Kirk Herbstreit rants about Indiana, Miami uniforms while fighting for Nike over Adidas

Be it in his role on ESPN‘s College GameDay or as a color analyst for ABC college football games and Thursday Night Football, Kirk Herbstreit generally likes to avoid making sweeping takes that could go viral. Except when it comes to college football jersey brands, it appears.

During his weekly Friday appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, Herbstreit unleashed a fiery rant about the “hideous” look of Adidas football jerseys like those worn by the Indiana and Miami football programs. Herbstreit was discussing Saturday’s Big Ten showdown between No. 7 Indiana and No. 3 Oregon in Eugene, where College GameDay will host its Week 7 show Saturday morning.

“I think the one guy that has a real dilemma on his hands this weekend is none other than Pat McAfee. Because he’s got his home squad and they’re wearing Adidas – a really bad uniform. It’s hideous,” Herbstreit said unprompted. “While I’m at it, the Miami uniform is hideous as well. It is awful. It could not be any worse. It’s hideous. Miami’s uniforms are a disgrace. They’re a disgrace. They need to go back to Nike. Indiana’s (uniforms) are trash. Their uniforms are terrible. I can’t stand them. … Wait a second, the dilemma is Pat has his home team – Go Hoosiers, I-U – Indiana against your guy, (Oregon head coach) Dan Lanning. You’ve got a real, real, real problem on your hands, my friend.”

What's your problem @KirkHerbstreit 😂😂#PMSLive pic.twitter.com/28N5uBHjEW

— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) October 10, 2025

McAfee made several attempts to interrupt Herbstreit’s epic rant, potentially to save his College GameDay colleague from saying something he might regret later, to no avail. Once Herbstreit was done, McAfee did a bit of damage control in defense of Adidas, the second-most popular and profitable sportswear brand behind only Nike.

“Certainly not a desirable position to be in, but what you just did to Adidas, that is currently investing a lot of money into American football, welcome to the sport, was maybe partially correct. Some of their stuff is ass,” McAfee said. “But Adidas superstars are unbelievable. They’re investing in football and we assume they’ll only get better, like their cleats.”

At this point, a calmer Herbstreit made it clear his only complaint with Adidas is with the design choices for their college football jerseys, especially those at Indiana and Miami. Of course, while Adidas and Nike supply teams with their sports apparel, including branded football jerseys, the brands themselves don’t always have a say in the actual jersey designs, especially when working with longstanding brands that prefer to maintain a traditional look, like at Alabama and Ohio State, two Nike-branded programs.

“I don’t mind them getting involved, but the uniforms just need to be redone,” Herbstreit concluded. “They look terrible. They’re just a bad look.”