Kirk Herbstreit reveals he nearly quit ESPN’s College GameDay… here’s why

After a brief playing career, Kirk Herbstreit became a household name in the United States thanks to his feature role on ESPN’s College GameDay.

As one of the main faces of the traveling preview show, Herbstreit became one of the most prominent voices in the sport.

But he was ready to put all that behind him when an opportunity arose in 2022.

In March of that year, Herbstreit was announced as the color commentator for Amazon Prime’s NFL coverage on Thursday Night Football, alongside play-by-play man Al Michaels.

When faced with the task of running both programs, Herbstreit admitted to On3 that the schedule forced him to possibly give up GameDay — or his role as ESPN’s main college football color voice on Saturday Night Football. But that is all in the past now.

“It’s so hard to do all three of those things,” Herbstreit revealed. “But now, man, you couldn’t kick me off the set. Like I absolutely love it. We’re having a blast.’

Herbstreit (far right) has been on the desk for ESPN’s College GameDay since 1996

Part of that may be the recent additions to the set. Herbstreit has been on the show since 1996 and is the second most regular member of the crew, behind only Lee Corso, who has been on GameDay since its inception. Desmond Howard has been on the desk since 2005 and Rece Davis has been hosting since 2015.

But the recent full-time additions of Pat McAfee in 2022 and Nick Saban in 2024 have breathed new life into the show. It means GameDay has remained college football’s premier preview show, despite attempts by other networks to challenge them.

‘I knew a coach [Saban] 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 the air,” Herbstreit said.

But it’s not just the people on the desk – there are plenty of others who appear on the show, or those who work behind the scenes, who make GameDay worthwhile for Herbstreit.

‘Even [sports betting analyst] Stanford Steve [Coughlin]man, he was honestly such a pleasure, just like a man. That role, you know, it’s the gambling stuff. But behind the scenes… those people behind the scenes, when it comes to just the meetings and the rut you get into and the lack of sleep, those people with positive energy who just bring goodness to the show, I owe a debt of gratitude to those people like Stanford Steve and so many others.

“I hope it will last a long time, now that we have the group together,” Herbstreit said. “…We’re in a great place. I’m excited to have everyone on the show and hopefully we can keep this going throughout the year and into the years to come.”

There is still plenty of time left in this college football season as the College Football Playoff advances to the semifinals.

Herbstreit says the additions of Pat McAfee (L) and Nick Saban (R) have given him new life

First, the Capitol One Orange Bowl takes place Thursday night in Miami, featuring No. 6 seed Penn State and No. 7 seed Notre Dame.

Notre Dame is coming off a Sugar Bowl victory that was overshadowed by the terrorist attack in New Orleans, forcing the game to be postponed one day.

After the Orange Bowl, the Cotton Bowl Classic kicks off on Friday evening in Arlington, Texas. That game features the No. 5 seed Texas Longhorns and the No. 8 seed Ohio State Buckeyes.

The winners of both games will face off in the College Football Playoff National Championship game on January 20 in Atlanta.

All four remaining teams are former national champions, but only Ohio State has won a title in the CFP era. The Buckeyes won the first CFP National Championship game in 2015.

Texas hasn’t won a title since 2005, while Notre Dame and Penn State have waited more than 30 years since their last championships in 1988 and 1994, respectively.