Kirk Herbstreit Announced Retirement From ESPN's CFP Rankings Show on Saturday

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Kevin Borba | Last updated Nov 12, 2024 11:26 PM ET

In what may have flown a bit under the radar during Saturday's battle between the No. 11 Alabama Crimson Tide and No. 15 LSU Tigers, ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit made an unexpected announcement.

The beloved ESPN personality does just about everything under the sun when it comes to college football coverage, but he revealed to play-by-play announcer Chris Fowler that there is a show he'd no longer be a part of.

While teasing ESPN's "College Football Playoff Rankings Show," Fowler expressed that Herbstreit would be joining the crew headlined by Rece Davis. A sentiment that Herbstreit revealed wasn't the case as he expressed to Fowler that he had "retired" from the show.

“I retired from that," Herbstreit explained. "Yeah...It'll be Boog (Booger McFarland)...Joseph Scott Galloway and Greg (McElroy)..."

In the middle of Herbstreit explaining this, Davis asked if that news required "congratulations or condolences," to which Davis seemed to answer himself, saying, “I think we know the answer.” The two awkwardly chuckled and went back to calling the game.

In years past, Herbstreit would be featured on the show despite not being on-site with Davis, Joey Galloway and a handful of other notable college football analysts.

While it's unclear if this was a decision from ESPN or Herbstreit himself, who caught a ton of flack last season for his stance on Florida State not being a top team without quarterback Jordan Travis, his presence will be missed.

The show currently features Davis, Galloway, Booger McFarland and Greg McElroy.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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