Fox lands Urban Meyer in move to challenge ESPN’s ‘College GameDay’

Former Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer has landed a new job, but he won’t be roaming the sidelines.

Meyer has signed a new deal with FOX Sports as a studio analyst on a yet-to-be-named college football pre-game show that will take on ESPN’s popular College GameDay, the network announced Monday.

The new Saturday morning show will be hosted by Rob Stone, and will feature Meyer, USC standout Reggie Bush, former Heisman Trophy winner Matt Leinart, and ex-Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn.

“With a head coach that won three national titles in 10 years, two of the most successful college quarterbacks in recent memory and one of the sport’s most electric running backs, our new college football pregame show has the game covered from all angles,” said Mark Silverman, president of FOX Sports National Networks. “We think that this entire lineup will educate and entertain viewers with the unique FOX attitude that viewers are familiar with.”

Meyer, a three-time national championship winner with Ohio State and Florida, retired after the 2019 Rose Bowl, citing health concerns. But Meyer was also suspended by Ohio State for three games and widely criticized for how he handled multiple allegations of domestic abuse made against Zach Smith, a former wide receivers coach.

This won’t be Meyer’s first stint as a television analyst. After leaving Florida in 2010 (also citing health concerns), he worked as a studio analyst at ESPN for a year until he returned to college football to coach Ohio State.

College GameDay has been a staple of ESPN’s football coverage since 1987, and the popular show has been broadcasting live outsides a stadium most Saturday mornings since 1993 (the show came to Philadelphia in 2015 for a Temple-Notre Dame game at Lincoln Financial Field).

Is Gritty overexposed? Not according to the NHL Network.

The Flyers’ popular mascot, who has basically been an orange-haired stand-in for Philadelphia since he was introduced last year, is staring in a new NHL Network commercial that will begin airing Monday on the network.

The spot is designed to promote the nightly studio show NHL Tonight, and was filmed after Gritty appeared on the network earlier this month to help rank the greatest redheads in hockey history (Gritty refused to choose between the Flyers’ Scott Hartnell and Jakub Voracek). Featured in the commercial are NHL Network analysts Scott Stevens, Stu Grimson, and Dave Reid, and host Jamison Coyle.

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• A welcome change to this year’s NCAA Selection Show, according to The Athletic’s Richard Deitsch. Expect more details about the show (including its hosts) to be released tomorrow during a joint media event being held by CBS and Turner Sports.

• CBS and Turner also announced their NCAA Tournament broadcast crews Monday, with the eight crews remaining largely the same as last year (Jim Nantz, Bill Raftery, and Grant Hill return as the top crew). The only major addition is CBS rules analyst and former NFL referee Gene Steratore, who will offer analysts throughout the tournament.