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Kirk Herbstreit hammers NIL usage in recruiting: ‘Bunch of (expletive)’
By Paul Harvey
Published:
Kirk Herbstreit remains a key broadcasting figure for the world of college football. Entering 2022, Herbstreit enters another season as a key piece for ESPN’s College GameDay broadcasts and primetime action on ABC.
In a conversation with J. Brady McCollough of the LA Times, Herbstreit addressed the new age of college football and the impact of Name, Image and Likeness on the sport.
While Herbstreit admitted he could see players eventually getting a slice of the revenue dollars from TV contracts, he doesn’t like how NIL has become a key player in recruiting and the commitment decisions of young players:
“That’s not what NIL was about,” Herbstreit says. “It was about Bryce Young or C.J. Stroud or a guy who was established on the field creating marketing opportunities. It’s not about trying to outbid another booster to try to get a recruit. That’s just not a healthy model.
“It’s terrible for the sport. It puts these coaches in weird spots. What I’m about is the next wave — the ESPN money, the Fox money, it’s going into the Big Ten from Fox and the SEC from ESPN. I’m all about the players saying, ‘Forget NIL. Let’s negotiate and get a share of those dollars. Oh, we’re going to a 16-team playoff? How many billions of dollars? OK, we need a share of that.’
“But I don’t like what it’s started out with the recruiting … I went to this school and got offered this, next week I’m gonna go to that school and get offered this. That is a bunch of bull—.”
Those are definitely some strong remarks from Herbstreit.
As a part of that conversation with the LA Times, Herbstreit also revealed he battled a serious health scare that led to him missing ESPN’s coverage of the 2022 NFL Draft.
Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.