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Kirk Herbstreit slams manufactured debates for TV: ‘Our show is more respectful’
By Paul Harvey
Published:
Kirk Herbstreit is no fan of manufactured debates in order to get television ratings. In fact, the popular ESPN broadcaster and co-host of College GameDay claimed that every discussion on the set of the popular pre-game show is genuine in nature.
Herbstreit recently appeared on the “Net Positive” podcast hosted by comedian John Crist. During that discussion, Herbstreit tackled a lot of narratives and background information related to GameDay, including the fact that Herbstreit’s opinions are his own and come from his own homework.
“One thing I do on my job is I don’t pretend how I feel about something,” said Herbstreit. “If you agree with me, great, then we’re going to agree. But I’ve never ‘Hey, I’ll go this way, and you go that way, and we’ll create an argument, and it’ll be good for TV.’ And I think there are a lot of shows like that on TV that are let’s just argue about something. It’s a debate, even if you don’t believe it.”
Ultimately, it does not impact Herbstreit’s opinion if anyone on the set agrees or disagrees, including the legendary Nick Saban. He also said the co-hosts maintain a respectful atmosphere, something that creates a much different vibe within the show.
“I just say what I think. I do a ton of homework, I talk to a million people, I watch a ton of film and I have opinions. If Nick Saban agrees, great, if he doesn’t, great,” Finebaum claimed.
“… Once in a while, we’ll get sideways, but our show is more respectful. It’s not creating arguments or manufacturing anything… I think GameDay has a different vibe to it.”
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.