Behind the Mic: Adam Schefter Re-Ups With ESPN; Turner Sports Snaps Up Kevin Garnett

Behind the Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, including deals, departures, and new assignments. In this week’s edition, Adam Schefter signs a new deal with ESPN, Turner Sports signs the recently-retired Kevin Garnett, Mike Tirico finally breaks in the NBC’s NFL booth, Troy Aikman reportedly signs a three-year extension at Fox Bode Miller joins NBC Sports Group’s FIS World Cup skiing coverage, Jay Mohr returns as host of the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Awards, Rob Parker joins FS1 as a contributor to Skip and Shannon: Undisputed, ESPN adds reporter Tisha Thompson to Outside the Lines, ESPN re-signs Dan Dakich, Fran Fraschilla and Jay Williams to its college basketball squad, and more. 

ESPN has signed NFL Insider Adam Schefter to a new multi-year contract extension. In addition to his prominent NFL studio role, Schefter will join Monday Night Football’s Lisa Salters as a sideline reporter during ESPN’s NFL Wild Card game telecast in January. He will also have the chance to work as a reporter during occasional ESPN NBA games. Schefter will also launch a new football-centric weekly ESPN Audio podcast in January, tentatively titled Know Them from Adam – The Adam Schefter Show, that explores the personalities of people with connections to football. Schefter, who joined ESPN in 2009, will continue to appear on SportsCenter, NFL Insiders, Sunday NFL Countdown and Monday Night Countdown while also contributing to other ESPN platforms.

Schefter has covered the NFL since 1990. Before joining ESPN, Schefter was a reporter/analyst for NFL Network (2004-08) and a sportswriter for the Denver Post and the Rocky Mountain News for more than 15 years, where he covered the NFL and the Denver Broncos. A former president of the Pro Football Writers of America, he is also the author of four books…

…Turner Sports inked a multi-year agreement with 15-time NBA All-Star and 2008 NBA Champion Kevin Garnett to serve as a contributor on TNT’s NBA coverage. The former NBA MVP appears weekly throughout the season providing raw insight and commentary from a custom standalone set.  Garnett is joined by special guests from the worlds of entertainment and sports and give fans a colorful look at the game from his unique perspective. Content around the segments are distributed across multiple platforms including NBA on TNT, Turner-owned Bleacher Report and social media channels. The former Minnesota Timberwolves, Boston Celtics and Brooklyn Nets star played 21 seasons in the NBA after being drafted fifth overall in the 1996 NBA Draft by the Timberwolves… 

…Al Michaels returned to the NBC booth last night (Dec. 1) to call the Dallas Cowboys at the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday Night Football. Michaels had taken a mid-season break, allowing NBC’s Mike Tirico to handle play-by-play for Green Bay-Washington on Sunday Night Football on Nov. 19, Pittsburgh-Indianapolis Thanksgiving night game, and the Kansas City-Denver Sunday Night Football game on Nov. 27. Tirico will return to the booth, joining analyst Chris Collinsworth, to call the N.Y. Giants-Philadelphia NBC Thursday Night Football game on Dec. 22 and will join Doug Flutie in the booth for the Dec. 17 Miami-N.Y. Jets and Dec. 25 Baltimore-Pittsburgh games, which will be televised on NFL Network…

…NFL analyst Troy Aikman has signed a three-year contract extension with Fox Sports, according to Sporting News. The Pro Football Hall of Famer will continue to work with play-play-announcer Joe Buck and sideline reporter Erin Andrews on Fox’s No. 1 NFL announce team. Aikman will call Super Bowl LI in Houston on Feb. 5, 2017 – his fifth Super Bowl for Fox…

…NBC Sports Group’s FIS World Cup skiing coverage this weekend is highlighted by the men’s alpine events in Val d’Isere, France, which will feature Bode Miller, the most decorated U.S. Olympic skier in history, as a color commentator on NBC and NBCSN’s telecasts. Former World Cup ski racer Steve Porino will call the men’s downhill action alongside Bode Miller this weekend….

…Grammy-nominated actor, comedian and radio personality Jay Mohr will host the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Awards at Wynn Las Vegas on Friday, Dec. 2. Jay Mohr, who will host the event for the sixth time, is the host of “Jay Mohr Sports” on FOX Sports Radio, a daily sports talk and entertainment show, syndicated in more than 150 markets…

…Longtime journalist Rob Parker joins FS1 as a contributor to Skip and Shannon: Undisputed. Early in his career, Parker became the first African-American sports columnist at the Detroit Free Press in 1993 and New York’s Newsday in 1995. Parker has since written for a number of publications, including nearly a decade as a columnist at the Detroit News (2000-2008), and currently writes for The Shadow League. Parker has been a mainstay on Detroit sports television since 1994, when he became a contributor to WDIV’s “Sports Final Edition.” He held that position until earlier this year, when he transitioned to his current role as the sports anchor for WXYZ/WMYD’s nightly “Action News.” Parker made the jump to national sports television as a contributor for ESPN in 2005. Having previously made regular appearances on ESPN’s First Take…

…ESPN has announced that 22-time Emmy award winning reporter Tisha Thompson has joined ESPN’s investigative unit. Thompson will begin reporting for Outside the Lines on January 2 based out of Washington D.C. Thompson worked as an investigative reporter at WRC News 4 in Washington D.C., for the last five years where her stories have led to the creation of new laws and regulations and multiple firings and corporate changes. Prior to joining WRC, Thompson worked as an investigative reporter for WTTG-TV in Washington D.C., and WMAR-TV in Baltimore. She also worked as a reporter and anchor at WPSD-TV in Paducah, KY, and KOMU-TV in Columbia, MO…

…Super Bowl champion and former New York Giant Chris Canty has joined ESPN New York 98.7FM’s Hahn & Humpty (noon – 3 p.m. ET), hosted by Alan Hahn and Rick DiPietro, as the newest member of the weekday program. He will also remain as a host for NY’s Game Day on Sundays (8 – 11:30 a.m.). Canty has been a guest contributor on various 98.7FM shows since ending his playing career last year. Canty, a defensive end, was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in 2005 and signed with the Giants in 2009, playing four seasons in New York. He was a member of the 2011 Super Bowl XLVI-winning Giants and most recently played for the Baltimore Ravens from 2013 – 2015. In college, Canty starred at Virginia, twice earning second-team All-ACC team honors…

…ESPN men’s college basketball analysts Dan Dakich, Fran Fraschilla and Jay Williams inked multi-year deals to remain with the company last month. Dakich agreed to a three-year extension, and Fraschilla has a new four-year deal, both with the network through 2020. Williams signed a new three-year deal and will have a recurring role on Mike & Mike…

…In other ESPN college basketball news, ESPN’s announcer pairings for this season are as follows:

Brent Musburger joins ESPN’s Super Tuesday SEC telecasts with Sean Farnham and Kaylee Hartung. Farnham will again be paired with Joe Tessitore on Thursday SEC games, and will also spend time in ESPN’s Bristol, CT, studios.

Bob Wischusen will call Big 12 games with Fran Fraschilla as part of Big Monday and also on Saturdays. Reporter Holly Rowe returns for the Monday night telecast.

Dan Shulman and Dave Flemming will join analyst Dan Dakich on most Super Tuesday Big Ten telecasts, along with reporter McGrath, also new to the package. Flemming and Dakich will also call a Saturday Big Ten game.

Bilas, Doris Burke and Dick Vitale will rotate to call ACC Big Monday games with Sean McDonough. On the marquee ACC Saturday telecasts, Dave O’Brien will mostly be joined by Burke, who is also part of the network’s season-long NBA coverage, or Vitale, who enters his 38^th season calling games for ESPN. Allison Williams will be the sideline reporter on both Monday and Saturday.

Reporter Maria Taylor adds sideline duties to her already busy studio schedule on the Saturday Primetime Presented by DIRECTV game with Shulman and Bilas.

Hall of Fame coach Jim Calhoun will be part of a Big Ten Thursday night game, and will start the season partnered with Jason Benetti, and eventually Davis, once the college football season is complete.

Analyst Kara Lawson is mainly paired with Tom Hart on the Saturday SEC window, in addition to her women’s basketball role and a weekly appearance in ESPN’s Bristol, Conn., studios on Thursday nights.

Basketball Hall of Famer Bill Walton will rotate on the call of Pac-12 games on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday with Dave Pasch.

ACC games will also be covered by Rich Hollenberg and Dino Gaudio (Tuesday), Mike Couzens and Cory Alexander (Saturday) and Anish Shroff with Alexander on the ESPNU ACC Sunday Night Basketball series.

Additional Big 12 contests will be called by Miles Simon, with Jon Sciambi (Tuesday) and Hollenberg (Saturday). Also, newcomer and former Villanova standout Mark Plansky will pair Mark Neely, also on Saturdays.  

American games welcome Adam Amin, with Len Elmore (Thursday), plus Karl Ravech and mostly LaPhonso Ellis(Wednesday/Thursday) and Allen Bestwick and Tim Welsh (Saturday).

Additional pairings include Beth Mowins, who also works ESPN’s women’s college basketball coverage, and newcomer Dalen Cuffon SEC games, Mitch Holthus and Mark Adams on Missouri Valley telecasts, Mike Corey and Jason Capel working Atlantic 10 games and Eric Rothman and Adrian Branch for West Coast Conference games.

The play-by-play roster on ESPNU includes Benetti, Couzens and Holthus, plus Jordan Bernfield, Roxy Bernstein, John Brickley, Ted Emrich, Alex Faust, Sam Farber, Drew Fellios, Kevin Fitzgerald, Clay Matvick, Roy Philpott and Doug Sherman, in addition to analysts Adams, Daugherty and Welsh, plus Adrian Branch, Reid Gettys, Sean Harrington, Malcolm Huckaby, Bryndon Manzer, Richie Schueler, Chris Spatola, Julianne Viani, Brooke Weisbrod, Corey Williams and Mark Wise.

SEC Network will present more than 120 SEC games exclusively, and will include analysts Pat Bradley, Dane Bradshaw, Barry Booker, Tony Delk, Daymeon Fishback, Jarvis Hayes, Kyle Macy, Jon Sundvold and Antoine Walker, as well as play-by-play commentators Amin and Hart, plus Richard Cross, Mike Morgan and Dave Neal.

Longhorn Network will surround the network’s nine exclusive Texas men’s basketball games with studio programming that includes Game Plan with head coach Shaka Smart. Texas GameDay will air from non-conference home games against Oklahoma State (Jan. 4), TCU (Jan. 11) and Kansas State (Feb. 18). Lowell Galindo will call play-by-play for the network alongside Longhorn Legend, analyst Lance Blanks.