Big 12 Coach Addresses Kirk Herbstreit, College GameDay Influence on Coaching Decisions

The influence of major media personalities on college football decision-making has become a central topic within the college football community. A recent poll by The Athletic asked several coaches and analysts whether athletic directors are influenced by Kirk Herbstreit and the College GameDay crew when making hiring or firing decisions.

The responses suggest a divide between those who see the show as a narrative engine and those who believe results on the field remain the only metric that matters. One unnamed Big 12 head coach noted that while the influence may not always be direct, the media controls the narrative heard by the people who fund the programs.

This dynamic creates a cycle where television commentary reaches donors, who then apply pressure to university leadership. As the sport moves further into an era driven by donor-funded NIL and massive media contracts, the power of the Saturday morning broadcast appears to be at an all-time high.

Are athletic directors influenced by Kirk Herbstreit, College GameDay when hiring and firing?

The poll results highlight a growing belief that national media voices carry significant weight with university donors. One Big 12 head coach stated that analysts like Herbstreit and the rest of the College GameDay crew influence others because the narrative they create is heard by donors, who then instruct athletic directors.

"So it may not be direct, but through influence, but 100 percent those huge voices have an effect," said the anonymous Big 12 coach.

An SEC assistant echoed this sentiment, calling what is said on College GameDay "gold" because fan support matters more than ever. This assistant noted that fans get their information from these broadcasts and will believe what Herbstreit says about a coach's performance, regardless of whether it is accurate.

History supports the idea that a single segment can shift the trajectory of a major program. In 2021, Herbstreit delivered a four-minute monologue regarding the lack of alignment at the University of Miami.

Following that broadcast, Miami officials were reportedly embarrassed, leading the university to fire Manny Diaz and spend $80 million to hire Mario Cristobal. The school moved from requiring the athletic department to be self-sufficient to spending massive amounts of money to address the public criticism.

Miami Hurricanes head coach Mario Cristobal was hired in the wake of ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit criticizing the program's previous head coach, Manny Diaz, on air during College GameDay. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

The recent Lane Kiffin saga at Ole Miss provided another example of national voices attempting to dictate administrative moves. Nick Saban and Herbstreit used their platform to lobby for Kiffin to stay and coach the Rebels in the College Football Playoff, even after Kiffin accepted the LSU job.

Saban, who was reportedly advising Kiffin privately, told viewers that the situation was a "college football conundrum" rather than a Kiffin problem. Herbstreit also urged Ole Miss to "set emotions aside" and allow the departing coach to remain with the team through the postseason.

While some coaches, like an American head coach who called ADs "weak," believe the influence is absolute, others remain skeptical. An ACC assistant argued that football remains a results-driven industry where winning or losing ultimately takes care of everything.

Regardless of the intent, the platform allows analysts to frame university administrators as emotional or incompetent when they do not follow the preferred media narrative. This pressure has turned College GameDay from a pregame show into a national agenda-setter for the sport's most powerful decision-makers.