As the forward face of college football, Kirk Herbstreit’s opinion matters.
It’s why he took so much heat for retroactively lobbying for Cam Ward and the Miami Hurricanes over the Indiana Hoosiers in the College Football Playoff. It’s why Awful Announcing’s Ben Axelrod wrote that his criticism of Ohio State fans lost the plot. And it’s why AA’s Matt Yoder took him and his employer to task for their miserable coverage of the first-annual 12-team CFP.
Herbstreit’s comments tend to spark reactions — some positive, others less so. And it’s a reaction that is “really tough” for him to navigate, as he admitted on a recent appearance on the Pure Athlete podcast.
“I’m a pleaser by nature. I try to be a voice of reason,” he said. “I try to be fair. In this era of television, there’s a lot of what you see in politics when you’re watching TV; you see it in sports. There’s a lot of shock jock. There’s a lot of ‘What can I say to try to be trending, to be on social media?’ ‘What outlandish thing can I say to get out there?’ I’ve never done that. I never will.
“ESPN’s never asked me to have a side. ‘You need to say this for our sake.’ Never had that one time in 29 years. So, I just really do a lot of work. I talk to a lot of people. I prepare. I never, ever try to talk down to the viewers. The way the four of us are talking right now [on this podcast], this is how I try to talk when I’m on College GameDay. It’s really the only way I know how to talk. So, I prepare, prepare, prepare, and then I give you an opinion. I’m not standing on top of a mountain with lighting bolts saying, ‘This is the way it is.’ I’m not; I’m just saying I’ve talked with a lot of people. I watch almost every single game every Saturday for 29 years.”
Herbstreit adds that he feels like he’s in a position to have opinions.
“And so, I give you opinions,” Herbstreit says. “You don’t have to agree with them, but they’re fairly educated opinions, but they’re mine. If we want to disagree, let’s disagree. I have no problem with that. But I can assure you that my opinions aren’t just flying by the seat of my pants or ‘What can I say to upset a certain fanbase?’ Like, I’ve never done that — ever. We get accused at ESPN that we love the SEC. I love every team. I love every conference.
“I went to a Big Ten school. I was the captain at Ohio State; my dad was a captain. I love Ohio State. But I’m not on [ESPN] pushing Ohio State’s agenda or the Big Ten’s agenda. You would think I would be accused of being a Big Ten homer. I guess for some SEC people, maybe they think that. I just watch every game, and prepare, and talk with a lot of coaches during the week, and give you a take. The people that attack me, I’ve come a long with that, because at first, when I would see that, I don’t want to reason with them … I learned over time, there’s just some people they want to be mad; they need people to attack.
“None of it sits easy with me. My answer to it is not get on it, not be a part of it, which is a shame because I like interacting with fans that enjoy normal back-and-forth or ‘Hey, I have a question for you.’ I could do that all day, but I don’t like the ‘FU,’ ‘I hate you,’ ‘You’ve always sucked.’ It’s just poison to my soul,l and I just, unfortunately, it keeps me off of that where it can’t impact me in a negative way. All I do is work, talk to guys, have opinions, and do the best job that I can. Again, I’m not claiming to have all the answers, but at least I have informed answers and opinions when I give them.”
Herbstreit made a strange social media about-face, claiming he had deleted his accounts — only for his son to post content that made it seem like he was still active. He eventually cleared up the confusion, but it should be noted that the whole strange confession happened when he was dealing with personal issues.
In any event, despite the occasional missteps and the constant scrutiny, Herbstreit says that he’s committed to offering his honest, well-informed opinions without bowing to pressure or sensationalism.
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