Having worked in sports television for more than 30 years, Phil Dean has a robust, high-profile football resume as one of football’s most experienced producers.  

In March 2023, ESPN announced that Dean would lead one of the production units each week for ESPN’s prominent Saturday Primetime college football package and the College Football Playoff Semifinal each season.  

Previously, Dean served as the producer for Monday Night Football (2020-23), the seventh producer in sports media’s longest-running series. In May 2023, at the 44th Annual Sports Emmy Awards, Monday Night Football won a Sports Emmy for ‘Outstanding Live Sports Series’ for the MNF’s 2023 season. 

Dean joined ESPN in 1992 and was promoted to producer in 1999. He worked on college football for 15 years before moving to MNF in 2020. He produced ESPN Saturday Primetime college football games with Sean McDonough, Todd Blackledge and Holly Rowe. His work on the sport also included producing an annual College Football Playoff national semifinal game each season from 2015-20. 

Dean produced NBA games for seven years and he was ESPN’s lead college basketball producer for 12 years, overseeing Saturday Primetime games and 12 ACC Tournament Championships. He also produced the NCAA Women’s Final Four Championship for 15 years. 

During his first seven years (1992-99) with ESPN, Dean worked as an associate producer on the NFL production team for Sunday Night Football games, first as a graphics producer (four years), then as a replay producer. 

A Sports Emmy award winner, Dean’s production credits at ESPN also include X Games, the Great Outdoor Games, the Invictus Games and more – even chess. 

Dean’s first job in television was at CBS Sports where he worked on the NFL Today logging games. In all, Dean spent five years at CBS (1988-92), working as runner, logger, researcher, production assistant and broadcast associate on the NFL. He contributed to two Super Bowls (XXIV and XXVI), a pair of MLB World Series, two NCAA Basketball Final Fours and two Winter Olympics. 

Born and raised in Leominster, Mass., Dean attended UMass-Amherst where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Business Management in 1988.