Scott Van Pelt thinks he talks too much as host of ‘Monday Night Countdown’

The reception to Scott Van Pelt as host of ESPN’s Monday Night Countdown has been largely positive.

Van Pelt has connected with the revolving panel of former NFL athletes and the audience alike, and has used the opportunity to host his usual postgame SportsCenter on-site from ESPN’s game of the week.

This season, ESPN added a new chair to the show’s desk. The seat is filled by megastar Pat McAfee, adding another strong voice to a panel already full of them. Jason McCourty replaced Ryan Clark this offseason. Jason Kelce enters his third year on the show. And Marcus Spears rounds out the cast as the only other panelist who joined alongside Van Pelt in 2023, when the host took over for Suzy Kolber.

In an appearance Tuesday on The Dan Patrick Show, Van Pelt revealed that he often resists the urge to take up air time because he feels he talks “too much.”

“I talk too much, as a host, because I’m interested in things and I like the topic,” Van Pelt said. “And I think when you have five as opposed to four, it’s really incumbent on the host to make sure you’re a point guard, and not a shoot-first point guard.”

Van Pelt recalled McAfee’s “great instincts” showing through during a Week 4 broadcast in New Orleans, when McAfee grabbed Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank aside for an impromptu interview. The longtime midnight SportsCenter host added that McCourty is versatile and has fit in seamlessly, while Spears is the ultimate team player and Kelce is improving rapidly in his third season on air.

In order to best set them up, Van Pelt knows he must lay back.

“I’m just trying to be a decent host to give them the ball where they want to shoot it … and make sure that I’m the one that’s hoisting all the shots,” he explained. “Because that’s the one thing I have a misgiving about myself … I talk too much.”

Van Pelt said that when he studies the great sports hosts, including Patrick and Ernie Johnson, they “make other greats on their desk better.” Van Pelt aims to do that on Countdown.

Still, after coming up in radio and becoming known at ESPN for his commentary on golf and college football, Van Pelt has been encouraged to share his personality and perspective on Monday nights. The balance, he said, is still a work in progress.”

“I was told along the way when they asked me to do this job, ‘We want you to be you, and part of what we want is that,'” he said. “Because you do watch this, you do a Sunday-night show with all the games. So it’s not like you don’t know.”

Because Van Pelt has been a fixture at ESPN for so long, it can be easy to forget that Monday Night Countdown is his first time hosting a major football property for the Worldwide Leader. Even for one of the most respected and professional anchors in the industry, the learning continues.

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