Welcome back to “On the Air,” in which Sports Media Watch Podcast co-host Armand Broady will offer in-depth breakdowns of broadcasters, on-air performance and career journeys, plus chronicle broader trends in the industry.
In a 2013 interview with Sports Illustrated, Chris Fowler — widely regarded as one of the best studio hosts in ESPN history — expressed his desire to become a full-time play-by-play announcer. The ESPN lifer who had masterfully steered “College GameDay” for more than 20 years felt he belonged in the broadcast booth.
“I don’t think it is anything secret internally what I want the next [role] for me to be at ESPN,” Fowler told then-SI reporter Richard Deitsch. “I really have a passion to document live events as they happen. Hosting is wonderful and remains really satisfying, but the joy for me is calling big matches.”
Fowler’s contract was expiring in July 2014, and he knew he had leverage. The network didn’t want to lose a host of his stature, and its longtime college football play-by-play voice Brent Musburger was approaching 75 years old. In March 2014, Fowler was officially named ESPN’s new lead college football play-by-play announcer.
That promotion came at the expense of more accomplished play-by-play broadcasters. Brad Nessler, who had been with the company since the early 1990s and had called two BCS National Championship games for ABC Sports, was passed over. It is hard to imagine Nessler leaving for CBS Sports in 2016 had he been given the lead college football job at ESPN.
Sean McDonough was also left standing on the doorstep. By the time of Fowler’s ascension, McDonough had called a wide array of sports, including men’s and women’s college basketball, golf, U.S. Open Tennis and the Olympic Winter Games. But after a brief stint as the lead MLB voice for CBS in the early 1990s, which included calling two World Series, it seemed as if he would not get another shot at being lead announcer for a network property.
That changed in 2016, when McDonough was named voice of ESPN “Monday Night Football” in the wake of Mike Tirico’s departure to NBC Sports. While few questioned McDonough’s qualifications for the role, his two years in the “MNF” booth were not well-received. Critics accused him of being dispassionate, flat and overly critical of officiating.
McDonough agreed with many of the assessments.
“When I took my ego out of it and rationalized it, I really could be fine with not being the voice of ‘MNF,’ then it became easy,’ McDonough said in a 2018 interview with WEEI. “I love college football. For me, it’s more fun, and that’s a personal taste.”
During a 2021 interview with SI’s Jimmy Traina, McDonough shared some insight into why his partnership with “MNF” analyst Jon Gruden fell flat.
“I think, to be totally candid, Jon Gruden enjoyed the X-and-O part of it,” McDonough said. “He loved the telestrator. He told me when I first got the job, ‘I don’t like stories.’ So he didn’t want the stories and he didn’t want to engage in conversation. There were times when I would ask him a question or make a point and he didn’t respond, and I think it was just because he was so focused on, ‘I’m gonna dive into this play,’ and he just didn’t want to do it.”
Sometimes the style of a certain announcer meshes with a particular sport. The failed “Monday Night Football” experience made it clear that McDonough belonged in a college football booth. What is also obvious to many sports media followers is that, when he returned to the sport in 2018, Sean McDonough reclaimed his position as ESPN’s best college football announcer.
Thursday’s Sugar Bowl broadcast was another McDonough masterpiece. He calls games with a refreshing bluntness, unafraid to point out an egregious error and unwilling to sugarcoat. He called out the “terrible ” clock management by Ole Miss at the end of the first half. And he openly questioned Georgia coach Kirby Smart’s 4th quarter decision to go for it on 4th down from his own 33-yard line.
McDonough’s unique baritone roars through the screen, and his skillful use of voice inflection takes viewers on a ride with each big play.
Georgia had the ball, trailing 34-31 with 3 minutes left in regulation. To keep its hopes alive, Georgia had to convert a 4th and 9.
“Stockton … HAS BRANCH AT THE 35 YARD LINE! ” McDonough adroitly handles high pressure moments with passion and enthusiasm, while seamlessly weaving in anecdotes that introduce and humanize the game’s participants.
In the years since leaving “MNF,” McDonough has returned to a lead broadcast team — but on ESPN’s NHL coverage. In that role, which he has held since ESPN resumed its NHL coverage in 2021, he brings the same level of timely enthusiasm. Fans still fondly remember his 2024 call of David Pastrnak’s Game 7 overtime goal to defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs, as well as his spirited calls of Dallas Stars forward Mikko Rantanen’s hat trick to take down the Colorado Avalanche in last year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Chris Fowler has been a staple of ESPN’s college football coverage for more than 35 years, but Sean McDonough’s play-by-play presentation — the booming voice, speech patterns, sentence structure and storytelling — makes him a more fitting lead voice. It is unfortunate that ESPN’s best college football announcer may never get the chance to be its lead college football announcer.
Plus: Why losing Matt Ryan to a front office role would hurt The NFL Today
CBS Sports analyst and former NFL MVP Matt Ryan has “had conversations” with the Atlanta Falcons about returning to the franchise in a “significant” front office role, according to Jay Glazer of Fox Sports. Glazer reported that people close to Ryan are saying that he is “seriously considering this move, although specifics about the role remain unclear.
After retiring, Ryan spent a year in the booth as a game analyst. Since 2024, he’s served as studio analyst on CBS’ “The NFL Today,” offering sharp tape breakdowns, and bringing thoughtful insights to discussions of league storylines with panelists James Brown, Nate Burleson and Bill Cowher
Ryan’s criticisms are direct but fair. He went viral last season for his rebuke of former Chicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus’ poor clock management in a game vs. the Detroit Lions.
“This is unacceptable from the head coach position,” Ryan said. “Your responsibility is to not panic in critical situations … to put your team in the best opportunity to win games. That’s a massive, massive fail by Matt Eberflus.”
The key to being a successful studio analyst is to offer authentic opinions without making unnecessary personal attacks or spouting out inane rhetoric. Ryan has proven himself as one of the faces of CBS’ NFL coverage, and losing his voice in the studio would be a big blow to the show.
