It started with a report from James Andrew Miller, and by the end of the night it was official: Rece Davis is replacing Chris Fowler as the anchor of ESPN’s College GameDay. Fowler has hosted the show since 1995. Here are the details of the change:
— No, Chris Fowler was not fired or asked to leave College GameDay. He signed a nine-year contract in 2014 with ESPN, worth about $35 million. He’s sticking around the Worldwide Leader.
— Fowler’s next move is to focus more on play-by-play. Last year, he told SI that he wanted to cover more live events, saying:
“I really have a passion to document live events as they happen. [Calling Thursday Night Football] became too much to manage with GameDay‘s increased schedule and travel. But giving up calling football in the booth was the toughest decision I have had to make. That remains something I am drawn powerfully to.”
— Fowler will get his play-by-play fix by calling ABC’s primetime college football games on Saturday nights, along with the college football playoffs, and tennis’ grand slam tournaments.
— Rece Davis, whose contract was up for renewal soon, signed a new deal that keeps him at ESPN through 2021.
— Yes, Big & Rich will unfortunately still be COMING TO YOUR CITAAAAAAYYYYY every Saturday morning.
