Reports of ESPN’s New College Football Show Leaves Fans Torn

The Friday afternoon program would put three digital creators on campus sites just days after the network cut eight on-air personalities

Bussin’ With The Boys’ Will Compton and Taylor Lewan are joining Josh Pate for a new college football show on ESPN | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

ESPN is planning a new college football show with Josh Pate and Bussin' With The Boys co-hosts Will Compton and Taylor Lewan, sources told Front Office Sports.

The show will air on Friday afternoons from college campuses, sometimes from the site of College GameDay and sometimes not. The time slot has not been set. An ESPN spokesperson declined to comment.

Bussin' With The Boys posted a mock breaking news graphic about the report on Thursday evening. The reaction replies came in fast, and while some fans were thrilled, many were not.

Why ESPN wants Josh Pate and Bussin' With The Boys

ESPN president of content Burke Magnus has felt that college football is under-covered on the network's talk programming compared to the ratings the games pull.

Pate told Front Office Sports he understood what the opening meant.

"You look at Pat, namely, and you look at what a trailblazing few years this has been. What a game-changing few years this has been," he said. "And then you look at yourself and say, 'All right, well, I've got an opportunity now. Like, what a shame if I drop the ball with my little portion in my little lane over here because there could be 50 people down the road that maybe benefit from what we do, carrying the college football flag on a network like ESPN."

ESPN will launch a new weekly college football show with Josh Pate and Bussin’ With The Boys cohosts Will Compton and Taylor Lewan.

— Front Office Sports (@FOS) July 24, 2026

College football draws the second-biggest television audience in the country. ESPN owns most of the rights. What it has not owned is the daily conversation around the sport, which has drifted to YouTube and podcast feeds over the last five years.

Pate is the clearest example of that drift. The Columbus, Georgia native broke into radio in 2015, moved to a local NBC affiliate, became sports director, then launched The Late Kick as a Facebook Live stream in 2018. That show went to 247Sports, then CBS, then On3. Pate now has more than 500,000 YouTube subscribers and more than 175 million views across 6,300+ videos.

Compton and Lewan built their media company differently. Bussin' With The Boys launched in 2019 with Barstool Sports and went independent last year on a reported $30 million FanDuel sponsorship. The former Tennessee Titans teammates have over 633,000 Instagram followers and 711,000 YouTube subscribers.

Fans are calling it the Barstool version of ESPN

The loudest complaint on social media was about ESPN copying the coverage from another media company.

One user wrote that "The Barstoolification of ESPN is sickening." Another said "Ummm this is basically @barstoolsports now." A third called it "Almost Barstool presented by ESPN." One reply summed it up in six words: "I already watch this. It's on Barstool."

The Bussin' hosts left Barstool 18 months ago and have said the split was about money, not creative direction. Compton told Front Office Sports, "We have more independence going solo." Fans clearly do not see a difference in the product.

Former Nebraska Cornhuskers linebacker Will Compton and Taylor Lewan are pairing with college football host Josh Pate at ESPN. | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

Others questioned the fit. "Nobody told ESPN that Lewan and Compton don't actually watch college football," one user posted. Another argued the show duplicates existing programming, writing that it "will only talk nearly exclusively about B1G/SEC, as if both of those conferences don't have their own networks. College Football Live already does that for ESPN."

Pate took heat too, which is new for him. He spent years as the analyst fans held up as the alternative to network talking heads. Now some of those same fans are calling him a sellout. One post read "What a fraud. Absolute masterclass in selling out."

The timing problem ESPN created

The report landed three days after ESPN cut eight on-air personalities. Ryan Clark, Karl Ravech, David Lloyd, Cam Newton, Bart Scott, Stephania Bell, Charles Davis and Tom Pelissero were among those laid off.

Clark was told during a break on "NFL Live" minutes after an on-air appearance because the news had leaked.

Former Michigan Wolverines offensive lineman Taylor Lewan created Bussin' With The Boys with Will Compton in 2019 | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Fans connected the two events immediately. "Now do we blame yall for the layoffs?" one user asked. Another wrote, "Oh my god this is bad. I can't believe I'm witnessing the demise of the once mighty ESPN. Good lord."

Support existed, though it was outnumbered. One fan wrote "This would be an absolute hit and well deserved! Good dudes just talking ball." Another said "Good for the boys! Not really understanding the backlash."