As expected, it is back the drawing board — again — for ESPN’s Monday Night Football booth.
ESPN has informed Monday Night Football broadcasters Joe Tessitore and Booger MacFarland that they will not return to their roles on the series next season, according to Richard Deitsch of The Athletic and Andrew Marchand of the New York Post. Both will reportedly remain with ESPN, Tessitore as a college football and boxing voice and McFarland as an NFL studio analyst.
That ESPN was planning to move on from Tessitore and McFarland was an open secret. Several news reports over the past few months have highlighted ESPN’s desired replacements, from marquee names like Tony Romo, Peyton Manning and Al Michaels to talent from its existing roster.
Steve Levy, Dan Orlovsky and Louis Riddick are prime candidates for the MNF booth, according to recent reporting in the Post and Front Office Sport. Per the Post, Brian Griese is also a favorite for the position, Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit are possibilities, and outside talent Kurt Warner and Nate Burleson have been discussed.
Next season will mark the fourth different Monday Night Football booth in the past five years. After the longtime pairing of Mike Tirico and Jon Gruden split upon Tirico’s 2016 departure for NBC, ESPN brought in Sean McDonough to work with Gruden for two seasons. When Gruden left to rejoin the coaching ranks, ESPN overhauled the booth entirely and went with Tessitore, McFarland and the widely panned Jason Witten. Witten’s return to the playing field was followed by a failed run at Manning and the decision to stick with Tessitore and McFarland in a two-man booth.
