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Molly McGrath

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Molly McGrath
McGrath in August 2016
Born (1989-06-06) June 6, 1989 (age 35)
San Francisco, California, U.S.
Alma materBoston College
Occupation(s)Sportscaster, Studio host
Years active2011–present
Employer(s)FOX Sports (2013–2016)
ESPN (2016–present)
Height5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)
Spouse
Max Dorsch
​
(m. 2018)​
Children2

Molly Anne McGrath (born June 6, 1989) is a Sports Emmy nominated American sportscaster and studio host who works as a sideline reporter for ESPN’s college football and college basketball telecasts.[1]

Career

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Early sportscasting work (2009–2013)

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While attending Boston College, where she was a cheerleading captain, McGrath pitched the athletic director to let her interview athletes and coaches for the college’s website, BCEagles.com.[2] These interviews helped her put together a reel which she used to help secure her first on-air job. While at BC, McGrath also interned at NESN and WHDH-TV. After graduating, McGrath worked at ESPN as a production assistant, where she logged play-by-plays, produced highlights, and other support tasks for various ESPN shows.

In 2011, McGrath was hired as a web reporter and in-arena host for the Boston Celtics. She hosted, produced, and edited daily updates, exclusive interviews and other packages for the Celtics' team website. She also hosted the show Celtics Now for Comcast SportsNet New England and served as a sideline reporter for CSNNE’s regional broadcasts.[3]

Fox Sports / Battlebots (2013–2016)

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While working for the Celtics, an executive at Fox Sports found clips of McGrath's work on YouTube and contacted her via Facebook about a potential job opportunity with the network.[2] She was among several initial hires by Los Angeles–based Fox Sports 1 in the summer of 2013. Initially hired as an update anchor, McGrath quickly rose through the ranks. In 2014, she joined Mike Hill as a co-host and anchor on the daily sports highlight show, America's Pregame. In addition, McGrath also was the lead sideline reporter for Fox College Football and Fox College Basketball.[3] She also covered games for the NFL on Fox.

In 2015, McGrath hosted the return of the revived show Battlebots on ABC, for its sixth season.[4]

ESPN (since 2016)

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In the summer of 2016, McGrath returned to ESPN as college sports sideline reporter and co-host of College Football Live. For the 2016 college football season, McGrath worked the sidelines of ESPN College Football Friday Primetime games, along with Mack Brown and Adam Amin. She also covered the sidelines for ESPN’s College Basketball telecasts.[1] For the 2017 college football season, McGrath continued her work on the sidelines of ESPN College Football Friday Primetime games, hosted various halftime shows and episodes of College Football Live, and covered a number of bowl games such as the Orange Bowl, Outback Bowl, Texas Bowl, and Las Vegas Bowl.[5] For the 2018 football season, McGrath covered Saturday ESPN College Football games on ESPN or ABC with Mark Jones and Dusty Dvoracek.[6] In 2018 and 2019, McGrath covered the weekly Big Ten Super Tuesday college basketball match-up with Dave Flemming and Dan Dakich. For the 2019 football season, McGrath covers two college football games per week: ESPN College Football Thursday Primetime with Adam Amin, Matt Hasselbeck, and Pat McAfee, and ESPN/ABC Saturday games with Steve Levy, Brian Griese, and Todd McShay.[7] She joined ESPN's coverage of the XFL (2020) on the week 2 of the season.[8]

For the 2021 college football season, McGrath was paired with Sean McDonough and Todd Blackledge throughout the season.[9] McGrath also joined Holly Rowe on the sidelines for the television broadcast of the College Football Playoff National Championship in Indianapolis.[10]

Personal life

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McGrath was born in San Francisco, California, to Deborah and Michael McGrath. Her father is of Irish ancestry and her mother is of Mexican-Spanish descent.[11] She has an older brother, Patrick, who played football at Princeton University. Growing up in Burlingame, California, McGrath attended St. Ignatius College Preparatory and graduated in 2007. She then attended Boston College and graduated in 2011 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication and Broadcast Journalism. While at BC, McGrath was captain of the cheerleading team[2] and earned the athletic director’s award for academic excellence all four years. As of 2021 she lives in the Seattle area with her husband, Max Dorsch, a commercial real estate investments professional, and their two sons.[12]

References

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  1. ^ a b "ESPN Media Bio". espn.com. August 15, 2016. Retrieved August 15, 2016.
  2. ^ a b c Finn, Chad (August 14, 2014). "Molly McGrath enjoying transition to Fox". bostonglobe.com. Retrieved August 15, 2016.
  3. ^ a b "MOLLY MCGRATH NAMED NEWS ANCHOR FOR AMERICA'S PREGAME" (PDF). foxsports.com. March 26, 2014. Retrieved August 16, 2016.
  4. ^ "ABC Battlebots - Molly McGrath". BattleBots Homepage. abc.com. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  5. ^ "2017 Bowl Announcing Schedule". awfulannouncing.com. 15 December 2017. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  6. ^ "2018 ESPN College Football Commentators". espn.com. 17 July 2018. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  7. ^ "2019 ESPN College Football Broadcast Pairings". espn.com. 15 July 2019. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  8. ^ Bill Hofheimer (14 February 2020). "XFL Announcers Keep Their Heads On A Swivel, Stay On Their Toes On The Sidelines". espnfrontrow.com. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  9. ^ "ESPN PR 2021". espnpressroom.com. 23 August 2021. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  10. ^ "UGA Wire". usatoday.com. 7 January 2022. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  11. ^ "Molly McGrath Twitter account, Tweet dated 5/5/12 at 9:13 AM PST". Twitter.com. Retrieved 2017-10-07.
  12. ^ "Molly McGrath Instagram account, Post dated 01/19/21". Instagram.com. Retrieved 2022-05-27.
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