Georgia Bulldogs great David Pollack living fruitfully in post-ESPN life

By his accounting, David Pollack has gotten upset only once over his 2023 firing from ESPN and his post as an analyst on “College GameDay.”

It certainly wasn’t when he didn’t have to board a flight and leave Atlanta to join the “GameDay” crew, nor when he was able to coach his son Nicholas’ football team at North Oconee High on an everyday basis. And not when his charitable foundation hosted its first Thanksgiving dinner (an event “like you would never believe” in Pollack’s words) for more than 900 homeless people in the Athens area.

It was none of those moments, but instead it occurred when the Georgia Bulldogs legend and College Football Hall of Famer spoke with “GameDay” host and close friend Rece Davis after Pollack’s dismissal, ending his ESPN employment that had begun in 2009.

Pollack’s welling emotions had nothing to do with a loss of identity or his place on a popular show dedicated to the sport he is passionate about. (Pollack said previously that he was told the decision was a cost-cutting measure.) Rather, they stemmed from his recognition that, without frequent contact with Davis, their friendship likely would wane.

“Like, when I called him and told him, I was crying,” Pollack told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Like, I had tears. And that was the only part that was tough, because of that.”

Pollack told the story as he sat at the end of a sturdy dining table in his family’s spacious two-story home in Oconee County. A sweeping lawn fronts the property. A gym is on the side with a pool in the back.

It was a recent afternoon. Football practice at North Oconee was approaching. His two Labradors, Barkley and Blizzard, roamed about. As ever, Pollack was eager to talk.

Beyond the one emotional moment with Davis, he misses the camaraderie with the “GameDay” team. But, aside from that, he made clear in an interview of about 45 minutes, he is doing quite well.

“There’s tons of good that just keeps coming out of things if you want to look,” Pollack said. “If you keep looking and put the past behind you.”

Two dream jobs have ended abruptly now for Pollack, who was a three-time first-team All-American for Georgia 2002-04. First, his NFL career ended in 2006, in the second game of his second season, when he suffered a broken neck trying to make a tackle. And then an unexpected phone call with an ESPN executive took away his job with the biggest and most recognized sports-media entity in the industry.

As the end of his football career led him to ESPN, Pollack harbors no bitterness, but revels in the options open to him in this next chapter.

“I’ve never seen any of those circumstances in my life wasted,” he said. “Like, those are all necessary steps to show me something that I wouldn’t have seen otherwise.”

He has thrown himself into a Christian family-oriented podcast (Family Goals) that he hosts with the pastor of his church. He wrote a children’s book that is due out later this year. He is writing a book with ESPN reporter (and former AJC staff writer) Mark Schlabach. He has taken on a larger role with his family’s eponymous foundation, which centers on meeting the needs of the under-resourced in the Athens area.

Not least, he has been able to devote more time to his family – wife, Lindsey, son, Nicholas (a sophomore at North Oconee), and daughter, Leah (a freshman and a basketball player). After football, where he coaches the defensive line – Nicholas is an outside linebacker and a tight end – he plans to help coach the North Oconee girls basketball team.

“Girls sports is awesome,” he said, using a favorite adjective of his. “Girls basketball is amazing. So I’ll be at all of those (football and basketball games).”

Credit: UGA Athletics

With the start of the college football season, he has launched a YouTube channel (David Pollack College Football) with videos offering analysis, previews and interviews, filling them with his trademark energetic style and the insight gained from playing and then analyzing the game for more than a decade. He records them in a studio he built in the basement.

“It’s just going to be fun,” Pollack said. “Football’s freaking awesome. There’s nothing better than college football on this planet.”

The first video hailed Georgia Tech, coach Brent Key and his staff for the Yellow Jackets’ season-opening win over Florida State.

“I did have some (responses from Tech fans) that were like, ‘You know, Pollack, it’s hard not to like you right now,’” he said. “I did get some of that. I’ve always prided myself when I was on television, too, like, I don’t wear a homer hat, and I’m not going to.”

Is it a path back to TV? Maybe, but Pollack has placed limitations on what he would accept. He does not want a job with the travel of “GameDay,” which took him from home for three days a week during the season.

“I have no clue where I’m going, so I don’t know what I’m going to do,” he said. “But I do know 100% beyond a reasonable doubt I’m not traveling (to that extent).”

Most people can only dream about having the financial security that the 42-year-old Pollack does to be able to enforce those restrictions on a next job. But, being in that enviable position, Pollack is worth applauding for doing so. It’s hard to find fault with tilting one’s life toward family and doing good in the world.

The YouTube venture aside, Pollack wants to be with his family, coach, hone his message as a public speaker and invest in the Athens community through his foundation.

“There’s plenty of people (in need),” he said. “There’s plenty of food epidemics. There’s plenty of education needs. It’s not great. There’s definitely some areas that we can continue to plug.”

Coaching gives him life. He sees it as a way to develop the lives of young people.

“I get to go help them become the best version of themselves, I get to go push them and help them to work,” he said. “That is awesome. Like, that is really fun.”

He plans to continue coaching after his children graduate from North Oconee. Pollack said he got a call from a college coach who wanted him to join his staff, but turned it down, prioritizing his chance to be a volunteer coach for his children’s teams. He does not plan to take another coaching job while his kids are in school.

Coaching in college is an option but not necessarily his objective.

“I think you have a really good chance to mold and shape them as high-school kids probably more so than any age,” he said. The job isn’t as lucrative as college coaching, “but I think you can do some cool things.”

Two dream jobs are in his past, taken from him without his control. David Pollack chooses to look forward and see the cool things in front of him.

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