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. He has also worked as the Press Box Public Address Announcer for the Buffalo Bills since 2004.
McDaniels currently handles play-by-play for Big East Lacrosse on FS1/FS2 and the Big East Digital Network along with Atlantic 10 men's basketball, Atlantic 10 and MAAC men's lacrosse, and women's volleyball on ESPN+. He also serves as the color analyst for the Rochester Knighthawks on ESPN+. McDaniels has done play-by-play for college football on ESPN+ and as well as many Regional Sports Networks including Comcast SportsNet, NESN, and Spectrum Sports.
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.
In 2019, McDaniels completed his 8th season 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. 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.
Also in 2019, McDaniels returned to the studio as the host of O Zone, a weekly show covering Syracuse Orange football on ROC Sports Net featuring former Syracuse stars Andre Fontenette and Jameel Dumas. 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.
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 broadcasting Hall of Fame. He also 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 will be released in 2024. McDaniels, his wife, and three children live in Hilton, NY, a suburb of Rochester. His son, Aaron, is an offensive lineman with the Stony Brook Seawolves.
