Jac Collinsworth out as NBC’s Notre Dame play-by-play voice

After two years as NBC’s Notre Dame play-by-play voice, Jac Collinsworth is out, officials briefed on the decision told The Athletic.

NBC veteran Dan Hicks will replace Collinsworth and team up with analyst Jason Garrett. Hicks previously called Notre Dame games a decade ago. He is best known for his PGA Tour duties.

Starting next fall, NBC plans to have Noah Eagle and Todd Blackledge as the No. 1 broadcast team on all of its college football coverage. Eagle, 27, and Blackledge, 62, earned strong reviews on the Big Ten and the NFL games they called.

NBC wanted to reward them, so while they will continue to primarily focus on the Big Ten prime-time matchups, if the network deems a Notre Dame game the most attractive on its schedule for a given week, then the duo will call the game.

NBC declined to comment.

Last fall, NBC re-signed as the broadcast outlet for Notre Dame home games through 2029. Notre Dame’s incoming athletic director, Pete Bevacqua, had been NBC Sports’ chairman.

Collinsworth, the son of NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” analyst Cris, was put in the role by the network’s executive producer, Sam Flood, despite Jac having little play-by-play experience. From the first game, Collinsworth sounded out of place for such a high-profile position and received extra scrutiny because of his last name. Collinsworth, 29, graduated from Notre Dame in 2017.

NBC continues to like Collinsworth’s work as a reporter on “Football Night in America” and the Olympics. He will continue to call college football and basketball play by play on the network’s streaming service, Peacock, where he will be able to further hone his craft.

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