Rece Davis addresses casting changes for College GameDay

When College GameDay finally arrives on our televisions, it’s the truest sign of college football being back. However, the program is going to look a tad different this season. ESPN has laid off a ton of on-air talent, with the Saturday morning staple losing the likes of David Pollack and Gene Wojciechowski.

Rece Davis is still remaining as the GameDay host but when joining Monday’s edition of The Paul Finebaum Show, he admitted it will not feel the same. Both Pollack and Wojciechowski were friends of Davis. Beginning a football Saturday without them on a college campus will be different.

“We’re excited about the season, think it’s going to be a great season,” Rece Davis. “But the guys who aren’t with us contributed mightily to it,” Davis said. “You know, I think I’ve said many times, I don’t have a better friend on Earth than David Pollack. That’s going to be different for me.

“I didn’t have a stronger confidant and more of a journalistic conscience and friend than Gene Wojciechowski. That’s going to be different from me. And we have some people behind the scenes that have changed as well.”

The losses are easy to focus on but some mainstays are still with ESPN. Kirk Herbstreit will feature on GameDay and once again in the commentary booth. Desmond Howard will have the opportunity to produce another interesting College Football Playoff prediction. And then the famous Lee Corso will still be making mascot head predictions to cap off the show.

Davis is excited about what the product could be this season, saying there is “a lot of energy” with GameDay at the moment.

“We have tremendous people who love the project, love the sport,” Davis said. “There’s a lot of energy, I think, surrounding what we’re trying to do to try to continue to evolve the show this year, so I’m really excited to get started.”

College GameDay to kick things off Week 0

Week 0 has officially arrived and the countdown to Navy–Notre Dame has already begun. Davis says there will be College GameDay on Saturday, using it as what he describes as an NFL joint practice. A bit of a test run before the regular season officially kicks off.

The first traditional GameDay broadcast of the 2023 season will take place from Charlotte on Sept 2.

“Looking forward to the Week Zero show. Sort of looked at as a warm-up, sort of a walk-through or the — sort of like if you are an NFL fan, sort of like those organized practices that two teams get together do against each other,” Davis said.

“We want to have a great show, but that’s sort of what Week Zero’s like and then Week One in Charlotte, with North Carolina and South Carolina, I think, will be a great atmosphere and we’ll continue to do what GameDay’s has been built on for a number of years and I’m excited about starting my ninth season as the host.”