Fox Sports plans to put "America's Sweetheart" between Skip Bayless and Shannon Sharpe.
Jenny Taft is poised to land the moderator/referee job on FS1's "Undisputed," sources told Sporting News. An announcement could come as early as Thursday.
Fox declined to comment.
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Taft would succeed Joy Taylor, who has served as moderator of the "embrace debate" show since its premiere on Sept. 6, 2016. The switch is expected to be the first in a series of changes involving FS1 on-air talent. Taylor is expected to become news anchor on "The Herd with Colin Cowherd." She will succeed Kristine Leahy, who is leaving to headline her own show in the fall.
Taft, who played lacrosse at Boston University, joined FS1 for the network's launch in 2013. Her star has risen rapidly; she has covered college football, major league baseball and women's Olympic soccer.
In 2017, she was promoted to lead college football sideline reporter for Fox/FS1 alongside play-by-play announcer Gus Johnson and analyst Joel Klatt. Some Fox staffers refer to the popular Taft as "America's Sweetheart," sources told SN.
The addition of Taft would bring a new element into the cutthroat morning show wars between FS1's "Undisputed" (9:30 a.m. to noon ET) and ESPN's "First Take" (10 a.m. to noon ET).
Bayless personally chose Stephen A. Smith to become his full-time debate partner on "First Take" in 2012. The duo popularized the controversial "embrace debate" format, and "First Take" became one of ESPN's most popular and profitable shows.
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In 2016, Bayless accepted a $6 million-a-year offer from former ESPN mentor Jamie Horowitz to jump to FS1. Bayless launched his new debate show directly against his "brother from another mother" Smith that fall. During its first year on the air, "Undisputed" made headway, slicing off a big chunk of "First Take's" audience.
ESPN countered by moving "First Take" to flagship ESPN from ESPN2. The show's new team of Smith, Max Kellerman and moderator Molly Qerim has been handily beating "Undisputed" for the past year.
On Memorial Day, "First Take" tied for its highest-rated episode ever, with a 0.6 household rating and 778,000 viewers. As Smith told SN In a January interview: "Whoever is standing in our way, the quest is annihilation. It’s just that simple."
Meanwhile, Andrew Marchand of the New York Post reports Fox is adding Kristina Pink as a new sideline reporter alongside Erin Andrews, Joe Buck and Troy Aikman for "Thursday Night Football."
Networks partners typically don't employ two sideline reporters per game unless it's the NFL Playoffs or Super Bowl. The move shows Fox is ready to throw the kitchen sink at TNF to make it a success.
