Verne Lundquist, the 75-year-old lovable uncle of CBS' SEC broadcasts, will retire in 2017, the network announced Tuesday. Brad Nessler, who left ESPN earlier this month to broadcast NFL games on CBS, will replace him in 2017.
Nessler will join analyst Gary Danielson and reporter Allie LaForce when the transition is complete.
“Verne has set the standard for college football broadcasting,” said [CBS Sports chairman Sean] McManus in a release. “Together with Gary Danielson he has played a key role in making the SEC ON CBS the highest-rated college football package in America. After an incredible 17 years, he will be handing the reigns off to Brad, who in his own right is highly acclaimed and respected as one of the premier play-by-play broadcasters in the business. I am very pleased that Verne will still have a prominent role in our college basketball and major championship golf coverage. We are fortunate to have one more football season to appreciate Verne’s one-of-a-kind storytelling as we pave the way for a seamless and smooth transition to Brad.”
A majority of Big Ten fans I know (a truly scientific polling) dislike Lundquist for reasons that escape me. Sure, he's biased to SEC football, but I'd be biased to the Mountain West Conference if it paid me half of Uncle Verne's salary to sit around and bullshit about Mountain West football a few Saturday afternoons in the fall.
