Andrea Adelson is a senior writer for ESPN and one of the nation’s most respected college football reporters. She covers the national college football landscape with an emphasis on the Atlantic Coast Conference and is a regular contributor to ESPN’s ACC Network. 

Adelson, who joined ESPN as a staff writer and college football blogger in 2010, often contributes to College GameDay Built by The Home Depot in addition to serving as the co-host of the weekly Inside ACCess college football show on ACC Network alongside David Hale. Some of Adelson’s most memorable GameDay stories include a feature on Stanford head coach David Shaw and the role played in his brother’s cancer fight, and coverage of the tragic shootings involving the Virginia football team in 2022. 

Prior to ESPN, Adelson spent four years (2006-10) covering college football for the Orlando Sentinel as a columnist. She also previously covered the University of Miami – including their last national championship team in 2001 – as a sportswriter for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, and she worked as a copy editor and sportswriter for the Associated Press from 2002-06. 

Adelson is the 2024 Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) President and she has occupied leadership roles in the FWAA’s All-America Committee and Super 11 Committee. She was also instrumental in creating the Edward Aschoff Rising Star Award in 2020, an annual FWAA award that recognizes a promising young journalist while honoring the legacy of Adelson’s longtime friend and former ESPN college football reporter Ed Aschoff. 

An award-winning writer, Adelson won the 2024 Edward R. Murrow Award for sports reporting and was nominated for the prestigious Dan Jenkins Medal for Excellence in Sportswriting by the Center for Sports Communication & Media at the University of Texas for her 2023 ESPN.com story “Dear Mrs. Reid” on Philadelphia Phillies pitch Andrew Bellatti. Adelson has also been recognized on multiple occasions through the FWAA’s annual writing contest, and she earned a 2024 Lone Star Regional Sports Emmy for a feature on Texas football coach Steve Sarkisian. 

Adelson graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. Based in Orlando, she enjoys running, giving back to the Orange County Public Schools as a mentor, and spending time with her husband, Eric, and two daughters.  

30-