The second domino from Troy Aikman’s ESPN move has fallen, and it involves ESPN stalwart Kirk Herbstreit joining Amazon.
Herbstreit is joining Amazon as its lead Thursday Night Football analyst, filling a role that was widely expected to go to Aikman, NBC Sports’ Football Morning in America reported Monday. Herbstreit is expected to continue in his role as ESPN’s lead college football analyst.
The move is just the latest ripple from Aikman’s decision to spurn Amazon, leave his longtime home of Fox, and move to ESPN as its lead Monday Night Football analyst. The Aikman decision left Amazon and Fox with the need for backup plans and has already pushed ESPN’s Brian Griese out the door to the San Francisco 49ers.
Herbstreit’s name only surfaced in the Thursday night talks after Amazon was unable to convince Super Bowl champion Rams coach Sean McVay to leave coaching and ex-Fox analyst John Lynch to leave his position as GM of the 49ers, the New York Post reported last week.
The NFL move is a long time coming for the college football analyst, who in each of the past two years has called a single NFL game for ESPN alongside his college partner Chris Fowler. He and Fowler were in consideration for ESPN’s lead MNF role throughout 2020 — with the expectation that they would be the lead team if the college football season was canceled — before the network went with Steve Levy, Louis Riddick and Griese instead.
Herbstreit has been with ESPN since 1996 as a game and studio analyst, working on its lead team since 2007. He previously called Thursday night college football from 1999-2006.
Amazon has been linked for months to NBC’s Al Michaels, though it is not yet clear what impact the recent flurry of moves might have on his decision.
[News from NBC FMIA 3.7]
