LOS ANGELES, CA – NOVEMBER 24: Everett Golson #5 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish smiles as he gives an interview to Heather Cox of ESPN after a 22-13 win over the USC Trojans at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on November 24, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
2016By Andrew Bucholtz on

A few weeks after the news of Mike Tirico’s upcoming departure from ESPN for NBC, it looks like one of his ESPN colleague may be making the same network switch and may join him on NBC’s Thursday Night Football broadcasts. Ryan Glasspiegel of The Big Lead reports that long-time ESPN and ABC sideline reporter Heather Cox is expected to head to NBC:

Heather Cox, who joined ESPN in 1994, is expected to leave the network for NBC, The Big Lead has learned. Cox declined to comment for this story; it is not finalized yet, but we have heard that it is headed that way.

Cox has most recently done sideline reporting on ESPN’s college football, NBA, WNBA, and men’s and women’s college basketball coverage. ESPN has already announced that Sam Ponder will be resuming responsibilities as a sideline reporter this college football season, and will be on the Saturday night ABC telecast.

 At NBC, one of Cox’s major roles would likely be as sideline reporter on the Thursday Night Football package, which will feature fellow ESPN ex-pat Mike Tirico on play-by-play.
None of this is official or finalized, and Cox’s Twitter account is still @heatherespn, but there are factors that make sense here; NBC hasn’t announced a Thursday night sideline reporter yet (Michele Tafoya is only going to be doing Sunday Night Football), and Ponder’s return may have meant less-prominent assignments for Cox if she stuck with ESPN. Glasspiegel also notes that one of Cox’s agents is Sandy Montag, who represents Tirico as well. We’ll see if this comes to pass, but Cox certainly would give NBC a proven and experienced sideline reporter for the Thursday night package; even if she hasn’t done much NFL work, she’s very familiar with football sideline reporting. Her versatility could also make her a useful asset for NBC’s other sports broadcasts. If this does happen, she’ll be yet another well-known personality leaving ESPN.

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About Andrew Bucholtz

Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.

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