After a short playing career, Kirk Herbstreit became a household name in the United States thanks to his role as a major player on ESPN’s College GameDay.
As one of the primary faces of the traveling preview show, Herbstreit became one of the most prominent voices in the sport.
But he was ready to move on from all of that when one opportunity came calling 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 doing both programs, Herbstreit admitted to On3 that the schedule forced him to consider potentially giving up GameDay – or his role as ESPN’s primary college football color voice on Saturday Night Football. But that’s all in the past now.
‘It’s so hard to do all three of these things,’ Herbstreit revealed. ‘But now, man, you couldn’t kick me off the set. Like I absolutely love it. We’re having a blast.’
Kirk Herbstreit says he considered giving up one of his college football roles with ESPN when he accepted the job as color commentator on Thursday Night Football with Amazon Prime
Herbstreit (far right) has been on the desk for ESPN’s College GameDay since 1996
Part of that could be the recent additions to the set. Herbstreit has been on the show since 1996 – the second-most tenured member of the crew behind only Lee Corso, who has been on GameDay since its inception. Desmond Howard has sat on the desk since 2005 and Rece Davis has been a host since 2015.
But the recent full-time additions of Pat McAfee in 2022 and Nick Saban in 2024 have given new life to the show. It means that GameDay has remained the staple college football preview show – despite attempts from other networks to challenge them.
‘I’ve known 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 air,’ Herbstreit said.
But it’s not only the people on the desk – there’s plenty of others who appear on the show, or those who work behind the scenes, that make GameDay worthwhile to Herbstreit.
‘Even [sports betting analyst] Stanford Steve [Coughlin], 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.
‘I hope it’ll last a long time, having that group together that we have,’ Herbstreit said. ‘…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.’
There’s still plenty of time remaining in this college football season as the College Football Playoff rolls on 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 in Miami on Thursday night and features the No. 6 seed Penn State and the No. 7 seed Notre Dame.
Notre Dame is coming off a Sugar Bowl victory that was overshadowed by the terrorist attack that took place in New Orleans which forced the game to be pushed back one day.
After the Orange Bowl, the Cotton Bowl Classic kicks off on Friday night in Arlington, Texas. That game features the No. 5 seed Texas Longhorns and the No. 8 seed Ohio State Buckeyes.
The winners of both these games will face each other in the College Football Playoff National Championship game in Atlanta on January 20.
All four of the remaining teams are previous national champions – but only Ohio State has won a title in the CFP era. The Buckeyes won the inaugural CFP National Championship game in 2015.
Texas hasn’t won a title since 2005 while Notre Dame and Penn State have waited over 30 years since their last championships in 1988 and 1994 respectively.
