo gallery of the offices of multiple head coaches, including Steve Spurrier, Bob Stoops, Mark D’Antonio, Brian Kelly and more; an exploration of an increasing phenomenon of quarterbacks joining the celebrity ranks told through Oregon’s Marcus Mariota, this season’s leading candidate for instant stardom; a look at Texas’ first-year head coach Charlie Strong and how he will handle the scrutiny that comes with following a successful coach at a school with high expectations for success; and more.

ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNEWS, SEC Network and ESPN Radio Game Announcer Pairings Note: Additional commentators will contribute throughout the season.

Saturdays

Game Telecast	Play-by-play	Analyst	Reporter
Saturday Night Football	Chris Fowler	Kirk Herbstreit	Heather Cox
ESPN College Football Primetime	Brad Nessler	Todd Blackledge	Holly Rowe
ESPN or ESPN2 Prime Time	Joe Tessitore	Brock Huard	Shannon Spake
ESPN, ESPN2 or ABC	Mark Jones	Rod Gilmore	Jessica Mendoza
ESPN, ESPN2 or ABC	Sean McDonough	Chris Spielman	Todd McShay
ESPN, ESPN2 or ABC	Dave Pasch	Brian Griese	Tom Luginbill
ESPN, ESPN2 or ABC	Beth Mowins	Joey Galloway	Paul Carcaterra
ESPN, ESPN2 or ABC	Mike Patrick	Ed Cunningham	Jeannine Edwards
ESPN, ESPN2 or ABC	Bob Wischusen	Matt Millen	Quint Kessenich
ESPNU	Anish Shroff	Kelly Stouffer	Cara Capuano
ESPNU	Adam Amin	John Congemi
ESPNU	Clay Matvick	Anthony Becht
ESPNEWS	Eamon McAnaney	Dan Hawkins
ESPNEWS	Mike Couzens	Rene Ingoglia
ESPN Radio	Bill Rosinski	David Norrie	Joe Schad

Weekdays

Game Telecast	Play-by-play	Analyst	Reporter
*ESPN College Football Primetime* (Thursday)	Rece Davis	Jesse Palmer & David Pollack	Samantha Ponder
ESPN or ESPN2 Friday	Dave Flemming	Danny Kanell	Allison Williams
ESPN or ESPN2 Tuesday or Wednesday	Dave Lamont	Desmond Howard
ESPNU Thursday (HBCU)	Mark Neely	Jay Walker

SEC Network

Game Telecast	Play-by-play	Analyst	Reporter
SEC Network	Brent Musburger	Jesse Palmer	Maria Taylor
SEC Network	Dave Neal	Andre Ware	Laura Rutledge
SEC Network	Tom Hart	Matt Stinchcomb	Heather Mitts

ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and SEC Network Studio Assignments

Show	Host	Analyst	Contributor
College GameDay Built by The Home Depot (Saturdays: 9 a.m. to noon on ESPN)	Chris Fowler	Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard & David Pollack	Samantha Ponder, Tom Rinaldi, Scott Van Pelt & Gene Wojciechowski
*SEC Nation* (Saturdays 10 a.m. to noon on SEC Network)	Joe Tessitore	Marcus Spears & Tim Tebow	Paul Finebaum & Kaylee Hartung
*Pre-game, halftime and post-game, College Football Countdown* (Saturdays on ABC)**	John Saunders	Mack Brown & Danny Kanell
*Pre-game, halftime and post-game, College Football Final* (Saturdays on ESPN)**	Rece Davis	Lou Holtz & Mark May
Pre-game, halftime and post-game (Thursdays on ESPN)	Scott Van Pelt	Brian Griese & Mark May
Pre-game, halftime and post-game (Saturdays on ESPN2)	Adnan Virk	Butch Davis & Robert Smith
Pre-game, halftime and post-game (Saturdays on ESPNU)	Matt Schick	Kevin Carter, Jason Sehorn & Charles Arbuckle
*Pre-game, halftime and post-game, SEC Scoreboard* (Saturdays on SEC Network)**	Dari Nowkhah	Greg McElroy & Booger McFarland
*College GameDay on ESPN Radio* (Saturdays at noon)	Matt Barrie	Trevor Matich & Brad Edwards

The 2014 college football season on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3, ESPNEWS, SEC Network, Longhorn Network, ESPN Goal Line, ESPN Radio, ESPN Mobile TV and ESPN GamePlan will total more than 450 regular-and post-season games, concluding with the first-ever College Football Playoff. The schedule will include multiple games across the networks every Saturday and weekly ESPN and ESPNU Thursday night contests and telecasts every Friday. -30-