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Where have you gone, John Madden?
The ouster of Tony Dungy by NBC Sports’ Football Night in America pregame show after 17 seasons underlines a little-noticed sports media trend: the gradual disappearance of former coaches from NFL television.
For decades, the grizzled former coach-turned-TV talking head was a staple of game telecasts and pregame shows across NBC, Fox, CBS, and ESPN. Think the late, great Madden, Jon Gruden, Jimmy Johnson, Mike Ditka, Bill Parcells, Brian Billick, Herm Edwards, Hank Stram, etc. If the ex-coach boasted a shiny Super Bowl ring, all the better.
Fast forward to 2026 and things look different. The chairs that used to go to grey-haired ex-coaches are now typically filled by younger, fresh-off-the-field players, as well as sideline reporters, rules analysts, and fantasy football experts. Consider:
- By my count, there are only four ex-coaches left on the main NFL pregame shows. Three have uncertain TV futures. There’s Super Bowl-winning coach Bill Cowher on CBS’s The NFL Today, former Jets coach Rex Ryan on ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown, ex-Cowboys coach Jason Garrett on FNIA, and old 49ers and Lions coach Steve Mariucci on NFL Network’s NFL GameDay Morning. The milquetoast Garrett might follow Dungy out the door at NBC, say sources. Ryan has recently been rumored to return to the NFL sidelines. Mariucci, along with all on-air talents at NFL Network, has to wonder about his future under the cable channel’s new corporate overlord, ESPN. Johnson, who won two Super Bowls with the Cowboys, retired from Fox after 31 years last March. His on-air reps now go to former tight end Rob Gronkowski.
- Sunday NFL broadcasters Fox and CBS, which employ the most NFL announcers, didn’t have a single former NFL coach calling their games this season. The giant streamers don’t seem interested either. Netflix employed 22 on-air talents, including Matt Ryan, Drew Brees, and Nate Burleson, to cover its Christmas Day doubleheader. Not one was a former coach. Same for YouTube’s first live NFL game telecast from Brazil on Sep. 5th. But the two streamers did go outside the box hiring-wise, with Netflix bringing in WWE star Seth Rollins as a “special guest” and YouTube tapping Deestroying as its “sideline creator.”
- Amazon Prime Video’s TNF Tonight pregame show doesn’t even have an ex-NFL coach among its cast. Instead, there’s host Charissa Thompson with ex-players Tony Gonzalez, Richard Sherman, Ryan Fitzpatrick, and Andrew Whitworth. Ditto for ESPN’s Monday Night Countdown, which stars host Scott Van Pelt, ex-players Ryan Clark, Jason Kelce, and Marcus Spears, senior insider Adam Schefter, and reporter Michelle Beisner-Buck.
What’s going on? I asked some producers and agents involved in hiring decisions. They cited multiple factors for the disappearing NFL TV coach.
First, the coaches that TV executives think would be the best on TV are still drawn to coaching. Think Mike Tomlin, late of the Steelers, Sean McVay of the Rams, even “Chapel Bill” Bill Belichick at UNC. Tomlin is everybody’s No. 1 free agent pick among NFL TV partners. But he’s taking his time and hasn’t responded to hiring overtures—yet. Outside of Tomlin, this year’s list of most-wanted media free agents is current stars who all still want to play this season: Travis Kelce, Jameis Winston, Russell Wilson, and Kirk Cousins.
Second, networks and streamers want big stars fresh off the field who know today’s pass-happy NFL. Not the 70-year old Dungy, who retired from coaching in 2009. Given the constant turnover of NFL head coaches, it’s hard for them to stay in place long enough to become household names the way Dungy did back in the day with Peyton Manning’s Colts. This year alone, the NFL’s two longest-tenured coaches moved on. Tomlin stepped down after 19 years with the Steelers. John Harbaugh was let go after 18 seasons with the Ravens, then moved to the Giants.
“The networks want name recognition,” says one source. “To their credit, Dungy and Cowher stuck around long enough to win Super Bowls with great quarterbacks. But there’s so much turnover, it’s hard for coaches to become household names these days. Quarterbacks are the big names.”
Third, some ex-coaches who have entered the media haven’t done their peers any favors by coasting through their lucrative TV deals while waiting for the next coaching offer. Ex-coaches like Sean Payton and Bruce Arians were short-timers who picked up TV paychecks for a season or two, said little of substance, then returned to the sidelines.
“Some ex-coaches have a real sense of entitlement,” warns another source. “They don’t think they have to work hard at TV. Surprise! You do.”
Finally, there’s the money. The top NFL coaches, including Tomlin, McVay, Harbaugh, Payton, and Andy Reid now earn between $15 million and $20 million a year. With the possible exception of Tomlin, they’re not likely to earn that kind of salary in the media. Especially for once-a-week studio jobs.
As recently as a decade ago, the prospect of a head coach with Tomlin’s resume and personality transitioning to TV would have seemed like a no-brainer for all involved. Now, it’s far from a certainty. And even if he does make the jump, he might be the last of a dying breed.
