College football analyst Matt Millen "is leaving ESPN to return to Fox Sports, the media company where he rose to be the No. 2 NFL announcer at the turn of the century," according to sources cited by John Ourand in this week's SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. Millen "will become the lead football analyst for the Big Ten Network, paired with Kevin Kugler." Glen Mason "was paired with Kugler as the network’s top game analyst last season." Millen also will participate on FS1 studio shows "around college football and the NFL." The long-term deal "gives him the opportunity to do NFL and college games on Fox’s broadcast channel." Millen "has been with ESPN" since May '09, paired with play-by-play voice Sean McDonough on college football games. While at ESPN, he also "served as a studio analyst on shows such as 'College Football Live' and 'SportsCenter'" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 5/25 issue).
DAN IN REAL LIFE: In Detroit, Mark Snyder reports broadcaster Dan Dierdorf is "more resolute than ever that he made the right decision to return" to Univ. of Michigan football radio broadcasts for '15. Dierdorf: "My excitement level when it comes to having this opportunity to do Michigan football, that is untarnished. Nothing has changed there. I just had a tremendous time last year." On the broadcast, Dierdorf "gives Michigan fans an unvarnished honesty." Though he "refrains from being specifically critical of individual players, more than a few times he spoke of U-M football's more general problems." A year ago it was a "challenge on the air with the 'historically inept' offense as Dierdorf tried to avoid repeating himself." But he "felt he owed the audience, also" (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 5/27).
