There’s been plenty of speculation as to who will fill the Monday Night Football booth this year. Once ESPN decided to move on from Joe Tessitore and Booger McFarland, but struck out on names like Peyton Manning, it narrowed things down quite a bit (especially with ESPN deciding to keep things in-house.)

Now, we have an answer, sort of, thanks to Jim Miller, who reported that Steve Levy, Brian Griese, and Louis Riddick will be the new crew for ESPN:

Miller clarified his tweet a bit with a follow-up:

So, based on that, Fowler and Herbstreit will be calling at least one MNF game, and it will actually be the season debut, Giants vs. Steelers at 7:15 PM ET. Then the back-half of Titans-Broncos at 10 PM will be Levy, Griese, and Riddick, which is in retrospect an obvious group. Along with Laura Rutledge, those three were tapped to work last year’s doubleheader, and Levy and Griese have years of experience together calling college games for ESPN.

Richard Deitsch confirmed Miller’s report:

The one variable left, though, is Miller’s note that the college football season remaining in jeopardy could have an impact on the final decision. That would seem to imply that Fowler and Herbstreit could still end up in the MNF booth if they don’t have college games to work this fall. Having them set for one game makes sense, then, as ESPN can essentially still flip a switch and just keep Fowler and Herbstreit going forward. And even if they do end up just doing one week this year, it could also serve a useful audition if ESPN decides to change things up again after this season.

Hopefully Louis Riddick ends up in the booth either way. When Awful Announcing did a roundtable discussion on who should be in the booth, our Matt Clapp summed up Riddick’s strengths and appeal:

I’ll keep saying it (just like in last year’s roundtable about replacing Jason Witten) – just put Louis Riddick in the booth already.

Riddick has an excellent football mind (and has interviewed for NFL GM positions), and breaks the game down exceptionally well for any level of football fan to appreciate. He’s well-spoken, and brings enough personality where he won’t bore the viewer. He’s the safest pick, which should mean a lot to ESPN after how many times they’ve bungled this hire. And he’d likely end up being the best pick, especially if ESPN is going with internal options only.

So, after months of debate, discussion, and reporting, we now have our answer: ESPN’s Monday Night Football team is Steve Levy, Brian Griese, and Louis Riddick.

(Unless it isn’t.)

About Jay Rigdon

Jay is a columnist at Awful Announcing. He is not a strong swimmer. He is probably talking to a dog in a silly voice at this very moment.