Top 5 best college football commentators of all-time feat. Keith Jackson, Kirk Herbstreit and more
The 2023 college football season is set to kick off in less than three weeks as the opening weekend of games will take place on August 26. Let's take a look at the five best college football commentators of all-time.
#1 ranked college football commentator:
ABC Sports' Keith Jackson
Keith Jackson spent over 50 years covering college football and was rightfully nicknamed 'The Voice of College Football'. He spent 40 years working for ABC Sports and called 16 Sugar Bowls and 15 Rose Bowls. Jackson is credited with coining several popular terms as well as nicknaming Michigan Stadium 'The Big House'.
He was awarded with the Gold Medal Award by the National Football Foundation and the Amos Alonzo Stagg Award by the American Football Coaches Association. Jackson has been inducted into the American Sportscasters Association Hall of Fame, National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Hall of Fame.
#2: ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit
While Kirk Herbstreit is fairly young, he has been working as a college football commentator since 1996. In his nearly thirty-year career, Herbstreit has won Five Sports Emmy Awards. He won three Outstanding Studio Analyst awards and two Outstanding Event Analyst awards. Herbstreit is, arguably, the most prominent voice in college football in the 21st century.
#3: CBS Sports/ABC Sports' Brent Musburger
Brent Musburger worked in college football for more than thirty years as he covered the sport from the mid-1980s through 2017. He has worked in various roles during his time with both CBS Sports and ABC Sports. Musburger called seven BCS National Championship games between 2000 and 2014. He replaced legendary commentator Keith Jackson on ABC Sports' Saturday Night Football.
While Musburger has covered nearly every sport in over 50 years of broadcasting, his career is widely known for his time in college sports, particularly football. He is, however, credited with coining the term 'March Madness' to describe the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.
#4: Georgia Bulldogs' Larry Munson
Larry Munson's tenure with the Georgia Bulldogs may be the most iconic of any commentator with a team. He served as the Bulldogs' play-by-play announcer from 1966 until 2008.
Munson received the Chris Schenkel Award from the National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame and has been awarded the state-based Sportscaster of the Year Award by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Assocation nine times.
#5: Alabama Crimson Tide's John Forney
John Forney spent thirty years as a commentator for the Alabama Crimson Tide. He was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame and has been awarded the state-based Sportscaster of the Year Award by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Assocation two times.