Kirk Herbstreit admits ESPN ‘has been very, very guilty’ of skimping on college football coverage

As college football has become more of a national sport this decade, ESPN has not so quietly put more resources toward covering the sport.

Earlier this year, ESPN executive Mike Foss publicly stated that the network “made a concerted effort to follow college football in a really meaningful way” in 2025. Part of the effort centered around hiring Josh Pate, Will Compton and Taylor Lewan as contributors. That trio will host its own Friday evening show starting Week 1 this fall.

And as ESPN embraces college football, one of its most prominent longtime commentators covering the sport isn’t hiding his excitement. College GameDay veteran and lead game analyst Kirk Herbstreit joined Compton and Lewan on their podcast, Bussin’ With the Boys, this week and acknowledged the Worldwide leader “has been very, very guilty” of under-covering college football for years.

“I think our own place has been very, very guilty of those morning shows. It’s NFL or LeBron James or the Yankees or the Dodgers. They’re playing the hits,” Herbstreit said.

“They’re not breaking down what’s going on in Nebraska, unless there’s turmoil, unless there’s some kind of controversy. Then they’re going to want to get into it … but otherwise, they’re not talking college football. And I’m like, wait a second, why are you always talking NBA and MLB and WNBA, but where’s college football on your rundown? It’s the second-biggest sport.”

Bussin’ & Pate On Campus will serve as a table-setter, on-site at one of the big games each weekend of the college football season. The hosts have been vocal about their desire to create more day-to-day conversation around the sport, which they believe gets drowned out by NFL talk.

Herbstreit said he believes the concept could work as a daily show, and that ESPN shouldn’t stop at Fridays as it bolsters its college football commentary.

“I wish you guys would do it Monday through Friday, and maybe this Friday show will lead to a Monday through Friday,” he said. “Because I think we need more college football on ESPN.”

This phenomenon is not unique to ESPN. Conference realignment, the expansion of the College Football Playoff and new freedoms in the transfer portal have all helped take college football from a regional sport to a consistent national story. FS1 brought in Barstool Sports for its morning show last season, adding to its college football coverage. The Ringer launched a college football podcast last year, adding to Todd McShay’s NFL Draft content. Networks like USA, The CW and TNT Sports have acquired rights to games.

Especially if the CFP expands beyond 16 teams and more networks can get in on Playoff games, national coverage will only grow.

But while college football fans have long complained that ESPN does not dedicate enough airtime to America’s second-biggest sport, it is different for Herbstreit to say it out loud and put pressure on the network to keep investing.