Kirk Herbstreit admits Pat McAfee, Nick Saban helped stop him from giving up ESPN College GameDay

ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit revealed a little bit of news recently during an interview with Andy Staples and Ari Wasserman of On3 as he shared that he put some thought into leaving ESPN College GameDay a few years back.

Herbstreit was hired as an NFL analyst with Amazon Prime Video ahead of the 2022 football season to call games on Thursday nights. After accepting that role, he thought he would leave College GameDay fairly soon after due to his busy schedule.

However, with Pat McAfee and Nick Saban joining ESPN College GameDay in recent years, Herbstreit now doesn’t plan on going anywhere.

“I thought when I took the Amazon deal three years ago that I would probably have to give something up, because it’s so hard to do all three of these things,” Kirk Herbstreit said. “But now, man, you couldn’t kick me off the set. Like I absolutely love it. We’re having a blast.”

Pat McAfee and Nick Saban have brought a new energy to College GameDay that Herbstreit loves. McAfee is incredibly entertaining and knows how to work the crowd, while Saban knows as much about football as anyone and does a great job of breaking down games.

McAfee started with GameDay during the 2022 season, with Saban joining ahead of the 2024 season after retiring from Alabama.

“I’ve known coach a long, long, long time. There’s a serious comfort there with him and me and Pat and Des and Rece. I think it comes across on air,” Herbstreit said. “I think people would learn that Nick Saban’s not the guy at the podium with the Coke bottle and his hands going and getting mad at the media. I think he’s shown that he’s really prepared, he’s really good at this. He’s having fun. He’s completely just put himself right in the middle of the chemistry and a lot of the unscripted moments.

“He cusses every show, which every time he does I forget that Pat changed the rules on that, so he’s allowed to say words now all the time. But I’m not exaggerating, I’ve never had more fun on the show in 29 years. I love it. I love Pat. I love what he brings, the energy that he brings, Des, just the whole thing.”

After thinking a couple of years ago that it was getting close to time to step away from College GameDay, Herbstreit now plans to continue on the show for years to come.

“I hope it’ll last a long time, having that group together that we have,” Herbstreit said. “And even Stanford Steve, man, he’s been such a pleasure, honestly, like just as a guy. That role, you know, it’s the betting stuff. But behind the scenes… those behind the scenes people, when it comes to just the meetings and the grind that you get into and the lack of sleep, those positive energy people that just bring goodness to the show, I am indebted to those people like Stanford Steve and so many others.

“We’re in a great spot. I love having everybody that’s on the show and hopefully we can keep it going all the way through the year and for the next few years going.”