Kirk Herbstreit Confesses the One Mistake He’d Never Repeat in His ESPN Broadcasting Career

Kirk Herbstreit has become one of the most respected and beloved football broadcasters in the world. Since beginning his career as a lead analyst on ESPN's College GameDay in 1996, Herbstreit has been the voice behind the biggest college football games each week, solidifying his status as a key figure in sports media.

Over the years, Herbstreit's popularity has soared, and his expertise has earned him even greater opportunities. In 2022, he joined Al Michaels as the color commentator for Amazon Prime's Thursday Night Football . Known for his professionalism and insightful analysis, Herbstreit is widely regarded as a top-tier broadcaster and has received numerous accolades and recognition from his peers. However, even he is not immune to making mistakes in his career.

One of the most notable blunders in Herbstreit's broadcasting career occurred on October 13, 2007, during a live broadcast of College GameDay . Herbstreit reported that LSU head coach Les Miles was set to become the new head coach of the Michigan Wolverines. The source of this information was a call Herbstreit received from someone who claimed they were going to be Miles' defensive coordinator at Michigan. This led Herbstreit to break the story live on air.

Miles, who had strong ties to the program as a former player and assistant coach at Michigan, was widely considered a leading candidate to replace then-coach Lloyd Carr. Miles' potential return to Ann Arbor seemed likely, given his deep connections to the school and his success at LSU, which is why Herbstreit's premature announcement of the move caused such a stir.

"I don't look for stories," Herbstreit recalled while on an episode of Kevin Clark's This Is Football . "This guy called me, and it was late in the year, and he said, 'Hey, I can't believe this, I'm heading to Michigan, and I'm going to be their new defensive coordinator.' And I knew him from just relationships, and I said, 'What? You're going to Michigan?' And he said, 'Yeah, I'm going to be Les Miles' defensive coordinator at Michigan.'"

Unsure of how to proceed, Herbstreit asked his source if he wanted him to announce the information on air. The person reportedly responded, "You can do whatever you want." Unsure about breaking the news, Herbstreit consulted with his executive producer at ESPN, who encouraged him to release the information to the public.

"I was like, 'Ah, I don't know... I don't know. That's not my kind of thing,'" Herbstreit admitted.

Despite his reservations, Herbstreit went ahead and made the announcement live on air. However, Les Miles quickly debunked the rumor, clarifying that he was not leaving LSU for Michigan. During the broadcast, Herbstreit mentioned Jon Tenuta, who was the defensive coordinator at Georgia Tech at the time, as the person who would be joining Miles at Michigan.

Reflecting on the incident, Herbstreit acknowledged his mistake and expressed regret over the decision. "I would never do that again," he stated. "I don't break stories; I'm not interested in stories. I get told so much stuff I never talk about. I like to stay in that lane... And I learned a very valuable lesson that if someone calls me and says something, I maybe give it to a Pete Thamel or some reporter... I'm not saying s--t anything ever again when it comes to breaking stories. I didn't even look for that story. It came to me. But I made the mistake of talking about it publicly."

The timing of Herbstreit's report could not have been worse for LSU. On the same day as the GameDay broadcast, LSU lost a nail-biter to Kentucky, 43-37, in triple overtime. The news of Miles potentially leaving for Michigan, coupled with the announcement that LSU's defensive coordinator Bo Pelini was heading to Nebraska, created chaos around the program.

Despite these distractions, LSU would actually lose one more game that season, against Arkansas, before defeating Tennessee for the SEC Championship and ultimately winning the BCS National Championship against Ohio State.