When a sports figure has a personality like media-star Pat McAfee’s, it certainly will lend itself to a percentage of observers almost automatically disliking it.
I get it. It’s not clam by any means, and its 180-degrees from the old guard. It’s clearly not for everyone, I get that. But let’s be real for a minute.
McAfee saved ESPN’s “College GameDay” the last two seasons.
The show had grown stale.
Desmond Howard joined the show over a decade-and-a-half ago, and his bit of protecting Michigan at all costs grew old around the same time the Lou Holtz-Mark May studio bit did.
Kirk Herbstreit used to be a superstar on “College GameDay.” So much in fact that he rose to a spot in Amazon’s TV booth for the NFL’s Thursday night games a few years back. Since then, it’s hard not to think he’s been spread too thin.
Lee Corso, bless his heart, is a trip down nostalgia lane each Saturday he has appeared. The last decade has been rough on Coach’s health, and despite his best efforts, his headgear pick at the end of each show doesn’t hit like it used to.
We already know legendary head coach Nick Saban will join the show this fall which will give it a change that is hopefully for the better.
But as McAfee remains unsigned to the show in 2024, fear starts to creep in that he may be gone.
McAfee sells the pomp and pageantry that makes college football special. He seems to really buy in to each campus he visits both with his own show broadcasting on Friday’s and during Saturday’s “College GameDay” showing.
Leading the Tennessee band in Rocky Top, calling the Dawgs only to spit in their faces and going bull riding while in Montana are just a few of his highlights. I will not defend all of the things McAfee has said that landed him in hot water. I will sit here and tell you the show has been more entertaining with him on it the last two years than it was the previous decade combined.
If McAfee wants to free up a bit of his busy schedule as he’s a relatively new father, nobody is going to think less of him for leaving GameDay. If he’s leaving because his act truly isn’t received well by the “distinguished college football crowds” then that decision will turn into an ESPN regret in no time.
McAfee might not be for everyone and that’s fine; most entertainers aren’t. But without him I’m guessing the number of college football fans that flee “College GameDay” for Fox’s “Big Noon Kickoff” as their pregame choice will grow.
Related: Notre Dame’s history in 34 all-time ‘College Gameday’ appearances