Paul Maguire To Have A Reduced Role This College Football Season

Paul Maguire is certainly one of the elder statesmen in College Football, and at 70 years old, he's not getting any younger. Well according to USA Today, the ABC announcer will be get a bit of a break next College Football season. Not only will Maguire have a reduced slate of games, but he will be appearing on some studio shows as well....

Although not formally announced, ESPN's Mike Soltys confirmed Sunday that college football analyst Paul Maguire, 70, will have a "reduced role" this season. Rather than having a full slate of games, says Soltys, Maguire will work only "the occasional game and do some studio shows and radio."

Maguire goes pretty far back in the sport. He played tight end at The Citadel and led the nation in touchdown receptions — in 1959. After being a linebacker and punter in the old American Football League, Maguire worked for NBC before becoming ESPN's original college football lead analyst in 1979 and in 1984 began working ESPN's first live college football — after a U.S. Supreme Court decision had loosened the NCAA's control of TV rights, which let ESPN get live games.

Maguire returned to NBC and, as part of its lead NFL teams, called Super Bowl action. But after NBC lost NFL TV rights in 1998, he returned to ESPN for its Sunday night NFL games. In recent seasons, he's worked ESPN college games with Bob Griese and Brad Nessler in three-man on-air teams that included Maguire being stationed in TV production trucks and on carts that rolled along sidelines while covering games.

I personally think Maguire has lost a step or two over the years, but he always makes the games interesting. Especially when he's talking about drinking during a 10-7 BC-NC State barn burner. Hopefully this new schedule will work out for him, and we can joke about that silly cherry picker he rides on the sidelines again.

Maguire will take reduced role in ESPN college football coverage (USA Today)