Live From Men's Final Four: CBS Sports Director Mark Grant Gets His Shot In the Chair After 40+ Years In The Industry Grant is the first person of color to direct a televised major sports championship in the US By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital Friday, March 31, 2023 - 9:10 am
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For the first time in the 40-year history of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament on CBS Sports, a new man will sit in the director's chair for the Final Four and the National Championship Game this weekend. Mark Grant, a five-time Emmy Award-winner and veteran shot-caller of NFL, college football, college basketball, and golf, takes on the role, succeeding Bob Fishman, a Sports Broadcasting Hall of Famer that hung up his headset a year ago.
Mark Grant will direct his first NCAA Men's Basketball Final Four on Saturday. (Photos: CBS Sports)
The historical magnitude of the change, though, extends far beyond a simple passing of the torch. It's also believed that Grant will become the first person of color to direct a televised major sports championship in the United States.
A 1981 graduate of LSU, Grant has been a trailblazer in the industry for more than four decades, first getting his start at ESPN before being hired by CBS Sports to direct NFL games when the network got NFL rights back in 1998. Since then, he's climbed the ladder, having directed games in every edition of March Madness dating back to 1999. Now, his time has come to sit in the director's chair for the Men's Final Four and the National Championship Game.
Prior to this weekend's games, SVG caught up with Grant to discuss his career, what it means to him to get this opportunity, what important lessons he has learned from his predecessor, what technological enhancements make the best storytelling tools, and what advice he would give to an aspiring live sports director today.
After more than 40 years in the business, you've done your fair share of big-time sporting events. What does it mean to you to finally get this shot at the Final Four and the National Championship Game on CBS?
I never expected it. When CBS hired me, they hired me to direct the NFL when they got the rights back to the NFL in 1998. I always really considered myself a football director who just happened to do basketball when basketball came along. So when they asked me to take the place of Bob Fishman - a guy who has been doing this for such a long time I was honored and kind of surprised that they thought enough of my basketball work to say, you're not just a football director. You're an excellent basketball director as well.' It kind of came out of left field, but I was thankful for the endorsement and for the confidence that they have in me to give me that opportunity. I'm just running with it. I can't believe it's me. I can't believe it's happening.
Grant has directed NCAA Tournament games each year since 1999. He was originally hired by CBS Sports in 1998 primarily as a director on the network's NFL package.
I see directors get asked a lot about how they put their own stamp on things when they take the director's chair on a property. Is that possible at this level? Or does March Madness have such an established identity that you mostly try to honor and carry on that?
Yea, you certainly want to stick to the model that's been set in place for such a long time but I'm also excited to have my own input. You can try to put your own stamp on it and just ruin everything. Forty years of hard work has been put into this [event]. I hope I can just come in here and do a great job. It's probably not going to look exactly like Bob Fishman did it because if you had any director come in they're gonna do it a little bit differently and I'm no exception to that. But I don't think the average viewer is going to be able to say, oh my God, that's not the same guy that's been doing it for 40 years. I don't think that's going to happen.
What did you learn from Bob Fishman over the course of your career? What was your relationship like with him?
Bob really welcomed me when I came to CBS in 1998. He has a passion for football just like I did, and he just taught me to really let the game come to you. Don't always be so aggressive and come of play-by-play [camera angle].
Sometimes the best cut is no cut at all. The best shot is staying on the camera that is play-by-play. I've painted myself in a corner many times, being too aggressive, cutting to the hero [shot] on a made basket and they steal the inbounds pass or someone steps on the line bringing the ball in. You miss that moment because you're so busy trying to cut shots. Bob really taught me that and I always think about that. I'm certainly not as aggressive as I used to be and I have Bob Fishman to thank for that.
How long ago did you first sit down with Mark Wolf to discuss working together on this project and in what ways do you typically like to build chemistry with a producer partner?
Mark and I have done a lot of basketball together, especially in our earlier years at CBS. We did [NCAA Tournament] Regional Finals together. I've known him a long time. He vaulted to the top of the college basketball world at CBS and I really didn't. When I got this promotion he called me and congratulated me, and told me to be me. To just do my thing and not to worry about copying Bob or anything like that. I really appreciate him for giving that vote of confidence.
He's he lets me do my thing, and through this journey so far, which started back in January. When we reunited for the first time, it's been a really wonderful experience. I know that he trusts me and that he'll take my ideas and implement them. Going into this Final Final,
