Connelly Focuses on Sport’s National Landscape

Dinich Remains on College Football Playoff Beat, Rittenberg a CFB Insider

ESPN with Staff of 15 College Football Writers Heading into the Season

ESPN has signed national college football writer Bill Connelly to a multi-year contract and reached multi-year extensions with fellow writers Heather Dinich and Adam Rittenberg, solidifying ESPN.com’s roster of award-winning college football journalists ahead of the sport’s 150th anniversary season. Connelly will focus on the sport’s national landscape, with his writing appearing on digital platforms and appearing on television and audio. Dinich and Rittenberg will also take a national approach, with Dinich focusing on the College Football Playoff while Rittenberg remains a national college football insider, found regularly on ESPN+ written content. Both will continue to contribute across platforms.

Connelly has covered college football for more than a decade, predominantly for SB Nation, gaining recognition through his creation of the S&P+ rankings, which relies on analytics to evaluate teams, and his campaign to become the sport’s commissioner. He was a co-host of Podcast Ain’t Played Nobody and has also authored two books: Study Hall: College Football, Its Stats and Its Stories and The 50 Best* College Football Teams. A University of Missouri graduate, earning both his undergraduate and masters degree from the school, the newest member of ESPN resides in Columbia, Mo., with his wife and daughter.

Dinich has covered the CFP since the organization’s inception, while also covering other pertinent topics in the sport, and Rittenberg has developed into one of the sport’s most connected insiders. Both have been with ESPN for more than decade, with Dinich beginning in 2007 and Rittenberg a year later. Both appear on television and audio programming, including regularly on the Campus Conversations CFB podcast. Dinich and Rittenberg have been recognized multiple times, including recently, along with ESPN college football writer Tom VanHaaren, by the Associated Press Sports Editors for their reporting on the University of Maryland football program.

The new deals finalize an impressive roster of college football writers for ESPN heading into the season, which also includes Andrea Adelson, Edward Aschoff, Kyle Bonagura, David Hale, Sam Khan Jr., Chris Low, Ivan Maisel, Ryan McGee, Dan Murphy, Alex Scarborough, Mark Schlabach, and VanHaaren.

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Media contact: Derek Volner at 860-384-9986; [email protected] and @DerekVolner