As it turns out, Saturday’s episode of College GameDay won’t include a confrontation between Pat McAfee and Ryan Day after all.
One day after voicing his displeasure about Day only appearing on his show when he wasn’t around to host it, the former All-Pro punter and Ohio State head coach have cleared the air. And just as Kirk Herbstreit and A.J. Hawk insisted in real-time, the entire situation stemmed from a misunderstanding in which the reigning national champion head coach was never made aware he had an invitation to appear on the program.
“Had a talk with Coach Ryan Day this morning,” McAfee told Hawk on Wednesday’s episode of his eponymous show.
“Oh nice. How’d it go?” the former Buckeyes linebacker replied.
“Misunderstanding!” McAfee answered with a smirk.
“Yeah, I think I tried to tell you that before,” Hawk responded laughing.
McAfee admitted that he was already in a fiery mood following a 20-hour flight back to the United States from Brisbane. He also said that he was under the impression that Day didn’t like him and his show, which he viewed as a two-way street.
“I thought he hated us. So that means, by default, I have to hate you,” McAfee said. “That is just how I am. That is how I operate. Turns out, he doesn’t hate us at all. Complete opposite.”
McAfee still seemed skeptical that his show’s “numerous” requests never reached Day, but said that he was apologetic about the comments he made on Tuesday, which included him telling Herbstreit that he flatly doesn’t like the Buckeyes head coach. He also admitted he and his show had given Day plenty of reasons not to like them, especially when it comes to producer Ty Schmit’s famous Lou Holtz impressions.
Nevertheless, Day insisted that wasn’t the case and that the only reason The Pat McAfee Show wasn’t included in his post-national championship media tour earlier this year was because he was never aware of the invitation. And that explanation was enough for McAfee to stand down, avoiding what was promising to be an awkward interaction during College GameDay‘s season premiere in Columbus on Saturday.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.