Pat McAfee formally announces his return to ESPN College GameDay for 2024 season

The wait is over. Pat McAfee is officially returning to ESPN’s College GameDay for the 2024 season.

McAfee announced the news by dropping a video promo on Twitter, featuring some of his most memorable moments from the last year on the show. There were more than a few, of course.

“I’m lucky, I’m honored, I’m humble, I’m grateful and…” McAfee said in the video, “I’m back. … I can’t wait for Dublin on August 24th. Let’s have the greatest year of football in the history of college football. Hell yeah.”

Though there was reportedly a high likelihood that a deal would get worked out with ESPN to keep Pat McAfee on College GameDay, it wasn’t officially signed as of a month ago. That left things at least a little up in the air, though McAfee had expressed a clear desire to return.

“We’re not getting into that,” McAfee laughed in June on The Pat McAfee Show. “I don’t know if (many, many years) is the case, but it will get figured out. And it will. It was an honor, it is an honor to be a part of College GameDay.”

McAfee was a bit hit on GameDay last year, bringing a youthful energy to the show that was much needed. He certainly drove some strong opinions about his presence, one way or another.

Still, there were some iconic moments, many of them featured in the video above. Now College GameDay can continue with the same chemistry moving forward.

Pat McAfee stressed he is a team player, despite his deal taking some time to iron out.

Even so, juggling the passion of college football fans remains an ongoing challenge for the lightning rod TV personality. It’s something he’ll have to manage going forward, now that he’s returning to the show.

“I pride myself on being a good locker room guy, good vibes guy, good energy guy, which is why it is becoming something where it’s like, every single Saturday, do I want to read — because I’m on the internet a lot,” McAfee said in December. “We’re an internet show. So I’m like on there. People are like, ‘Don’t read your mentions.’ It’s like, ‘I have to.’ It’s part of our job.

“It’s like, these college fans are awesome, they’re phenomenal, they’re incredibly passionate. But man, that negativity — normally when I get dropped into a new show like the WWE, that negativity is like three months. They hate my life, they hate my — they hate everything about me. And then they’re like, ‘You know what? This guy, not that bad.’ How about this? I’m back. I don’t love it. I don’t love that my life is just going to continue to have people telling me to run into oncoming traffic, swallow a barrel.”