Biography
Brendan McDaniels is a teacher, coach, author, and sportscaster. With over 25 years experience in TV and radio, he is one of the most versatile sports announcers in the country with an extensive background as a play-by-play announcer, lacrosse analyst, sideline reporter, and studio host. He has done games nationally on FS1, FS2, ESPNU, ESPN+, ESPN3, Fox College Sports, American Sports Network, Stadium, Lax Sports Net, and TSN in Canada. He has also worked as the Press Box Public Address Announcer for the Buffalo Bills since 2004.
McDaniels currently handles play-by-play for St. Bonaventure men's basketball on ESPN+ and the YES Network. He also serves as the color analyst for the Rochester Knighthawks of the National Lacrosse League on ESPN+. McDaniels work with the NLL extends to TSN in Canada and the Albany Firewolves as well.
Best known for his work on lacrosse, McDaniels is a former women's college coach and boy's high school coach who is sought after for his unique analysis and perspective of the game. He has been seen on ESPN2, ESPN3, ESPNU, ESPN Regional, CBS Sports Network, FS1, FS2, Fox College Sports, Fox Sports Net, American Sports Network, SNY, MSG, Time Warner Cable Sports Channel, Comcast SportsNet, ROOT Sports, Altitude, and Lax Sports Net.
McDaniels spent eight seasons as a color analyst for Major League Lacrosse which was seen on Lax Sports Net, ESPN+, the Watch ESPN app, Twitter, Stadium, and syndicated markets throughout the country. He was the analyst for regional coverage of the MLL's Rochester Rattlers from 2005-09 before doing games nationally for the league. In Spring 2017, he served as an analyst for MAAC men's lacrosse on ESPNU. He also was an analyst for Patriot League and Colonial Athletic Association broadcasts on American Sports Network. In 2015, McDaniels was on Fox College Sports providing analysis for Ivy League men's lacrosse. McDaniels did play-by-play and color commentary for 15 years (2002-17) on Time Warner Cable Sports Channel's regional college lacrosse package covering the ACC, Big East, MAAC, and NEC. He was also the lead play-by-play announcer for Big East Lacrosse on FS1/FS2 and the Big East Digital Network from 2021-22.
He spent three years (2014-17) as the host of Orange Overtime, the TV post game show for Syracuse University football and basketball, on Spectrum Sports throughout the state of New York. He was also the radio sideline reporter for football and play-by-play for women's volleyball and basketball for the University at Buffalo from 2004-2010.
Prior to his time in Upstate New York, McDaniels spent four years in Dallas, Texas, as the radio play-by-play voice for Austin College football on the Texas Sports Radio Network. He also had stints at the USA Radio Network, Fox Sports Net Southwest, and KDAF-TV. McDaniels began his career in 1998 as a producer for Dallas Mavericks basketball on their flagship station KLIF-AM.
McDaniels is native of Syracuse, NY and earned a Bachelors in Journalism/Mass Communication in 1998 from St. Bonaventure University where he was one of the first five members inducted into the WSBU/WOFM/WSBC Hall of Fame. He completed his Masters in Education from Nazareth College in 2012. When he is not behind a microphone, McDaniels serves as the Academic Intervention Services Coordinator at The Aquinas Institute of Rochester. He authored his first children's book, Wes the T-Rex, which was released in 2025. McDaniels, his wife, and three children live in Hilton, NY, a suburb of Rochester. His son, Aaron, was an offensive lineman with the Stony Brook Seawolves from 2023-25.
