Kirk Herbstreit has his hands full these days.
The football analyst racks up the frequent flyer mileage as an NFL analyst for Prime Video’s Thursday Night Football as well as a college football analyst calling games for ESPN and appearing each in-season Saturday on College GameDay.
With that taxing schedule, no one would blame him for cutting loose one of those obligations. In fact, he assumed that when he took the TNF job he would have to do exactly that.
“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 during an interview with Andy Staples and Ari Wasserman of On3. “But now, man, you couldn’t kick me off the set. Like I absolutely love it. We’re having a blast.”
As he has in the past, Herbstreit credits the Pat McAfee and Nick Saban bromance for reinvigorating his excitement in GameDay.
“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.”
Given the ratings success GameDay is seeing, Herbstreit seems more locked in than ever to maintain the show as it currently stands for the foreseeable future.
“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.”
In the wide-ranging interview, Herbstreit also pushed back on the notion that ESPN has an SEC bias and claimed that his son runs his social media accounts.
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.