The common narrative about ESPN’s efforts to assemble a new Monday Night Football booth is that the network didn’t have a plan after it was rebuffed by Peyton Manning and Drew Brees. Andrew Marchand reports that it did throw one more Hail Mary.
In his mailbag column for The New York Post, Marchand reveals that ESPN spoke with Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay about becoming part of Monday Night Football. It seems like a long shot. Despite the Rams’ failings in Super Bowl LIII and missing the playoffs in 2019, McVay is still held in high esteem and considered amongst the upper echelon of NFL coaches.
“It didn’t happen, but it was left at that if McVay wants to leave coaching ESPN would be interested in having him in the booth,” Marchand writes, noting that ESPN believes he could take to broadcasting the way Jon Gruden did.
McVay isn’t an older coach on his last legs in the profession. Despite the momentum of division rivals San Francisco and Seattle, executives across the league still have high expectations for the 34-year-old. It’s hard to imagine that he won’t have options to be a head coach for a long time.
Marchand jokes that it’s possible that McVay will take ESPN up on its offer. It just may not happen for a LONG time. He says he looks forward to 2050 when the coach is 64 and being able to report “that McVay will join ESPN’s TikTok presentation of MNF.”
