ESPN parts ways with college football staffers Joe Schad, Robert Smith

ESPN and a pair of longtime college football staffers have parted ways.

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ESPN and a pair of longtime college football staffers have parted ways.

SI has learned that national college football reporter Joe Schad will not be part of the network’s coverage this fall. Schad joined ESPN in 2005 and worked on a number of ESPN platforms including College GameDay, College Football Live, SportsCenter and ESPN.com. He also did sideline reporting for ESPN, ABC and ESPN Radio, including national championship games.

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Robert Smith quietly announced on his Twitter feed in January that he would not be returning to ESPN after 11 years with the network. He contributed to College Football Live during the week and ESPN’s studio coverage on Saturdays. Fox’s college football studio would seem a logical landing spot for Smith, as Awful Announcing speculated in January.

It is believed Smith and Schad’s ESPN contracts were up in 2016.

- Richard Deitsch