As Ohio State put the finishing touches on its blowout victory over Tennessee in the first round of the College Football Playoff on Saturday, the Buckeyes’ fanbase found itself fending off a potshot. Only it didn’t come from any of the players on the field or the thousands of orange-wearing fans in the stands, but rather Kirk Herbstreit, who was looking down on them from on high — both literally and figuratively.
“… The lunatic fringe at Ohio State is as powerful as anywhere in the country,” Herbstreit said, repeating one of his go-to insults after Chris Fowler asked how the Buckeyes’ impending win softened the blow of their shocking loss to Michigan.
Fowler’s initial question seemed innocuous enough. But he surely knew what was coming when he followed up by asking Herbstreit how big Ohio State’s “lunatic fringe” is.
“It used to be 8-10 [percent of the fanbase]. I think it’s grown now to about 15-20,” the former Buckeyes quarterback said. “So I don’t know. I’m sure they’ll be happy tonight — be fired up about what the Ohio State team did. But God forbid they lose to Oregon. They may want to fire [Ryan Day] again.”
In defense of Ryan Day, Kirk Herbstreit took aim at:
– The “lunatic fringe” at Ohio State. “The lunatic fringe at Ohio State is as powerful as anywhere in the country.”
– First Take: “They thought he was done. So I’ll be excited to see what they talk about on Monday.” pic.twitter.com/0Ovs0MBMOd
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 22, 2024
Herbstreit even took aim at his own ESPN colleagues, questioning what First Take would discuss on Monday after having been critical of Day in the wake of Ohio State’s fourth consecutive loss to Michigan.
To be clear, there is a portion of the Buckeyes’ fanbase comprised of lunatics, which isn’t exactly unique to Ohio State. And sure, that portion of the fanbase has certainly grown more vocal in the wake of the Buckeyes’ latest loss to a 6-5 Michigan team, which Ohio State was favored by nearly three touchdowns against.
But while Herbstreit’s past criticisms of Ohio State’s “lunatic fringe” seemed to be directed toward the type of fans who post Ryan Day’s address on the internet or hold a grudge against him for being friends with Desmond Howard, that doesn’t seem to be what he’s exclusively referencing here. Rather, ESPN’s top analyst seems to think that anybody calling for Day’s job is a legitimate psycho, even if that includes some of the most prominent voices on his own network.
I should probably disclose I also fit into that category, as anyone who follows me on social media knows how I feel about Day. I’ve never posted his phone number on social media or accosted his wife in a grocery store. I merely have high expectations for my alma mater, which hasn’t reached any of its own self-stated goals — beat Michigan, win the Big Ten, win national championships — for the entirety of Joe Biden’s presidential term.
There are plenty of people who disagree with me, with most citing Day’s 67-10 overall record as evidence he shouldn’t be fired. It actually makes for a pretty fascinating discussion regarding what matters for blue-blood college football programs and the importance of rivalries and championship trophies.
But regardless of which side of the debate you fall on, the point is that it is a conversation, with both sides making reasonable arguments, especially following a fourth straight loss to Michigan.
As Kirk Herbstreit would have you believe, however, the criticism attached to Day has been so unfounded that you might even think the Buckeyes actually beat the Wolverines this year (or in any of the previous three) the way he dismisses it so quickly. Never mind that Ohio State entered the game as a 20.5-point favorite and largely lost the game because of a mind-boggling offensive gameplan, which looked nothing like the Buckeyes’ approach during Saturday’s ass-kicking of a Tennessee team that’s much more talented than Michigan.
Whether you think Day should be on the hot seat or not, the backlash he’s faced the last few weeks has been earned and Ohio State fans had every right to be skeptical of their own team entering Saturday’s matchup with the Volunteers. Had the home crowd at Ohio Stadium booed the Buckeyes following a sluggish start — which Herbstreit made a big show of predicting would happen on the College Football Playoff selection show — it would have been justified, even if ESPN’s top analyst wants to dismiss the very passion that drives the sport he’s made millions of dollars off of as lunacy.
While Herbstreit has become an increasingly polarizing figure in college football in recent years, there’s something especially strange about his recent behavior regarding his alma mater, where his son is currently a walk-on tight end. Perhaps his own relationship with Day has reached the point where he’s become so biased that he can’t even fathom why Ohio State fans might be agitated about a four-year losing streak in a rivalry they’ve been told trumps everything else. It’s also worth noting that one of Herbstreit’s other sons recently committed to play for the Wolverines, which has created another subplot to all of this.
In any event, Herbstreit’s cheap shot on Saturday night wasn’t the first he’s taken at Ohio State fans and it almost makes you wonder if he was disappointed his prediction of the Buckeyes getting booed at home didn’t come to fruition or that Tennessee fans “taking over” Ohio Stadium — another storyline he repeatedly played up — proved to be a nonfactor. One way or another, Herbstreit was going to get his dig in, even if it had to come from out of left field.
Herbstreit has made a habit of calling out critical Ohio State fans over the years, even blaming them for his family leaving Columbus years ago. But the repeated digs at one of the sport’s most passionate fanbases now making it into selection shows and game broadcasts takes it to another level.
Simply put, it’s not something seen on any other top-level sportscast in the country. Imagine Jay Bilas calling out lunatic Duke fans for not being satisfied with Coach K. Or Troy Aikman calling Cowboys fans crazy for demanding more from Jerry Jones and Mike McCarthy. It just simply wouldn’t be part of the conversation. And yet, Kirk Herbstreit has chosen to make his personal vendetta against Ohio State fans a major part of the story.
With Ohio State advancing to the Rose Bowl/College Football Playoff quarterfinal, which Herbstreit will call, this surely won’t be the last run-in between the ESPN analyst and the fanbase he’s long had a complicated relationship with. And if the Buckeyes go on to win the national title, watch out.
But even if Kirk Herbstreit gets to have the last laugh over Day skeptics like myself, that doesn’t mean his criticism of OSU fans hasn’t missed the mark. It’s not the size of Ohio State’s so-called “lunatic fringe” that’s grown; rather, it’s the number of people who disagree with Herbstreit that has.
