Behind the Mic: Eisen Re-ups With NFL Network, Adds DirecTV Show; Leinart Heads Back to Pac-12

Rich Eisen re-upped with NFL Network earlier this month as he enters his 11th season as the face of the network. In addition, DIRECTV and NFL Now are teaming up to launch “The Rich Eisen Show,” a new, daily talk show featuring NFL Network’s Rich Eisen, premiering on Oct. 6 on DIRECTV’s Audience Network from noon to 3 p.m. (EDT). In addition to Audience Network, “The Rich Eisen Show” will be available digitally on NFL Now, as well as DIRECTV’s ROOT Sports RSNs. Eisen will continue to host Sunday’s Emmy-nominated show NFL GameDay Morning and anchor NFL Network’s special on-location coverage of the NFL Draft, NFL Scouting Combine, Pro Football Hall of Fame Induction Weekend and Super Bowl…

…Pac-12 Networks has added former USC quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Matt Leinart to its on air roster as a studio analyst. Leinart will make his Pac-12 Networks debut on this Saturday joining Mike Yam, Rick Neuheisel and Curtis Conway for Pac-12 Networks’ pregame, halftime and postgame show coverage in Week 1. In addition to his gameday duties on Saturdays, Leinart will appear on the Networks’ series Pac-12 Football Weekly and will also be featured in the Networks’ bowl game and spring football coverage. Following his career at USC, Leinart was drafted 10th overall in the 2006 NFL Draft by the Arizona Cardinals and went on to play six years with the Cardinals, Houston Texans and Oakland Raiders…

…The recently launched SEC Network has added former Auburn head football coach and BCS Championship winner Gene Chizik and former Georgia quarterback David Greene to its football analyst roster. Chizik will be a studio analyst on Mondays and Tuesdays and Greene will host Film Room regularly airing Wednesdays at 9:30 p.m. ET. Chizik’s first appearance as an SEC Network analyst will be this Sunday as a studio analyst for the Utah State at Tennessee game. He will regularly contribute to the network’s news and information show, SEC Now, on Mondays and Tuesdays, as well as other SEC Network studio shows. In his new role, Greene will sit down with a different head football coach in the SEC every week for an exclusive film session, breaking down X’s and O’s of game footage. His first show will be Wednesday, Sept. 3, airing a special time, 8 p.m….

…Former NFL Defensive Player of the Year Jason Taylor and longtime NFL coach Kevin Gilbride will join Mike Florio and new co-host and veteran NFL commentator Paul Burmeister on Pro Football Talk, NBCSN’s weekday NFL news program. In addition, Mike Ryan, who boasts 26 NFL seasons of athletic training experience, will join PFT to provide perspective on injuries and sports medicine. For the first time, the show will feature consistent daily guest appearances by NBC Sports football analysts, as well, including Tony Dungy, Hines Ward, Chris COllinsworth, and Doug Flutie. Long-time PFT contributors and former NFL players Ross Tucker and Jon Ritchie will both continue to appear on the program regularly. Former NFL players Takeo Spikes and Brian Westbrook, who have appeared on the show in the past, will also continue to be regular contributors…

…Former 16-year NFL veteran and All-Pro linebacker London Fletcher and nine-year NFL veteran Fred Smoot have been named studio analysts for CBS Sports Network’s The Other Pregame Show (TOPS), along with former Women’s Professional Football quarterback and radio veteran Anita Marks. They join returning panelists Adam Schein, Amy Trask and Brandon Tierney to form CBS Sports Network’s new Sunday pregame show team. THE NFL TODAY analysts will also coninute to appear, including Boomer Esiason, Bill Cowher, Tony Gonzalez and Bart Scott, as well as Insider Jason La Canfora. NFL on CBS announcers Phil Simms, Dan Fouts, Trent Green, Rich Gannon, Solomon Wilcots, Steve Tasker, Steve Beuerlein, Adam Archuleta and Chris Simms will appear regularly from their game sites…

…Award-winning journalist Allison Glock will join espnW.com as a full-time, regular columnist beginning September 1.  She will also contribute four enterprise pieces yearly, with her first feature a joint effort with ESPN The Magazine. Having previously written for ESPN The Magazine, Glock became a permanent senior staff writer for The Mag in 2004, penning covers on WNBA star Candace Parker, Dirk Nowitzki, Maria Sharapova and David Beckham, among many others. She has also contributed pieces to The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Esquire, The New Yorker and more.

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