Stephen A. Smith reacts to Kirk Herbstreit calling him out during Ohio State's win vs. Tennessee in College Football Playoff

Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit were on the call Saturday night as Ryan Day and Ohio State pounded Tennessee 42-17 in the College Football Playoff. There was plenty of talk about Day and his future with the Buckeyes leading up to the game, including on ESPN First Take.

However, he had his team ready to play as Ohio State had a statement win against Tennessee. During the game, Chris Fowler called it “nonsense” that people at ESPN and elsewhere were saying Ryan Day should be fired. Kirk Herbstreit called out First Take specifically for its comments.

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“First Take tried to fire him, they thought he was done. So I’m excited to see what they talk about on Monday after this performance,” Herbstreit said of Ryan Day. “They had him out. They were trying to find replacements. But here he is. He’s still got his hat on. He’s still coaching.”

Stephen A. Smith responded to the comments made by Herbstreit Monday morning on First Take.

“Kirk Herbstreit, ‘First Take tried to get him fired.’ That is not true. I did. Not First Take. That was me, Stephen A. I’m going to own that,” Stephen A. Smith said. “And what did I say specifically, Kirk Herbstreit, because you’ve got to quote me accurately, my brother.

“I watch you on College Football GameDay. I don’t misquote you, don’t misquote me. What I said was, this man Ryan Day, if he doesn’t get a national championship he should go, even with a 66-10 record.”

Stephen A. Smith went on to explain his thoughts on Ryan Day, sharing that Ohio State either needs to win the national championship or get really, really close for him to keep his job.

If not, Smith feels like this season still isn’t a success with the talent Ohio State has.

“I didn’t stutter one bit, I ain’t stuttering now. You get the job at The Ohio State, which you know, Kirk Herbstreit, you got to beat Michigan. This man has lost four in a row. … And then not only do you lose four straight to Michigan, you get to the College Football Playoff, and you get bounced out by Tennessee. That’s what I was saying, you can’t lose to Tennessee now. You’ve gotta handle your business,” Smith said.

“To their credit, they blew them out. They beat Tennessee like they stole something, OK. Major props to you. But in the end, what it comes down to is this, you’re Ryan Day, the job is two-fold – beat Michigan and make sure you’re in the national championship picture. You’ve got a $20 million payroll with NIL. You’ve got 11 dudes that were NFL caliber that returned to the school for this season. You didn’t even win the Big Ten. And then if you get bounced out early in the College Football Playoff, had that happened, you damn right I would’ve been on national television, right before Christmas, ‘Ryan Day got to go.’”

As Smith said, that didn’t happen, though. Ryan Day did a great job preparing his team, despite there being plenty of outside noise after the performance against Michigan.

The Buckeyes jumped out to a 21-0 first-quarter lead against the Wolverines and never looked back. Now Ohio State will face Oregon in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1.

“He handled his business. Now what you going to do against Oregon? We gone find out. But Mr. Fowler, Mr. Herbstreit, love you guys. Y’all do a great, great job. I love you Kirk, you know that. But you’ve got to quote me accurately,” Stephen A. Smith said. “I stated, ‘Ryan Day, if you don’t win the national championship, right there in that Final 4, competing for the national championship, after that and four straight losses to Michigan, oh, we can get somebody at Ohio State to do that.”

As for Shannon Sharpe of ESPN First Take, he didn’t go after Fowler and Herbstreit on Monday, but he did issue a strong warning.

“I’m going to be a good teammate. I’m going to let it slide. … But hey, if we’re going to be on the same team, if we’re going to work for the same network, don’t do that,” Sharpe said. “Kirk, Chris Fowler, I promise you, if you ever mention any platform I’m on again, and talking about, ‘I wonder what they’re going to say’ as negativity, I promise you, ESPN ain’t got enough bosses to keep me off y’all for what I’m going to say.”