Drew Brees may not have ascended to the top booth alongside Mike Tirico at NBC as many assumed he would when he joined, but he still had a fairly big role there, calling Notre Dame games and working as the #2 NFL analyst.
Considering Brees is most likely stepping away from that role, NBC might need a replacement, and according to a New York Post report from Andrew Marchand they’re looking in-house to their USFL coverage.
NBC is eyeing Jason Garrett, the former Cowboys head coach and Giants offensive coordinator, to replace Drew Brees as the game analyst on Notre Dame football and possibly on its prime time NFL pregame studio show, “Football Night in America,” The Post has learned.
Garrett, 56, is already working with NBC on its USFL coverage. He has been teamed with Jac Collinsworth, who could be Garrett’s partner on the Fighting Irish games, according to sources.
NBC declined to comment. Garrett did not immediately return messages.
Garrett has been fine for USFL work, and if NBC does indeed need to make a move here his name probably makes as much sense as anyone else. This offseason has already seen just about every NFL analyst who might want to make a move already make one, and at this point in the calendar it might be tough to really conduct an external search anyway.
The real surprise here might honestly be Jac Collinsworth getting bumped up to such a prominent role, but NBC clearly loves him.
So, sure, why not Jason Garrett: Notre Dame football analyst? It’s not an exciting choice (nothing about Jason Garrett screams excitement), but there are certainly worse options to have available.