Laura Rutledge took to Twitter yesterday to announce that while she will be back with the SEC Network for a sixth season, it will be different from any of the one’s before it. She will go on maternity leave in October, as she and her husband are expecting a baby girl.
That means someone will need to fill her chair as host of SEC Nation temporarily. The SEC Network will turn to another of its stars to do that. The Big Lead reports that while Rutledge is out, Marty Smith will join the cast that already includes Paul Finebaum, Marcus Spears, and Tim Tebow.
Not only is Smith no stranger to college football fans, he might be one of ESPN’s most distinct personalities covering the sport. He is already part of SEC Network’s Marty & McGee, which is also heard on ESPN Radio. Earlier this year Smith revived his Marty Smith’s America podcast for the Le Batard and Friends Network.
In previous college football seasons Smith had contributed to ESPN’s flagship pregame show College GameDay. The network has not announced if or how Smith will be used on that show as he fills in for Rutledge on SEC Nation.
