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ESPN’s recent purge creates spots that need to be filled, presumably with internal candidates.
For one of the bigger spots during football season, a pair of internal options have emerged as the leading candidates.
Andrew Marchand of the New York Post reports that Scott Van Pelt and Laura Rutledge are the favorites to replace Suzy Kolber as the host of Monday Night Countdown. Kolber was included in the recent round of layoffs.
Van Pelt already hosts the SportsCenter that follows the game. If he becomes the host of Monday Night Countdown and performs double duty, the post-game SportsCenter would presumably originate from the site of the game (assuming that it continues to be a road show, as it is most weeks of the year).
ESPN also will need to find a Monday night replacement for Steve Young, who also was part of the departures finalized last month.