McFarland wishes he and partner Joe Tessitore would have had more time to grow in the boothESPN IMAGES
ESPN's Booger McFarland called his two years as part of the "MNF" broadcast team a "good experience" and that the constant speculation about his performance and job status "was not that big of a deal," according to Andrew Marchand of the N.Y. POST. McFarland and Joe Tessitore will not return to the booth in '20 after just one year working together as a two-man team, and McFarland said, "It was a typical Year 1. You go through your growing pains and the only way you grow through them is on the job. ... I just wish that you have an opportunity to, as we do in football, you make mistakes, you learn from them and you correct them and you move on. That is the one thing that I wish we had an opportunity to do, but we don’t.” He has several years left on his contract with ESPN and said, "I’m not going anywhere." Marchand cited sources as saying that ESPN's plan is to move McFarland "into a prominent studio role," though specific details are unknown (N.Y. POST, 5/14).
POSSIBLE CANDIDATES: Speculation already is running rampant on who might replace Tessitore and McFarland, and in Pittsburgh, Joshua Axelrod noted two current ESPN employees that have "consistently been proposed to take over commentating duties" are Louis Riddick and Pat McAfee. Riddick has been at the net since May '13, and Bovada currently has him as the "co-favorite" for the analyst position along with the net's Dan Orlovsky. Plenty of people "in the football media sphere and beyond would love to see Riddick given that prestigious opportunity" (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 5/13).
PERFECT PAIRING? THE ATHLETIC's Richard Deitsch wrote he would pair Riddick with play-by-play voice Dave Pasch and fellow analyst Kurt Warner. Pasch "already works for ESPN" and has been a "terrific play-caller in everything he does." He has called Cardinals games since '02, meaning he "walks into the booth with decades of experience calling the NFL." Deitsch: "He would be excellent." Meanwhile, Warner has been a "terrific game analyst over the past two seasons working with Kevin Harlan on Westwood One's Monday Night Football and Super Bowl broadcasts" (THEATHLETIC.com, 5/12). In Phoenix, Jeremy Cluff noted Warner has been "linked to Monday Night Football for years and it likely wouldn't be hard for him to adjust from going to the radio side of the game to the TV side." Pasch has been calling Cardinals games on radio with analyst Ron Wolfley for years and "already calls college football and basketball games for ESPN" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 5/13).
PLENTY OF CHOICES: USA TODAY's Chris Bumbaca gave some suggestions for filling the booth and noted Steve Levy has been "floated as Tessitore's replacement on the main mic." Levy has anchored "SportsCenter" for decades and "calls college football games, which seems to be a prerequisite for the 'MNF' gig." Additionally, Pasch's voice "certainly has a big-game feel." Meanwhile, Mina Kimes, who served as a color commentator for a Rams preseason game last year, is "sharp, passionate about the game, and could provide needed diversity to the booth." Orlovsky is "probably the sharpest analyst at the network in terms of X's and O's, and adding him to the booth would enhance the audience's football IQ immediately" (USA TODAY, 5/14).
NOT EVERYONE SOLD: In Chicago, Jim O'Donnell wrote ESPN's decision to "blow up its 'Monday Night Football' booth is more evidence that the franchise remains in free fall." Reports of a new crew featuring Levy, Warner and Riddick "ain't no parachute" (Chicago DAILY HERALD, 5/14).
