David Hale is a college sports writer for ESPN, covering football and men’s basketball with a focus on in-depth storytelling and analysis. He contributes regularly to ESPN.com and appears across ESPN platforms. His work includes the Game Day Final column during the season and the Anger Index, a weekly take on the CFP rankings.

Hale co-hosts Inside ACCess on ACC Network alongside colleague Andrea Adelson and is a frequent guest on The Paul Finebaum Show, The Huddle, ACCPM, SportsCenter, and College Football Live. He also contributes to ESPN Radio and podcast platforms.

Since joining ESPN in 2012, Hale has earned a reputation for deep-dive storytelling that highlights the lives and experiences of players, coaches, and administrators across college football. He has also reported on men’s basketball and contributed to multimedia features for ESPN and ACC Network.

Hale’s work has been recognized by the Football Writers Association of America with the Best Feature award in 2019 and Best Enterprise Story in 2023.

Prior to joining ESPN, Hale worked as a beat reporter and sportswriter for several newspapers, covering the University of Georgia for The Macon Telegraph (2008–2010) and the Philadelphia Phillies for The Wilmington News Journal (2010–2012). He began his career at The Albany Herald in Georgia (2005–2007) and also taught journalism at Eastern Kentucky University.

Hale earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Delaware, a master’s degree in journalism from Syracuse University, and later completed a certificate in investigative journalism from Boston University. A native of Wilmington, Delaware, he now resides in Charlotte, North Carolina, with his wife and two daughters. He serves on the board of the U.S. Basketball Writers Association and votes for several of college football’s most prestigious awards, including the Heisman Trophy. He is also active in local sustainability and green space initiatives and serves on the PTA board at his daughters’ school.