ESPN’s ‘Monday Night Football’ film room for Clemson vs. Alabama was — as you’d expect — a mess

Not even a second ticked off the game clock in the College Football Playoff National Championship before Jason Witten stuck his foot in his mouth.

Alabama’s kickoff to Clemson was fair caught on the 3-yard line. The rules in college football mean that Clemson got to start their drive on the 25, but Witten apparently didn’t know that.

Witten, Booger McFarland, Joe Tessitore, and draft analyst Todd McShay were an alternate programming option for the championship game on ESPNews called ESPN Film Room. That probably would’ve been fine if it didn’t serve as the replacement for the very popular Coaches Film Room that usually supplements ESPN’s championship coverage.

Witten, McFarland, and Tessitore took over as the crew for Monday Night Football during the 2018 season. It didn’t go well. Nevertheless, ESPN reportedly made the decision it’ll stick with the trio in 2019, and apparently felt good enough about them to supplant Coaches Film Room with their analysis instead.

And there were brief moments where you got a chance to see Witten’s football intelligence in action.

But for the most part, it was — like the 2018 Monday Night Football broadcasts — awkward and unentertaining.

Shortly after providing interesting analysis of Clemson’s pick-six, Witten fumbled with the film room controls until he quit on the idea with a “I think I ruined it.”

And for much of the night, it was four guys talking over each other about not much of anything.

ESPN’s strategy was likely to put their Monday Night Football crew of the future in a more comfortable and natural situation so Witten and McFarland could show off their football knowledge. The network should’ve just stuck with Coaches Film Room.