Mike Tirico is approaching his third decade covering the NFL in some capacity, whether as a studio host, reporter or in his current role as Sunday Night Football’s lead play-by-play announcer.
As always, Tirico, who turns 60 in December, has had a busy year, from calling Super Bowl 60 to serving as the prime-time host for the Winter Olympics in Milan.
He also hosted the Kentucky Derby, the most-watched on record, called 16 NBA playoff games and even served as a spotter in Bryson DeChambeau’s group during his controversial second-round drop at The Open Championship.
Tirico, who won the Sports Emmy for Outstanding Sports Personality for the first time in the play-by-play category in May, is now refreshed and ready to return to the nation’s most popular
sport, which will start its 107th season on Sept. 9 with a Super Bowl rematch featuring the champion Seattle Seahawks hosting the New England Patriots. The 21st season of Sunday Night Football on NBC, Peacock and Telemundo will feature coverage starting at 7 p.m. ET and an 8:20 p.m. kickoff.
Rob Hyland, the coordinating producer of Sunday Night Football, said the network will expand the graphics package, along with the wind metrics that debuted during the Super Bowl, which return for broadcasts this season. Also new to the Football Night in America pregame show team is former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin.
Entering his fifth season after replacing Al Michaels as the lead caller on Sunday Night Football, the Sports Emmy winner for Outstanding Live Sports Series, Tirico said his approach to calling games and preparation for the job varies from year to year. The main goal is making the games fun and entertaining for viewers.
“I think it evolves. I don't think it necessarily drastically changes,” Tirico told USA TODAY Sports. “I think over time, you know, where you don't need to spend time and places where you'd like to spend more time. So I think you learn over time through the people you get to meet and know and the places you go, what it takes to do the job. And you always want to reinvent.”
One way of reinventing, Tirico says, is not doing things that were common five to 10 years ago.
“Fans want more off-the-field stuff about players within a broadcast, or do they want more analytics, or what's the balance between the two?” he said.
"Yeah, that's what I love about our show is that we can give you, you know, something really deep analytically and explain it to a more casual audience or at the same time give you about a player and what they're doing away from football or what has made their journey to this point so special.”
Mike Tirico's under-the-radar team
As Tirico looks at the NFL season landscape, he believes there is one team that people aren’t talking about. He adds that it used to be easier to predict what would happen because the league wasn’t as thoroughly covered as it is today.
That team is a surprise because pundits usually can’t keep this team out of their mouths.
Tirico warns to watch out for the Dallas Cowboys, who went 7-9-1 in 2025 and missed the playoffs for the second consecutive year. The offense ranked second in yards and seventh in points scored, but the Cowboys' scoring defense was dead last in the league, surrendering 511 points.
“If you think about it, what was the controversy with Dallas this year?” Tirico said. “None. It was a quiet offseason. You know, there was no big holdout, no big contract question that we're going to go to the 11th hour to get a deal done with the quarterback. If their defense is good, this team has a chance to be very good.”
The NFL, of course, is loaded, with the Seahawks defending their title and the Los Angeles Rams poised for a championship run after acquiring defensive player of the year Myles Garrett and eight-time first-team All-Pro Aaron Donald.
“You throw in all those teams and the Eagles and the A.J. Brown trade. There’s been less talk about Dallas (than) I can remember going into a season over the last decade, and I think they are positioned really well to have a terrific season,” Tirico said.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Mike Tirico and the NFL are back – he thinks the Cowboys are, too
