ESPN has two former college coaches joining its college football ranks this season. Former Texas Longhorns coach Mack Brown will be on ABC with John Saunders and new studio analyst Danny Kanell on College Football Countdown on Saturdays at 3 p.m. ET and be part of the halftime and postgame shows for the 3:30 p.m. and Saturday Night Football windows.
Former Miami Hurricanes, Cleveland Browns and North Carolina Tar Heels coach Butch Davis will be part of ESPN2’s studio team on Saturdays. He’ll be teamed with studio host Adnan Kirk and returning analyst Robert Smith as part of the network’s day-long coverage of college football.
Both Brown and Davis will contribute to other ESPN platforms including SportsCenter, ESPN Radio and other programming throughout the season.
Here’s the ESPN announcement.
Mack Brown and Butch Davis Join ESPN College Football Coverage
Former college football coaches Mack Brown and Butch Davis have joined ESPN as college football analysts, primarily working on the network’s Saturday studio programming, it was announced today by Mark Gross, ESPN senior vice president, production and remote events. Additionally, both will contribute college football commentary across multiple ESPN platforms throughout the year, including SportsCenter, College Football Live, ESPN Radio, ESPN.com and more.
Brown, who won a BCS National Championship and two Big 12 Championships with the Texas Longhorns, will serve as a studio analyst every Saturday on ABC. He will appear on College Football Countdown (3 p.m. ET) and provide pre-game, halftime and post-game analysis for every ABC game telecast, including the popular Saturday Night Football series. Brown will be joined by returning host John Saunders and ESPN game and studio analyst Danny Kanell, who will also make his debut in the ABC studio this year.
“I’m so excited and grateful to be joining ESPN’s college football coverage team,” said Brown. “We’ve been talking about it for a few months, and I think it’s a great opportunity to continue to be an active part of a game I love so much. People who know me know I’m a football junky, so I’m really looking forward to watching and studying teams, sharing thoughts, and talking football with all of the passionate college football fans across the country each and every week.”
Davis, a successful head coach of major college football programs and NFL teams, will work every Saturday on ESPN2’s day-long studio coverage. Davis, host Adnan Virk and analyst Robert Smith will contribute analysis, discuss news and game results, conduct interviews, and more as part of the pre-game, halftime, post-game and between game coverage on the network.
“I’m thrilled with the opportunity to be an analyst on a sport that has been a part of my coaching life at every level,” said Davis. “My wide-ranging career experiences – from being a head coach at the high school, college and professional level to being an executive with two NFL teams – provides with me an ability to give fans an inside perspective on a vast array of subjects.”
ESPN will continue to provide extensive studio coverage every Saturday – regularly encompassing more than 12 hours of programming – with host Rece Davis and analysts Lou Holtz and Mark May entering their 10th season together.
Brown most recently coached the Texas Longhorns from 1998-2013, compiling a 158-48 record and winning a BCS National Championship (1996) and two Big 12 Championships (2005 and 2009). In his head coaching career – which includes stops at North Carolina (1988-97), Tulane (1985-87) and Appalachian State (1983) – Brown has led his teams to 20 consecutive winning seasons, 18 straight bowl appearances and 162 consecutive weeks ranked in the Associated Press poll (from 2000-10).
Davis has been the head coach of college football’s Miami Hurricanes (from 1995-2000) and North Carolina Tar Heels (from 2007-10) and the NFL’s Cleveland Browns (from 2001-04). Prior to being a head coach, Davis served as an assistant coach at various positions with Oklahoma State (1979-83) and Miami (1984-88) in college football and the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys (1989-94).
That’s all for now.
