With Joe Tessitore and Booger McFarland on their way out of the “Monday Night Football” booth, attention can fully turn to who will replace them.
According to Andrew Marchand of the New York Post, longtime ESPN personality Steve Levy is the favorite to replace Tessitore on play-by-play. Dan Orlovsky, Louis Riddick, or Brian Griese are under consideration as color commentators.
ESPN’s lead college football team, Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit, are still being considered. The network has also looked into Kurt Warner and Nate Burleson, but they would have to be hired away from NFL Network and CBS.
Levy currently calls college football for ESPN. Promoting him to the NFL would open up a spot for Tessitore to return to the college game. McFarland, meanwhile, is set to play a prominent role in ESPN’s studio coverage of the NFL.
This is what we heard earlier in the month, with ESPN’s focus being on internal candidates. Decreasing revenues at the moment may be a factor in that. The MNF booth has been in flux for several years now, with consistently poor reviews. Getting it right this time is important.
