Kirk Herbstreit shares telling story on state of college football

Kirk Herbstreit believes some aspects of college football need to be re-examined — specifically NIL, and the impact it’s had on the transfer portal. In an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show earlier this week, the ESPN College GameDay analyst wondered how you fix the problems that have been brought upon the game he loves.

“I don’t know how you control it,” stated Herbstreit, regarding recent allegations of tampering, among other controversial topics. “I just know that when I hear coaches say we’re sometimes worried about doing the handshake after the game, because assistant coaches going up to our players. They’ll go up to a backup who they maybe recruited and he’s not playing. They’ll talk to them like, hey man, I’ll hit you up. I’ll hit you up. Next thing you know, a couple weeks later the guy’s in the portal.

“I don’t like that. I don’t — I don’t think that’s good for the game, personally.”

It’s easy to see why something like the scenario laid out by Kirk Herbstreit would irk the longtime college football analyst. Still, the game is changing, and there aren’t many rules — if any — as it pertains to NIL. Until there are, stories like the one explained by Herbstreit will continue to have more chapters written.

Kirk Herbstreit explains what parts of NIL he supports, renounces

Moreover, Kirk Herbstreit can see both sides of the NIL coin. While the ESPN College GameDay host is a big fan of student-athletes being able to profit off their abilities, there are aspects of they way college football’s newest venture has been handled that Herbstreit is not a fan of.

In an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show earlier this week, Herbstreit spoke about the “poaching” that’s been going on throughout college football, and why he believes something needs to change moving forward.

“These last six, seven months, just trying to digest all this. It’s been like a fire hose, everything’s happening at once,” started Herbstreit. “So, I find myself a lot of times just thinking about what are the answers, because right now what’s happening, this isn’t the answer.

“It’s great to see some of these players that are making money, but there’s no control. When you’re poaching, let’s just say Ball State, or Pitt or Southern Miss or whoever because they have an All-American freshman receiver, and big bad whoever goes in and says oh, we need a receiver. We’ll take him. We need an offensive lineman — that’s not what this is about. I don’t like that.”

Of course, the perfect example is the development in the case of star Pittsburgh wide receiver Jordan Addison. After capturing the Biletnikoff Award last season, the nation’s top pass catcher entered the transfer portal amid rumors that USC is looking to pay a pretty-penny for his services.

‘I’m all for it. But I think there’s need to be some rules to it.’

Nevertheless, there are aspects of NIL that Kirk Herbstreit believes are essential to the future of the sport, despite the controversies highlighted by Addison’s transfer portal recruitment.

“I do like the idea — Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who had a huge Rose Bowl. C.J. Stroud or Bryce Young. These established stars in the game can take advantage of that. That’s wonderful,” stated Herbstreit. “But enticements. Going to a high school recruit and saying hey, we’ll give you eight million dollars if you sign a three-year deal — that’s not, I think, healthy for the game. Because then you get a lot of outside sources coming in and corrupting a good thing. So, I’m all for it. But I think there’s need to be some rules to it.

“I do think the next step is what you just said, because before I was never really in the argument, and now that we’re going down this path, why not open up what goes into the entire pile. I mean, this is a billion dollar industry, it’s only to me a matter of time before the players are going to start to say hey, we want our share. We’re the ones out on the field doing this. The coaches are making eight to ten million a year. It’s time for us to get our share. I just think it’s inevitable if we’re going to go there.”

Indisputably, there are many aspects of NIL that Kirk Herbstreit is a fan of. Still, it’s evident the ESPN College GameDay host is lobbying for some modifications in the future that will put an end to some of this offseason’s most controversial topics.