Behind the Mic: NBC Adds Tim Howard to Premier League Coverage; Vin Scully Back for 66th Season With Dodgers

U.S. Men’s National Team and Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard will join NBC Sports Group’s Premier League on-air team in a multi-year agreement. Howard will work up to 10 Premier League games this season, serving as game analyst in the booth or in an on-site studio for the pre-game, halftime and post-game shows. His assignments will be scheduled around Everton matches and will focus on top-tier games. Howard served as a NBCSN analyst on six game telecasts and one on-site studio last season. In the seven matches immediately prior to Howard’s NBCSN appearances, Everton recorded six victories and one loss. In the recently concluded FIFA World Cup, Howard led the United States to a second-place finish in group play and recorded 16 saves in the U.S. team’s 2-1 loss to Belgium in the Round of 16 – the most saves in a World Cup match since 1966. Howard has been the top goalkeeper for the U.S. Men’s National Team since 2007…

…Vin Scully is staying in the booth for the Los Angeles Dodgers. The 86-year-old Hall of Fame announcer will return for his record 66th season with the team in 2015. The announcement was made on the Dodger Stadium video board in the second inning of Tuesday night’s game against Atlanta. Scully’s consecutive years of service make him the longest-tenured broadcaster with one team in sports history. He calls all nine innings of the team’s home games and road games in California and Arizona for the Dodgers’ new television home on SportsNet LA, while the first three innings of his games are simulcast on the radio…

…ESPN has suspended sportscaster Stephen A. Smith for a week because of comments about domestic abuse suggesting women should make sure they don’t provoke attacks. Smith has apologized for the comments that were made last Friday during an on-air discussion about NFL running back Ray Rice’s suspension for assaulting his fiancee. But ESPN said Tuesday that Smith would not appear on the ESPN2 show, “First Take,” or on ESPN radio until Aug. 6. ESPN said it was not disciplining another network host, Michelle Beadle, who pointedly criticized Smith on Twitter…

…Former college football coaches Mack Brown and Butch Davis have joined ESPN as college football analysts, primarily working on the network’s Saturday studio programming. Additionally, both will contribute college football commentary across multiple ESPN platforms throughout the year, including SportsCenter, College Football Live, ESPN Radio, ESPN.com and more.

Brown, who won a BCS National Championship and two Big 12 Championships with the Texas Longhorns, will serve as a studio analyst every Saturday on ABC. He will appear on College Football Countdown (3 p.m. ET) and provide pre-game, halftime and post-game analysis for every ABC game telecast, including the popular Saturday Night Football series. Brown will be joined by returning host John Saunders and ESPN game and studio analyst Danny Kanell, who will also make his debut in the ABC studio this year.

Davis, a successful head coach of major college football programs and NFL teams, will work every Saturday on ESPN2’s day-long studio coverage. Davis, host Adnan Virk and analyst Robert Smith will contribute analysis, discuss news and game results, conduct interviews, and more as part of the pre-game, halftime, post-game and between game coverage on the network…

…Fox has added a former major college head coach of its own, brining in Dave Wannstedt – former Pittsburgh and NFL head coach – for its college football coverage this season. He will appear in FOX’s one-hour prime-time pregame show on Saturdays leading into the biggest game of the week alongside host Rob Stone and analyst Joel Klatt. College football insiders Bruce Feldman, Stewart Mandel, and Clay Travis also contribute to the network’s studio coverage.  Feldman and Mandel joined FOX Sports since last season, leaving their prior positions at CBSSports.com and SI.com, respectively.

As for the teams in the booth for Fox, Gus Johnson once again teams with analyst Charles Davis to form FOX Sports’ lead college football broadcast team. Johnson and Davis are joined by sideline reporter Molly McGrath, who continues as co-host of FOX Sports 1’s AMERICA’S PREGAME. Analyst Joey Harrington returns for his second season in the booth and is joined by a new addition to FOX Sports, Joe Davis, a former ESPN play-by-play broadcaster, who at age 25 became the youngest person ever to call a college football bowl game (2013 Poinsettia Bowl) for the network. FOX Sports San Diego’s Kris Budden joins Harrington and Davis on the sidelines. New addition Tim Brando calls Thursday night games on FOX Sports 1 with Klatt serving as analyst, and is also in the booth on Saturdays. Play-by-play announcer Craig Bolerjack returns to FOX Sports for his fourth season and teams with analyst Ryan Nece. The pair worked together last season with Nece serving as a sideline reporter/on-field analyst. In addition, analysts Petros Papadakis and Coy Wire as well as rules expert Mike Pereira contribute to FOX Sports’ college football coverage…

…NFL AM, and NFL Network’s daily morning show debuted new hosts Rhett Lewis and Erin Coscarelli on July 14 and will ad NFL Network analysts Eric Davis and LaVar Arrington to form the new NFL AM team debuting on Aug. 2 in advance of the Pro Football Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

Lewis joins NFL AM after spending the past five years at WHDH in Boston as an anchor and reporter. During his time with the station, Rhett covered all four major pro championships (Super Bowl, NBA Finals, World Series and Stanley Cup Final), and five championships in total. Coscarelli joins NFL AM from Comcast SportsNet Bay Area, where she served as an anchor and reporter, and appeared on the network’s signature show SportsNet Central, in addition to other studio shows. Prior to joining Comcast SportsNet Bay Area in May of 2014, Coscarelli was a sideline reporter for various networks such as Fox Sports West, Pac-12 Networks, NBC Sports Network and ESPN.

A seven-year NFL veteran and three-time Pro Bowl linebacker, LaVar joins NFL AM full-time after serving as a contributor during the 2013 NFL season. LaVar is relocating from Washington, D.C. to Los Angeles and will appear in-studio. In addition to Rhett, Erin, Eric and LaVar, NFL Network analysts Terrell Davis, Jordan Babineaux, Steve Wyche and Mark Kriegel, and host Molly Qerim will continue to contribute to NFL AM throughout the week…

…Michelle Beisner is joining ESPN as an NFL features reporter. Beginning in September, she will contribute player profiles and other stories for ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown pregame show. Since 2006, Beisner has worked as a studio host and field reporter for NFL Network. She has appeared on a variety of programs and specials including Super Bowl Week, Pro Bowl, and NFL Draft coverage. Beisner previously appeared on ESPN as the co-host of “The Russo and Steele Automotive Auctions” and as a pit reporter for the Champ Car World Series. She has also worked in various reporting capacities and hosting roles for Fox Sports, CBS, NBC, Speed Channel, and other networks. Before working in television, she was a member of The Denver Broncos Cheerleaders from 1997 – 2003. She was recently married to Fox Sports lead play by play announcer Joe Buck…

…Journalist Rick Westhead will join TSN as the network’s Senior Correspondent. Known for his investigative reporting, Westhead will create original content that will be featured across TSN platforms. Westhead joins TSN from the Toronto Star, where he served as one of the newspaper’s foreign affairs writers in addition to covering sports business.Throughout his 20-year career, Westhead has reported for a slate of leading publications, among them the Toronto Star, Bloomberg News, Canadian Press, Globe and Mail, New York Times, and Saturday Night Magazine. His resume also includes contributing reports to Hockey Night in Canada, The Business of Sports TV, and sports radio, as well as covering major sporting events such as The Masters, the Olympic Games, the Stanley Cup, and the World Cup of Hockey.