Let the show go on: Bears reboot preseason television crew

The beginning of Matt Nagy’s tenure as head coach gives the Bears an opportunity to freshen up all aspects of their public relations, and more importantly: their broadcasting.

One those of moves is the ouster of longtime preseason play-by-play man Sam Rosen, and bringing in ESPN’s Adam Amin as the new lead for the Bears’ Radio Network on FOX television. Amin is set to join incumbent color commentator Jim Miller this upcoming August.

Since the Bears play in the Hall of Fame Game against the Ravens in early August this season, that game is a national NBC broadcast.

Amin and Miller will instead together call the Bears’ preseason contests against the Bengals, Broncos and Chiefs immediately following. After that, Amin’s duties with ESPN in the college football season mean that NFL Network’s Kyle Brandt will take over for the Bears’ final preseason game against the Bills on August 30th. They will compliment the Bears’ radio team, which only has one change this year. Mark Grote is the new sideline reporter joining Jeff Joniak as the returning play-by-play and Tom Thayer as the color commentator.

Ironically, both Amin and Brandt are Chicago area natives.

Amin grew up in suburban Addison. He now serves as ESPN’s Friday prime-time college football play-by-play announcer, works as the lead for the NCAA Women’s Basketball Final Four, and occasionally dips into the MLB and NBA.

Meanwhile, Brandt attended Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Illinois and has since carved out an energetic niche on NFL Network’s Good Morning Football. The aim with Brandt will be that of more of a discussion leader with players and reporters on the sideline in an aim to make the infamously disinteresting final preseason game something worth watching.

The overall goal is to bring the Bears into a more modern and informative light.

Robert Zeglinski is the Bears beat writer for The Rock River Times, an editor for Windy City Gridiron and Inside The Pylon, and is a contributor to Pro Football Weekly and The Athletic Chicago. You can follow him on Twitter @RobertZeglinski.