Commentator evaluation: Gary Danielson

Rate Gary Danielson as a college football color commentator:

  • 5 stars - the best (or jointly the best) in the business at what he does

    Votes: 5 16.1%
  • 4.5 stars

    Votes: 10 32.3%
  • 4 stars - very good at what he does, but a notch below the very best

    Votes: 7 22.6%
  • 3.5 stars

    Votes: 3 9.7%
  • 3 stars - about average; competent, but not much more than that

    Votes: 2 6.5%
  • 2.5 stars

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 2 stars - substandard; lucky to still be making a living at this

    Votes: 1 3.2%
  • 1.5 stars

    Votes: 1 3.2%
  • 1 star - should be fired tomorrow for gross incompetence

    Votes: 1 3.2%
  • No opinion (don't know him or his work)

    Votes: 1 3.2%

  • Total voters
    31
As today will see Gary Danielson commentate on his final commentary game of the college football season - Army vs. Navy - apart from I think the Sun Bowl, I'll sneak in a quick thread devoted to his work on CBS' weekly coverage of the SEC, aka "the best game from the best conference". I don't think there's too much to say about his partner Brad Nessler, who has been a very solid commentator on multiple sports for many years without (to my knowledge) really inspiring much passion for or against his work. But I sense the opposite is true with Danielson, who seems a much more polarizing figure going back to his long partnership with Verne Lundquist.

I'm not sure how many college football diehards are regulars on SoSH, so I'm not sure how many people will have strong opinions about Danielson; for my part, the CBS SEC game is almost always must-watch TV for me, particularly as I grew up in Georgia, both of my brothers went to UGA, and the normal 8:30 p.m. UK start time is perfect for me. So I have listened to Danielson a lot for many years, and I'm curious about the sort of responses we'll get here. So have at him...
 

JMDurron

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
5,127
Gave him 3.5, but I've got nothing against him. He just gets enough player/team names mixed up mid-thought that I ding him a little for that. He doesn't seem to catch and correct himself as much as I'd prefer for a higher assessment.
 

mauf

Anderson Cooper × Mr. Rogers
Moderator
SoSH Member
I don’t notice Danielson when he calls a game, so I said 3 stars. Surprised that people are comparing him to Herbstreit — I just don’t think he offers insight on anywhere near the same level (but I can’t think of a college announcer who does).
 

Granite Sox

Member
SoSH Member
Feb 6, 2003
5,054
The Granite State
I gave him 4.5. If he’s not the best college analyst, he’s on the short list.

Objective, preserves neutrality most of the time, seldom hysterical. For a guy who’s been doing it as long as he has, he stays “up” on trends in the game. Fits well with whatever PBP guy he’s matched with.

And his hands are gigantic. Nearly Dierdorfian in their enormity. Distracts me every time I see him. :D
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,713
First one I've chimed in on, I don't have strong feelings about most commentators unless they're really awful (hello Mark Jackson) but I watch the SEC CBS game most weeks and I think Danielson is great. He is constantly all over what just happened, seeing small penalty infractions sometimes before they're even called and explaining why things happened the way they did. I'm a big fan, I voted 5 stars.
 

Brand Name

make hers mark
Moderator
SoSH Member
Oct 6, 2010
4,397
Moving the Line
Big SEC fan so I see him weekly. Most of my fellow folks from this conference actively dislike him, but for reasons that speak to his strengths as a commentator: Either he hates Bama (my circles) or he likes Bama too much (elsewhere). I think personally he’s usually objective unless there’s something he disagrees with, no matter the laundry.

I’m torn. He’s got a great eye, knows the game very well, can pick up on things quickly, but has a bad tendency to stay on small things like irrelevant blown calls or taking away from the moment—WILL CODY GET FLAGGED FOR TAKING HIS HELMET OFF AT THE END OF THE GAME? Like, he’s got tremendous peaks but his rare, memorable valleys are about as low.

Find him much more enjoyable for interviews like at SEC media days when he’s not working for CBS. Great insight to depth and what given schools are trying to do, both in the past but how it sets up for the future, be it of personnel or play calls. I can’t think of any other commentator, any level, that successfully blends the two like he does.

Special shoutout to his pace and calmness of voice like many (both PBP and color) of his era, very storylike and not stilted. 4.5 stars it is. 5 would be for Herbie, and then a smidge dinged off for unnecessary rants. But he makes me look forward to CBS games beyond the product itself.
 

thehitcat

Member
SoSH Member
Nov 25, 2003
2,376
Windham, ME
He's the best and most knowledgeable without being overbearing. I'm a big college football fan but not necessarily a fan of the SEC that said unless it's up against the Wolverines I always watch Danielson and Kessler or better Danielson and Lundquist. He is the soundtrack of my saturday afternoons. Also he does a great Monday hit for like 20 minutes with Chris Russo on Maddog Radio during the season and I try to never miss it. I can only think of a couple of other non-hall of fame caliber announcers/color guys even close to him. I gave him 5 stars and like jonabbey this is my first vote so far though I've read all the other threads.
 

Pablo's TB Lover

Member
SoSH Member
Sep 10, 2017
5,959
Danielson is great, he tells it like he feels it as a color guy but is certainly not a "hot take" artist. A lot of people also don't understand the difficulty of college football announcing from a pure duration perspective. He has been on the call for a lot of recent marathon games going 4-4.5 hours and keeps my interest play by play.
 

Humphrey

Member
SoSH Member
Aug 3, 2010
3,163
I gave him 4.5 too. He's better than most guys doing what he does on Sundays.