College GameDay host seals unexpected summer job with dramatic switch in sports

Rece Davis is usually to be found alongside Pat McAfee, but he’ll have a new partner for a summer switch.

The longtime College GameDay host will partner up with former tennis world No. 1 Andy Roddick to lead the ESPN’s “first ball to last ball” coverage from Wimbledon.

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Davis succeeds Chris McKendry, who served in the role since 2016, as ESPN continues its overhaul of its tennis announcing team, following the departures of Pam Shriver and Brad Gilbert back in January ahead of the Australian Open.

Davis will be in London to host live on-site coverage of the tournament from June 29 through July 12, as well as both Breakfast at Wimbledon and Wimbledon Match Point alongside Malika Andrews.

Andrews, known for her longstanding role as the host of NBA Today, joined the tennis team back at the start of the year.

For Davis, a college football expert from Alabama, transitioning into a new role for the summer is about broadening his horizons.

“It was just a product of discussions about how my role could expand at ESPN, at different times, while we were in our most recent contract negotiations a little over a year ago,” Davis said to Front Office Sports when asked about how this new role came about.

“They asked if I’d be interested in doing something like that. I said, ‘Absolutely.’ Certainly, this is one of the greatest events on the entire sporting calendar. You jump at it.

“I’m not coming in looking at this as if I’m bringing some type of deep, insightful knowledge of tennis that hasn’t been revealed prior to this.

“But I do think I have the skillset that can allow people with me on the set to thrive and to make our coverage as dynamic and insightful as it can be. I’m really fired up about working with Andy Roddick.”

Confidently stepping into a new realm

Davis has fronted ESPN’s College GameDay coverage since 2015, having succeeded that of Chris Fowler, which requires him to travel all over the United States alongside some big personalities including that of Pat McAfee, Nick Saban, and Kirk Herbstreit.

With over a decade of extensive experience covering sports, including NCAA basketball and soccer, the sometimes outspoken Davis has confidence that his experience will translate into tennis – something he has never covered on television before.

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“One thing that GameDay helps you with, with other sports, is that you are very comfortable allowing other personalities to shine. Knowing when to push back, hopefully,” Davis said.

“Is it easier for me, with my knowledge of football, to know exactly what to push back on and how? Of course. There’s no sense in dancing around that.

“But I’ve done my homework on this. I’ve worked very hard. I’ve known for over a year I’d be doing this. It’s not like I started prepping last week.”

Davis also revealed that he has dedicated himself to studying the sport since getting the role, which has made him more comfortable.

“I’ve tried to immerse myself. Listening to podcasts. Reading stuff. Talking to people. One of our researchers I work with on the NFL Draft played tennis in college. He’s been an integral part of the Wimbledon research team.” he added.

“I’m very comfortable working with people who are highly accomplished and who want to be part of a successful team. I think we’ll have a lot of similarities in that regard.

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“You know all of my guys on GameDay are highly accomplished and highly skilled. Hopefully, I can bring something to be able to weave it in and make it a seamless unit at Wimbledon, too.”

Leaning on expert help

While Davis admits that he doesn’t yet have a “deep background” in tennis, he knows that he has a hugely expert figure alongside him in Roddick, who played on the world stage for the best part of 12 years.

“I’ve done a lot of things that I didn’t have a deep background in. Hopefully, they went well enough. Seems that they did,” Davis joked.

“I think that immersing yourself and knowing what questions to ask and also being wise enough to not try to pretend to experts that you know everything.

“Roddick said to me the other day, ‘Man, if you have any questions on the tennis side of it, let me know. And if you have any insights on the TV side of it, let it rip.’ So it’s going to be great in that regard.

“I think what we’ll do is we will show the proper respect and reverence for Wimbledon. Because it deserves that. We will also be innovative and insightful. We’ve got some technical improvements and different things that are going to enhance the coverage of the tournament itself and the grounds.

“We’re going to try to let people experience it. The entire trip is something a lot of people won’t do in their lifetimes. We will try to give it to them as best we can during these two weeks.”

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