Kirk Herbstreit clears up what was said in ‘hot mic’ moment

Kirk Herbstreit had a hot mic moment that was widely misinterpreted during Monday night’s game between TCU and North Carolina.

Herbstreit and play-by-play announcer Rece Davis were on the ESPN call for Bill Belichick’s college football debut at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill, N.C. The Tar Heels were dominated 48-14 in the game, which led to a lot of criticism of Belichick. Herbstreit did not contribute to it, however — at least on the air.

When ESPN returned from a commercial break with North Carolina trailing 41-14 in the fourth quarter, Herbstreit was caught saying something on a hot mic while chuckling. Many fans thought Herbstreit said “they’re bad” and was referring to UNC’s poor performance in the game.

Herbstreit actually said “you’re bad,” not “they’re bad.” The longtime analyst said he was reacting to something a member of the ESPN production crew said just as the game came back on the air.

“Must be a slow night … not sure why this is so confusing. I said ‘YOU’RE bad’ to my spotter Deron for something funny he said when we were just coming back on air,” Herbstreit wrote on X.