College Football Fans Think Kirk Herbstreit's TV Presence Is 'Sad' In 2026
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Kirk Herbstreit has been a mainstay in college football households for two decades now.
The 57-year-old analyst has been a part of ESPN’s “College GameDay” since August of 1996. He’s been with the program for more than 30 years at this point. Herbstreit has since expanded his roles at ESPN, calling the ABC Game of the Week alongside Chris Fowler, while also working as an NFL announcer at Amazon Prime.
In recent years, though, criticism has been mounting for Herbstreit. He’s grown close to Pat McAfee, who is quite the polarizing figure himself. And he’s faced some backlash for his NFL commentary.
Many have also taken issue with his constant promoting of his golden retriever, Peter, as he even launched a dog-themed business.
Fans of Herbstreit appear to be saddened by what he’s like on TV in 2026.
“What happened to Herbstreit, man? In the 2000s he had the guys want to be him, girls want to be with him vibe, and he was great with Corso post-stroke. Seemed truly genuine. Don’t know if CAA got to him or what. Strange and sad,” longtime college football writer Matt Smith shared on X.
College football fans debating what Herbstreit is like on TV in 2026
College football fans are debating what they think the problem is with Herbstreit in 2026.
“He’s turned into the perfect mainstream robot for the big media outlets. Spending decades among those companies would do that to anyone,” one fan argued.
“He’s always been kind of a punk. Had a radio show in Columbus where he’d talk (expletive) about OSU all the time. Then he made a big deal about moving because people in Columbus were so mean. Kind of a drama queen,” one fan added.
“I guess being named the premier analyst for NFL and CFB will mess with your ego,” one fan added.
“Not having Corso has hurt him. He seems to play off someone, as he did in a great way with Corso. Now it’s with Mcafee, and it doesn’t work at all,” another fan wrote on X.
Herbstreit won’t apologize for his love of McAfee, though
Herbstreit has said that if McAfee wasn’t brought onto “College GameDay” in 2022, he probably wouldn’t still be on the show today.
“You can find people to talk football. But it’s hard to find people who can give you some juice. And I just recognized, before Pat became Pat, I just recognized his talent,” Herbstreit said on Bussin’ With The Boys this year.
“I was basically begging him to be on the show. Whether it’s Barkley or Lee Corso or now Pat, you have to have a guy that is incredibly entertaining and natural and authentically funny.”
Herbstreit is proud of what “GameDay” has become in 2026.
“He finally just kept coming around more and more, then he came on the show, and then Saban came on the show, then you had [Nick] Saban and Pat together, and it’s like, ‘Man, think about what we were for 20 years,’ and now we’ve almost reinvented the brand with some big personalities,” Herbstreit said.
College football fans, though, appear to disagree.
This story was originally published by The Spun on Oct 18, 2026, where it first appeared in the College Football section. Add The Spun as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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