ESPN Makes Big Change to College Football Announcers Ahead of 2026 Season

There's a big change coming to the ESPN airwaves when the college football season kicks off.

Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images

Two former quarterbacks are on course for some promotions as ESPN is shaking up its rotation of announcers ahead of the 2026 college football season.

Jordan Rodgers and Chase Daniel are getting some new positions with the worldwide leader in time for this fall, according to Front Office Sports.

Who is heading where?

Daniel, the former Missouri quarterback, is poised for a step up at the network as he will take part in a weekly Thursday night college football announcing gig in the booth alongside play by play man Matt Barrie.

He’ll also reportedly join Barrie for commentary duties on the SEC Nation program on SEC Network this fall.

Daniel is set to replace Rodgers, the former Vanderbilt quarterback, who has been working as a regular panelist on that program since 2020.

For his part, Rodgers is due for an “elevated” role in ESPN’s upcoming college football coverage this season, but the report did not specify exactly in what capacity.

In addition to his time on SEC Nation, Rodgers has also worked as the color analyst on the Saturday primetime game on the SEC Network since the 2017 season alongside Tom Hart and Cole Cubelic.

Other changes at ESPN this fall

The only other major college football announcer rotation ESPN will see this coming season involves Mark Jones, the veteran play by play man who retired in the spring.

But with ESPN getting involved in broadcasting football games in three of the Power Four conferences, there should be plenty of chances for Rodgers to get a promotion of sorts, perhaps somewhere in the SEC again.

Given his experience working in a studio, it’s possible that Rodgers is rewarded with a chance to continue working there in another capacity at the same time another change takes place at the SEC Network this fall.

Barrie is poised to replace Laura Rutledge as the host of SEC Nation program as Rutledge makes a change to focus more on her responsibilities covering the NFL and embracing sideline reporting opportunities in college football.

Tim Tebow and Roman Harper, former legends at Florida and Alabama, respectively, will resume their broadcasting roles as analysts for the SEC Nation program this fall.

Daniel played quarterback for Missouri over four seasons when it was still in the Big 12, finishing as a Heisman finalist in 2007, and playing in the NFL over 13 seasons.

(FOS)