ESPN continues to slowly unveil more details regarding their college football lineup for the upcoming 2016 fall campaign.  While Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit are locked into place as the top broadcasting duo, ESPN has seen a stupendously high number of announcing changes in the college football department.

Much of that turnover is due to major free agent moves – Brad Nessler is off to CBS, Chris Spielman to Fox, and Sean McDonough to Monday Night Football to cover for Mike Tirico’s departure to NBC.

Those shuffles have meant ESPN has already reconfigured many of their broadcast booths for the college football season.  In a release issued yesterday, ESPN named two more new broadcast booths for Thursday and Friday nights.

Dave Flemming and Jesse Palmer will now work as a two-man booth on Thursday nights with Laura Rutledge as sideline reporter.  Adam Amin will work Friday nights with Mack Brown alongside former FS1 star Molly McGrath.

One familiar name is missing from that lineup, analyst David Pollack.  Although he isn’t announcing Thursday nights anymore he is one person who is staying put in Bristol.  In the same announcement, ESPN said Pollack had signed a multi-year extension with ESPN and will have “a more prominent role” on College Football Live and throughout the season.

Via ESPN:

Additionally, ESPN has extended college football analyst David Pollack to a new multi-year deal. Pollack will continue to appear on College GameDay each week, have a more prominent role on College Football Live and contribute to additional studio shows this season. The three-time All-American at Georgia began working at ESPN in 2009 as studio analyst and joined College GameDay in 2011.

“David’s analysis, insights and, most importantly, his opinions have elevated him to a top college football analyst,” said Fitting. “Having him on our studio programming, nearly on a daily basis throughout the season, maximizes his strengths and makes ESPN’s college football coverage better.”

Last season, in addition to his College GameDay and studio appearances, Pollack was a game analyst on Thursday night telecasts, working with play-by-play commentator Joe Tessitore and analyst Palmer.

It’s interesting that ESPN would cite Pollack’s opinions as his strength.  You can say that’s the current state of the sports media where opinions and debate skills matter above all else.  Out of all the major American sports, college football is probably the most opinion-driven with the constant debates over conference superiority and who’s in and who’s out at the top of the rankings.  There’s a very fine line between who can share those opinions in a non-biased, informative, and entertaining way and drifting into Mark May and Clay Travis territory.  Pollack hasn’t always toed that line.

Pollack is young enough and talented enough that ESPN clearly believes he can be a studio analyst they can build around for the next 10-20 years.  Given how long he’s been on television already, it’s almost impossible to believe that he’s only 32 years old.  In that timespan, Pollack has already risen to be a College GameDay contributor and one of the main studio analysts breaking down the College Football Playoff.  And with all the talent leaving Bristol this year, it must be a relief for ESPN to keep someone they feel as though they can build around.

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