ESPN's "College GameDay" has been a football fan's favorite program to wake up to on Saturdays for more than 35 years. Nothing says it's game day like when Lee Corso finally puts on the mascot head and declares his prediction.
Now in its 36th season, GameDay will have a fresh face on the game's premier pregame show: Jess Sims. Sims is a 31-year-old fitness instructor who has built quite the following teaching classes for Peloton, the at-home exercise bike company that became popular throughout the coronavirus pandemic.
"I am so excited to join the GameDay crew because the show not only celebrates all of the on-field action, but also highlights the passionate communities that surround the games," Sims said in an ESPN release. "This is such a great opportunity to get back to my roots in college sports and I can't wait to meet incredible athletes and fans and explore these campuses and cities that eat, sleep and breathe their hometown teams."
Her infectious and bubbly personality will undoubtedly be a hit among NCAA fans alongside hosts like Rece Davis, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard and David Pollack, and her resume speaks to her love of people.
Jess Sims' Resume: Teacher, Fitness Instructor & Now GameDay Personality
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Sims' foray into sports began on the hardcourt. The Peabody, Massachusetts native was a three-year captain at Trinity College. That career foreshadowed one of her many recent gigs: an in-arena host and sideline reporter for the WNBA's New York Liberty.
But it was in the classroom that Sims found her calling first. She taught fifth and third grade after college in Houston, Texas. She was then offered a job teaching kindergarten in New York. She worked her way up to assistant principal at a Harlem school before diving into the health and fitness field, officially joining Peloton in 2018.
"After a lot of conversations, I realized being a fitness instructor still allowed me to be a teacher, just in a different setting. As I made the transition and looked back at my journey I realized I wasn't throwing away any of the work I had done. I always say 'you live life moving forward but it only makes sense looking backward,'" she told Forbes in 2021.
Dubbed the "Hype Woman The World Needs Right Now," Sims will bring terrific energy to a show that has maybe more energy and excitement than any other sports show. She'll be in the thick of that, capturing the sport's biggest game each weekend.
But Sims is no stranger to large communities. Her fitness classes have reached millions of Peloton subscribers worldwide. She's trained with athletes like Usain Bolt. She has an impressive 437,000 followers on Instagram. I guess that's all just part of becoming America's Hype Woman.
"It is so weird and so powerful and really a privilege. I truly feel honored to have that role in so many people's lives, specifically in the last year for obvious reasons," Sims told Forbes about the pandemic. "It's humbling that I can be there for people when they need it the most to provide a good sweat, to provide comic relief and to provide community."
Sims is certainly a rising star in her field, and her career at ESPN is just getting started. Look out for her to bring the hype every Saturday.
