Greg Sankey’s Announce Booth Rebuke Apparently Targeted Aaron Murray and Sean McDonough

Sankey criticizes booth commentary

On Monday, Sankey said some of the country’s worst officials were in broadcast booths and called criticism of referees unacceptable. He made the remarks on The Paul Finebaum Show but did not identify a broadcaster.

Sankey described a Saturday-night commentator discussing an earlier game despite not having called it. The description pointed to the Oklahoma-Florida broadcast and officiating in the Missouri-Texas game.

Murray identified in reporting

CBS Sports’ Brandon Marcello reported that Sankey was mainly referring to Aaron Murray, an SEC Network analyst. Murray discussed officiating in Texas’ win over Missouri while covering Oklahoma-Florida with play-by-play partner Matt Schumacker.

Finebaum also names McDonough

Finebaum said he believed Sankey had also taken a more indirect shot at Sean McDonough over McDonough’s work on the Georgia-Ole Miss broadcast. Finebaum praised McDonough’s willingness to speak candidly about people. McDonough had also criticized officials during last season’s Sugar Bowl quarterfinal between Georgia and Ole Miss, according to the report.

Replay access under review

Sankey said the SEC is exploring ways to make its replay process more open. He pointed to live audio access, which the ACC and Big 12 already provide.

The article suggests that such access could let broadcasters hear officials’ reasoning directly. Sankey’s criticism, however, was directed at commentators questioning calls from the booth.