Believe it or not, ESPN plans to cover college football yet again in 2026.
With the season officially around the corner, the de facto official network of college football unveiled its full roster for the 2026-27 season on Tuesday. Like the teams they cover, announcers have their own transfer portal, so with a roster this big there's bound to be turnover.
Off the top, Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit return to the ABC/ESPN top booth for the 13th straight season, and their sixth with the omnipresent Holly Rowe working sidelines. Fowler and Herbsreit have been at ESPN together for 30 seasons, and this fall marks Herbstreit's 21st as the network's top college football game analyst. Former SEC/Sun Belt coordinator of officials Steve Shaw has been hired as the No. 1 crew's rules analyst. They'll have Clemson at LSU in Week 1, Ohio State at Texas in Week 2, and LSU at Ole Miss in Week 3.
Sean McDonough and Greg McElroy are back for their fourth season in the No. 2 booth, but joined by Katie George for the first time on sidelines. Molly McGrath is now working full-time on the NFL after ESPN's acquisition of NFL Network, so she and George essentially swapped jobs.
The top five crews remain unchanged save for the promotions of Kris Budden and Stormy Buonantony on sidelines. Dave Pasch is now full-time with ESPN after a quarter century calling Arizona Cardinals games on radio, which means there's a chance he could miss select Saturdays depending upon his NFL work.
New assignments in italics
No. 1 crew: Chris Fowler (play-by-play), Kirk Herbstreit (analyst), Holly Rowe (sidelines)
No. 2 crew: Sean McDonough, Greg McElroy, Katie George
No. 3 crew: Joe Tessitore, Jesse Palmer, Kris Budden
No. 4 crew: Bob Wischusen, Louis Riddick, Stormy Buonantony
No. 5 crew: Dave Pasch, Dusty Dvoracek, Taylor McGregor
No. 6 crew: Tom Hart, Roddy Jones, Quint Kessenich
Elsewhere, Chase Daniel has been promoted to Thursday night work, primarily calling American and Sun Belt games. Barrie and Daniel will then hop the same flight to host SEC Nation each Saturday morning.
As previously reported, ESPN broke up the well-received SEC Network primetime crew, and Matt Schumacker, former Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray and Taylor Davis will now call the network's top game each Saturday. Rodgers will call ACC/Big 12 games alongside Mike Monaco and Dana Boyle, Hart will slide in alongside Roddy Jones and Quint Kessenich to replace the outgoing Mark Jones, who left ESPN after 36 years. Cubelic is still with ESPN, but moved down the depth hart. Former Pitt quarterback Max Browne will be Wes Durham's fourth different analyst in four years on the ACC Network top crew, working alongside newcomer Madison Fitzpatrick.
Weeknight/Network crews
Thursday Nights: Matt Barrie, Chase Daniel, Paul Carcaterra
Friday Nights: Mike Monaco, Jordan Rodgers, Dana Boyle
SEC Network: Matt Schumacker, Aaron Murray, Taylor Davis
ACC Network: Wes Durham, Max Browne, Madison Fitzpatrick
HBCU Spotlight: Tiffany Greene, Jay Walker
Returning ESPN crews
- Courtney Lyle, Rene Ingolia
- Jason Ross, Jr., Tyoka Jackson
- Eric Frede, Jack Ford
New ESPN crews
- Jay Alter, Tom Luginbill, Lauren Sisler
- Lowell Galindo, Kirk Morrison, Dawn Davenport
- Anish Shroff, Andre Ware, Morgan Uber
- Taylor Zarzour, Matt Stinchcomb, Michella Chester
- Dave Neal, Cole Cubelic, Tori Petry
- Jorge Sedano, Rodney McLeod, Kendra Douglas
- Roxy Bernstein, Dave Clawson, Madison Hock
- Clay Matvick, Rocky Boiman
- Chuckie Kempf, Dustin Fox
- Ted Emrich, Fozzy Whittaker
ESPN's coverage begins with North Carolina vs. TCU from Dublin, Ireland at noon ET on ESPN, and concludes with the national title game on Monday, Jan. 25, 2027 in Las Vegas.