Brent Musburger and Jesse Palmer named as lead broadcast crew for SEC Network
The new SEC Network will have a couple of familiar faces and voices for its top games.
ESPN announced Wednesday that Brent Musburger and Jesse Palmer would be the SEC Network's lead announching team. Musburger moves over from ABC/ESPN's marquee Saturday game of the week and Palmer moves from his usual position in the studio on Saturdays.
The network said that Musburger, who has called NFL games, the Final Four and the 2014 BCS Championship Game, also agreed to a "multi-year" contract extension. His current contract was reportedly up before the end of the 2014 college football season.
“Brent Musburger is a cultural icon who has been guiding fans through many of sport’s most spectacular moments for decades,” ESPN Executive Vice President of Programming and Production John Wildhack, said in a statement. “His big-game performance and unmistakable style will elevate our football coverage on the SEC Network. Serving as the definitive play-by-play voice for this major network launch represents an exciting new chapter in his legendary career and reinforces our commitment and investment in the SEC Network.”
Hopefully Eminem will make an appearance at an SEC game next year.
Palmer played quarterback at Florida and after a brief professional career also had an appearance on "The Bachelor." So when Texas Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury is on the show, we know where he can go for advice.
Musburger's contract had been the source of speculation for months. In January, SI reported some sources had indicated Musburger was unhappy with how negotiations had gone. The same piece also mentioned "College GameDay" host Chris Fowler as a possibility to replace Musburger as the play-by-play voice of ABC/ESPN's marquee game. If that happens, it's possible that Fowler would leave his post as the conductor of GameDay.
In December, the SEC Network announced the hire of another former Florida quarterback in Tim Tebow. Tebow will serve as an analyst on "SEC Nation," a traveling Saturday-morning show for the network modeled after GameDay.
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is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @NickBromberg
