Gary Danielson, CBS college analyst, to retire after 2025 season

NEW YORK — Longtime CBS Sports college football analyst Gary Danielson will retire after the 2025 season.

That will be his 36th season on television, making him the longest-tenured college football analyst on any network.

“I have discussed the timing of this moment with CBS Sports leadership over the past few years and we felt it was important I remained with the team during our transition to the Big Ten. As we enter our second full season of Big Ten football and my 20th at CBS Sports, the timing just feels right,” Danielson said Wednesday in a statement.

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Danielson, who will turn 74 in September, played 11 seasons in the NFL before joining ESPN in 1990. He called games for ESPN and ABC for 16 seasons before joining CBS in 2006.

CBS carried the top Southeastern Conference game through the 2023 season. It had a limited Big Ten schedule in 2023 before carrying the 3:30 p.m. ET game last season.

“Gary Danielson is simply one of the greatest college football analysts ever. And an even better teammate,” CBS Sports president and CEO David Berson said in a statement. “Gary cares more about uplifting others and ensuring the team receives all the accolades. During his 20 years here, he helped propel CBS Sports to the gold standard in college football coverage. We can’t thank him enough; he will always be part of the CBS Sports family and wish him the best in retirement.”

CBS announced that Charles Davis would take over as the lead analyst next year. Davis was Fox’s lead college football analyst from 2007-14 before shifting full-time to NFL games. He joined CBS in 2020 and has spent the past five seasons as the analyst on the network’s No. 2 crew with Ian Eagle.

Earlier in his career, Davis worked five seasons as the lead analyst for TBS’ game coverage of the Big 12 and Pac-10 conferences.

Davis will work some NFL games for CBS this season, but JJ Watt will move from “The NFL Today” studio to being an analyst with Eagle.

“Gary has been the preeminent voice in college football for decades, and someone I have long admired and respected,” Davis said. “It is hard to imagine college football Saturdays without him, but I am thrilled we get one last season with him. There is no replacing Gary, but I am truly honored and humbled to succeed him and call games with Brad Nessler and the incredible Big Ten on CBS team.”