Lee Fitting, head of Monday Night Football and College GameDay, out at ESPN

An ESPN legend will no longer be working with the network. Lee Fitting, the senior vice president of production and man who oversaw Monday Night Football and College GameDay, is out.

Fitting worked at ESPN for 25 years and helped build some of the biggest shows at the Network. He also oversaw the College Football Playoff and SEC Network.

Dan Zaksheske of OutKick was first to report the news.

Lee Fitting – a 25-year vet at ESPN – has been let go. He was a senior VP/production and oversaw NFL and college football programming. @RealDanZak was first with the story.

— John Ourand (@Ourand_SBJ) August 21, 2023

Fitting is probably most well known for helping build College GameDay into the biggest pregame show in sports. With an all-star group of analysts on the show, it quickly grew into the go-to pregame show on Saturday mornings.

Over the past several months, ESPN has made major cuts in talent and production. Fitting has been such a fixture with the company, though, it’s surprising to see the two sides part way.

ESPN’s profile of the producer reads, “Fitting’s history with College GameDay is extensive, having been named the producer in 2004 and then coordinating producer in 2008. During his College GameDay tenure, Fitting and his colleagues earned six Sports Emmy Awards for Outstanding Studio Show – Weekly.”

The timing of the decision is also interesting. Fitting’s departure comes the same week as Week 0 of the college football season. College GameDay plans to head to Charlotte for the Week 1 showdown between North Carolina and South Carolina.

The start of the NFL season is also less than one month away.

ESPN also parted ways with College GameDay’s David Pollack

Over the past few years, former Georgia star David Pollack became a big part of ESPN’s College GameDay crew. He worked as an analyst, alongside Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard and Lee Corso.

However, Pollack was one of many who was laid off by the company over the summer months.

Show host Rece Davis released a tweet regarding Pollack’s layoff following the news.

“Class personified. I’ve joked for years that @davidpollack47 is the little brother I never wanted. Truth is, he’s as good a man & as good a friend as I could’ve ever hoped for,” tweeted the ESPN College GameDay host. “He’s a brother to me for life. He’s a selfless teammate, an exemplary family man.

“… Tough day. But as he alludes to in the video, who can be against him. (Romans 8:31). And whatever is next for David, he will crush it.”

Without question, ESPN has made some massive changes over the past few months.