Kirk Herbstreit gets honest about brutal career moment

Kirk Herbstreit is a leading voice in college football, so people listen when the ESPN analyst talks. Now, he may ruffle some feathers occasionally (looking at you, Florida State fans), but it’s hard to argue that there’s any voice or opinions in the space that are listened to, valued or respected more.

So, you’d be wise to listen when Herbstreit tells those at home what he hears. But he isn’t always going to get it right.

So, when he appeared on Omaha Productions (and ESPN’s) This is Football with Kevin Clark podcast, Herbstreit was asked to participate in one of the show’s unique segments. According to Clark, they do a thing called “one rep back,” so with Herbstreit as a media member, he obliged in sharing the one moment in his career he wishes he could have back.

“Oh man, I would say back in 2007. I don’t know if you remember this story…LSU, they were on a great run, and a guy called me,” says Herbstreit. “And I don’t look for stories; this guy called me, it was late in the year and he said, ‘Hey, I can’t believe this, I’m headed to Michigan. I’m gonna be their defensive coordinator.’ And I knew him from just relationships, and I said, ‘What, you’re going to Michigan?’ And he goes, ‘Yeah, I’m gonna be Les Miles’ defensive coordinator at Michigan.’ I said, ‘Wait, Les is coaching at LSU.’ He goes, ‘Well, he’s gonna take the Michigan job, and I’m going with him.'”

As we know, Miles, who played and coached at Michigan, ultimately decided to stay at LSU.

Although there was a lot of buzz about him potentially taking the Michigan job, he didn’t accept the offer. On the day of the SEC championship game, Herbstreit mistakenly reported on ESPN’s College GameDay that Miles was headed to Michigan.

However, LSU officials quickly clarified that Miles would remain at LSU.

There’s more to the story than meets the eye, and Herbstreit, who is not a reporter by trade, made sure to clarify his role in what went wrong.

“So, I called one of my executive producers at ESPN and said, ‘I got the craziest call from this guy who’s gonna be the defensive coordinator.’ And he goes, ‘Well, we should get that out there,'” Herbstreit recalled. “And I was like, ‘Oh, I don’t know; I don’t know. That’s not my kinda thing.’… If you go back and listen to what I said, I said, ‘Unless there’s some unforeseen circumstances, Les Miles will be the next head coach at Michigan.’ How about me putting that in there? No one remembered I said that. ‘Unforeseeable circumstances’ means me talking about it publicly.

“And then LSU, who was chasing a national title, they would go onto a win a title that year. Les Miles came out and denied it all…He ended up staying at LSU. I just wonder — I would never do that again. I don’t break stories. I’m not interested in stories. I get told so much stuff I never talking about. I like to stay in that lane, and I learned a very valuable lesson…If someone calls me and says something, I’m gonna give it to a Pete Thamel or some reporter. I’m not saying sh*t about anything ever again when it comes to breaking stories.

“I didn’t even look for that story; it came to to me. But I made the mistake talking about it publically…I apologize for saying what somebody told me, but it was a guy that was gonna be on the staff. It changed everything. Because then he came out, if you remember, ‘I’m not going anywhere. I’m ready for this football game.’ I think they beat Tennessee maybe in the SEC Championship, and then some upsets happened, and they got their shot at a national title, and they won it all.

“I’m glad it ended well for Les and LSU, and I apologize for saying anything about it.”

[ This is Football ]

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