ESPN formally announced Thursday that former coaches Mack Brown and Butch Davis have joined the net as college football analysts, primarily working on Saturday studio programming. Brown will serve as a studio analyst every Saturday on ABC, appearing on "College Football Countdown" to provide pregame, halftime and postgame analysis. He will be joined by host John Saunders and analyst Danny Kanell. Brown retired following the '13 season after 16 years at Texas. Meanwhile, Davis, who most recently coached at North Carolina, will work every Saturday on ESPN2's day-long studio coverage. He will appear alongside host Adnan Virk and analyst Robert Smith (THE DAILY). USA TODAY's Paul Myerberg noted Brown began "casual conversations with ESPN about his post-coaching plans three years ago, after the network began a deep relationship" with UT via the Longhorn Network. Brown will make his "first appearance on Aug. 10, when he joins Kanell and studio host Rece Davis in reporting from Ohio State" (USATODAY.com, 7/24).
THE 'STACHE MAKES A RETURN: In Pittsburgh, Paul Zeise noted former Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt will "offer his expert analysis on Fox Sports college football pregame studio shows as well as co-host a weekly preview show on the Big Ten Network." Wannstedt said, “I reached out to several media outlets to see if I could get into the TV side of things and Fox offered me this job after several discussions." He added that he will "appear in the studio for a one-hour pregame show prior to all Fox college football broadcasts and then also do the halftime and post-game show." In addition, he will "co-host a weekly preview show each Wednesday on the Big Ten Network and will host an NFL/College football weekend wrap-type radio show in Chicago each Monday." Wannstedt: "Obviously, I’ll be busy but this is a good change for me. It was time to do something different" (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 7/24).
