Many fans watching TV at home don't realize they're not hearing a lot of what a college football analyst is saying during a game - even while a play is developing live. By pressing what's known as a talk-back button up in the booth, a color commentator like Kirk Herbstreit can talk directly with the production-truck crew while muting his broadcast sound. Viewers never hear a thing. This is going on constantly during a game, ESPN Senior Coordinating Producer Lee Fitting says.

"They're telling them what they want to see during a given replay," Fitting says. "So a play's going on and Herbstreit's hitting his talk-back button and saying, 'I want to focus on the left tackle. He's the one that missed the block.' That quickly. That gives the truck an extra seven seconds to focus on that and get the replay ready."

Fitting is a longtime producer of ESPN college football broadcasts and the network's pre-game show mainstay "College GameDay." ESPN networks including ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SEC Network, Longhorn Network and ESPN Radio currently employ approximately 50 college football analysts, including many former players.

Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson, left, tries to get away from Alabama's Jonathan Allen during the first half of the NCAA college football playoff championship game Monday, Jan. 11, 2016, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Millions of Americans spend a good part of their Saturdays from September through December listening to and watching these college football analysts, either calling games or offering in-studio and on-location insights, on subjects ranging from Clemson's electric offense and Alabama's granite-like defense to Ohio State's deep talent pool and Washington's trickeration. But relatively little is publicly known about how former players obtain analyst jobs or how they're trained for TV.

Some analysts, particularly Herbstreit, a former Ohio State quarterback who began with the network as a sideline reporter in 1995, are more famous than many current college stars they cover. Other analysts, like Cole Cubelic, a former Auburn center and current SEC Network sideline reporter, are working their way up, much like a new player trying to ascend his team's depth chart. According to Fitting, ESPN actively recruits about half of their incoming analysts. "We're always keeping our eyes on players," Fitting says, "that are either not going to play in the NFL out of college or are going to retire from the NFL that we think may be a good fit on TV. And then the other half of the time we're getting guys that we may have never thought of, that come to us and we audition them and we say, 'Oh my gosh, this person's going to be great.' So it's a 50/50 split."

ESPN, which is based in Bristol, Conn., typically auditions three to six new potential college football analysts each year, depending on what the needs are for that year. "For example," says ESPN Vice-President of Talent Negotiations Rob Savinelli, "if we renew a lot of contracts after a season, then there may be less of a need to hire analysts for the following season. During the audition process of potential analysts, there are many things we look for, including how they 'see the field' or can break down a play, coverages, formations. It goes beyond just knowing the players on the field and statistics." There's a broad spectrum of what ESPN looks for in former player college football analysts, Savinelli says. Besides name value, ESPN also looks at what school they played for - aiming for credibility in certain conferences and familiarity within their fan bases. Of course, some former coaches, like longtime Texas field general Mack Brown, also serve as ESPN analysts.

An audition for a studio analyst gig involves a simulated 20- or 30-minute show. For a color commentator position, ESPN will have applicant call anywhere from one quarter to an entire college football game on tape, working with a play-by-play announcer, to "throw them into the fire and see what they've got" Fitting says. ESPN gives incoming analysts training on basics like voice projection, posture and, if asked, wardrobe. But they don't go overboard. "The best (analysts) don't need the training," Fitting says. "The best ones are natural and you can sort of sense that prior to hiring them or soon after hiring them. I think they can turn into robotic figures, if you will, with too much training. I like just giving them more and more reps and telling them to be as natural as possible with little tweaks along the way."

Being a TV analyst for college football involves much different dynamics than basketball. For one, each football team has significantly fewer games and many more players than basketball. "The football side of things tend to be a bit more analytical," says Fitting, who also produces ESPN college basketball broadcasts. "In a college basketball game, there's not as much time to be analytical. While we do want you to be analytical there's not as much time ... It's completely different. It's apples and oranges when you talk about that kind of stuff."

Many prominent ESPN college football analysts are former quarterbacks, including Herbstreit, Todd Blackledge, Brian Griese, Tim Tebow, Danny Kanell, Andre Ware, Greg McElroy, Jordan Rodgers and Jesse Palmer. It's a logical choice; after all, football is a quarterback-driven sport and those players often wield the best name recognition. But former players from other positions, whether it be former Michigan receiver and Heisman Trophy winner Desmond Howard, or a lineman like Cubelic and former LSU defensive tackle Anthony "Booger" McFarland, also bring compelling perspectives. Cubelic says his background playing center gives him "a better understanding of defense in general and the how's and why's of what defenses are doing and attempting to accomplish. So, I think inherently it makes it easier for you to explain to the viewer."

SEC Network/ESPN college football analyst Booger McFarland. (Courtesy Allen Kee/ESPN Images)

McFarland, a studio analyst, says, "Playing defense, it was a tough job but it was pretty simple: When the ball came off, get in the backfield and create havoc and find the ball carrier. So, when I talk about football from a studio standpoint, I try to cut through the minutia and get to the point. It allows me to be direct. And that's one of the things I've been able to do: make it real simple."

McFarland resides in Tampa and flies to SEC Network's Charlotte studios for work. Cubelic, currently an SEC Network sideline reporter with past work as a color commentator, lives in Decatur, Alabama, and drives to cover games in Tuscaloosa, Auburn, Knoxville, Nashville, Starkville and Oxford. He often flies to cover games at non-SEC schools. Cubelic was a captain on Auburn's 2000 team and lettered four years with the Tigers. After his playing days where over, he initially got into broadcasting on a part-time basis, doing an Auburn pre-game show, but also worked in medical sales because "I was tired of being broke, to be perfectly honest with you, and just wanted to make some money." Unlike a major name like Tebow, Cubelic has taken the long route to arrive with an ESPN network. Part-time radio work led to guest spots on other radio personalities' shows, which led to calling the Auburn spring game for CSS, which led to providing analysis on Sun Belt games, which led to his current SEC Network gig. He auditioned for an SEC Network studio job last fall but didn't get the gig.

"Every job I've gotten is because of relationships that I've developed and people I've spoken to and put myself in front of them," Cubelic says. "And that's not saying anything about my agent. But I didn't throw for 3,000 yard and play for a team that won a championship. I had a guy who works in the industry, a couple of years ago, tell me he thought the way I called games is great, but he said, 'You didn't win a Heisman Trophy and you didn't play quarterback so nobody knows who the hell you are, so it's going to take you a while to work your way up.' So, I have the mindset that I'm going to do most of this on my own and that's the way that I've done it." Working his way in is nothing new for Cubelic. Coming out of high school he was recovering from ACL surgery and no other SEC team wanted to sign him. As a freshman he moved to defense to help the Auburn team and get playing time. Still, broadcasting is something he always knew he wanted to do following his playing career. As a kid while playing football video games like "Madden" and "Tecmo Bowl" he would "call" the games as he was thumbing his controller. He's been listening to sports talk radio since he was 16.

During the week, Cubelic works on radio, hosting the "CubeShow" 6 - 10 a.m. Monday through Friday on North Alabama station WUMP 103.9 FM/730 AM - the shows can also be heard on UMPsports.com. "I look at it as being very similar to being a college football player in that Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday are practice days and Saturday's gameday," Cubelic says. "It's really not a whole lot different. A lot of the information I discuss, that I talk about, that we debate on my radio show on a daily basis ends up being either practice or repetitions for what I'm going to talk about on Saturday." When he's working as a sideline reporter, Cubelic begins gathering information as soon as he arrives at the stadium. Pre-game he's talking with coaches and players as well as media who cover each team weekly. He coordinates team interviews via his crew's director, who works with each schools' sports information director. "I want to try to get anything that would be considered more relevant than what we already have that I could share on the air," Cubelic says. "And once the game begins it's not too much different than when I was doing color. But the observations and what I'm observing is a little bit different. As opposed to being up in the booth when I'm observing how plays are developing and talking about those plays, now I want to see how coaches are interacting with players. I want to see how players are interacting with each other. I want to see how they're interacting on the field, coming off the field on the sidelines. All those things are items I need to take in and get a good grasp on when they do come down to me (on the field during a broadcast). It's more of an up-close perspective as opposed to a broad, general perspective I was getting when I was up in the booth."

McFarland also started out in radio, but broadcasting was not something he'd targeted for years following his NFL career, which included Super Bowl wins with the Buccaneers and Colts. "I had a buddy in Tampa who knew I wanted to get into the business," McFarland says. "Auditioned for radio, a guy from ESPN heard me online, told me to come in for an audition a couple months later and I got the job. Some of it's luck man. Some of it's right time, right place."

McFarland admires the work of two other former player TV analysts, color commentator Troy Aikman and studio guy Cris Carter, who both cover the NFL. Cubelic grew up enjoying John Madden and Pat Summerall's NFL broadcasts and also admires Blackledge's and Herbstreit's college work. Of Herbstreit, Cubelic says, "I don't think he gets enough credit. Whatever the reasons - because of all the different platforms he's on or because he's been doing it a long time - I think people forget he's really good at what he does."

ESPN holds a pre-season meeting for its college football analysts, this year's took place in Hartford, Conn. A tightknit camaraderie often develops among the analysts. Cubelic says during any given week during the season he's on his mobile phone talking with colleagues including McFarland, McElroy and Ware to talk football. "We share things in a different way but we respect each other's opinion and want to know what the other guy's thinking," Cubelic says. "I want to know what Andre thinks of Mississippi State's secondary because I don't see it like he does. Or I want to talk to him about Chad Kelly as a quarterback because he obviously knows that position better. Most guys in this line of work don't think we know everything about football and what makes you a great analyst is if you're willing to go learn from somebody who might know it as well or better than you."

SEC Network/ESPN college football analyst Cole Cubelic. (Courtesy photo)

Cubelic says Alabama is "by far" the best college football team he's seen this year. "Not just what they are on the field and how they have played, but how they handled themselves at practice as well." And while he's come across many standout players during the 2016 season, including Vanderbilt linebacker Oren Burks, he says Tennessee's Joshua Dobbs was the most impressive. "He's a great college QB, durable, dual threat. But it's honestly based on sitting down with him. (He's) taking five classes this semester, none of which I had even heard of. Great kid - very respectful and well spoken."

Tennessee quarterback Joshua Dobbs. (AP Photo/Wade Payne, File)

In recent years, social media has become a major platform for analysts to offer additional commentary and interact with fans. Fitting says, "I'm not going to speak for ESPN as a whole but I can speak for the college sports group and we want all of our people to have a smart social voice. And not be stupid. My number one message is don't be stupid."

According to a Sports Illustrated podcast interview with IF Management president Steve Herz and CAA talent agent Matt Kramer, whose firms represent many sports media professionals, ESPN college sports analysts make anywhere from $2,500 to $30,000 per event, depending on that analyst's stature. Asked to clarify salary and contract parameters, ESPN College Sports Public Relations Manager Rachel Margolis Siegal says, "There is a wide range in salary and contract lengths and there is no way for me to quantify it. We also don't comment on any monetary numbers."

Cubelic believes the biggest misconception about former players who are college football TV analysts is they are biased towards the schools they played for. Homerism. "That to me is the laziest criticism of any analyst," Cubelic says. "People sitting at home and just saying, 'Oh, Greg McElroy loves Bama. Or Cole Cubelic's an Auburn guy. Or Booger McFarland loves LSU.' And it's just not real. All of us want to succeed in this profession and we know that if we become the Alabama guy or the Auburn guy or the LSU guy then our options are going to be limited."

In the studio, analyst have sheets in front of them called rundowns, which detail planned topics of discussion. "But like a good play-caller, a good TV guy if you get going on a good conversation you can ad-lib a little bit," McFarland says. "You keep it going. Just like in a game if you call a couple plays and they're working, you come back to them." Prior to becoming a TV analyst, McFarland didn't realize all the off-camera work that goes into the profession.

"You watch guys talk about football and you think that maybe it's really easy and it's really not," McFarland says. "Yeah, we've got the expertise because we played but how you put that into a 30-, 45-second take and educate and entertain someone that's watching? How do I keep you entertained while educating you and information you at the same time? Covering college football, there are 128 teams and you don't have to watch all of them but at some point you're going to watch a lot of the teams in the Power Five (conferences). There's probably six to eight hours of film study a week. There's probably another two to three hours, you talk to your producer about the format of the show and what topics you're going to discuss. And I think the best shows have producers that work hand-in-hand with their talent and don't just tell the talent what to do. So, if you want to be a part of good show you're going to put forth the effort and let the producers know what you want to discuss. You have to do all that before the lights come on."