Katie George and Peter Schrager will not return as sideline reporters for ESPN’s No. 2 NFL broadcast team this season, according to Sports Media Watch.
Molly McGrath is taking over the job in their place, moving to the NFL beat for the Worldwide Leader to serve as the sole sideline reporter for the network’s new package of games that came with the acquisition of NFL Network earlier this year, per a report from Ryan Glasspiegel at Front Office Sports. She’ll also be the top fill-in host for Laura Rutledge on NFL Live.
“I’m thrilled to expand my role within ESPN’s NFL coverage and for the opportunity to showcase a broader range of skills, from sideline reporting to hosting in studio, while diving deeper into the sport at the highest level,” McGrath told FOS in a statement. “Joining ESPN’s NFL coverage during its Year of the Super Bowl makes this moment even more special and fulfills a lifelong dream.”
McGrath has become a staple of ESPN’s college football coverage over the years, serving as the sideline reporter alongside the broadcast crew of Sean McDonough and Greg McElroy for some of the biggest games of the year. She’s gotten brilliant postgame moments out of the likes of Curt Cignetti, Lane Kiffin and many more. She’s also served admirably in the difficult job of interviewing freshly drafted NFL players live.
Schrager could still work the sideline on an occasional basis, though, should the schedule produce a doubleheader, which is set to happen at least once in Week 16, per SMW’s Jon Lewis. As for George, it’s conceivable that ESPN promotes her from the team of Joe Tessitore and Jesse Palmer to fill McGrath’s vacated role in the network’s No. 2 college football booth.
The job George and Schrager are losing only existed in its previous form for one season. ESPN created it last August, when it promoted Rutledge to a full-time role alongside Joe Buck and Troy Aikman — in addition to Lisa Salters — and filled the sideline vacancy that was left behind on the No. 2 team with two reporters, George and Schrager, rather than one.
That No. 2 team is being rebuilt from the top down. Andrew Marchand of The Athletic reported in April that ESPN was expected to break up the existing booth of Chris Fowler, Dan Orlovsky and Louis Riddick, since the new NFL Network package is heavily international and conflicts with its college football commitments. Dave Pasch signed a multiyear extension with ESPN in June that’s expected to include play-by-play duties for that package, stepping down as the Arizona Cardinals’ radio voice after 24 years to take it. The analyst seat for the broadcast has not yet been announced, but ESPN could seemingly cycle between Jason Kelce, Kurt Warner, and Riddick for the eight NFL games it airs outside the Monday Night Football schedule.
ESPN’s Monday Night Football package will continue to be led by the team of Buck and Aikman in the booth and Salters. ESPN is set to air its first Super Bowl this upcoming season, and McGrath could find herself involved in that broadcast as well, given the expanded coverage networks typically provide for the game.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.