ESPN won't replace Maria Taylor on College GameDay

ESPN won’t replace former host Maria Taylor on College GameDay this fall, Front Office Sports reported Monday. She had worked on the set of the network’s weekly traveling show since 2017.

Taylor left ESPN after her contract expired in July, with her last assignment on ESPN being the NBA Finals. Her departure followed a New York Times report that detailed private comments from ESPN colleague Rachel Nichols that was made public.

Front Office Sports reported that instead of hiring new talent for the popular college football show, ESPN will utilize various hosts from its talent bench to contribute.

“There are no immediate plans to replace that role,” ESPN told Front Office Sports in a statement. “We look forward to kicking off the 35th season of College GameDay with our talented crew, including Rece Davis, Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, David Pollack, Chris ‘The Bear’ Fallica, and reporters Jen Lada and Gene Wojciechowski.”

Shakeup at ESPN

Taylor joined NBC Sports after turning down ESPN’s new contract offer, which was reported to be in the range of $3 million, roughly three times her last contract of $1 million per year. At NBC, she will contribute across properties such as the Olympics and NFL; she flew to Japan immediately following the conclusion of the NBA Finals to serve as a studio host for the Tokyo Olympic Games.

Taylor first joined ESPN in 2013, after serving as a reporter and host for IMG College at the University of Georgia, her alma mater. She first served as a sideline reporter for college football on ESPN2, and she played a significant role in the network’s coverage of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament and the NCAA Women’s Volleyball National Championship.

She was later moved to SEC Network, where Taylor served as a host of SEC Nation alongside Tim Tebow, Marcus Spears and Paul Finebaum. She was first moved from SEC Nation to College Gameday in 2017, and added NBA Countdown duties in 2019.