In the final moments of Ohio State’s beat down of Tennessee in the College Football Playoff, former Buckeyes quarterback and ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit took a moment to offer some support for Ryan Day, who came under heavy criticism following the loss to Michigan.
“First Take tried to fire him. They thought he was done, so I’ll be excited to see what they talk about on Monday after this performance. They had him out, trying to find replacements. But here he is, he still has his hat on. He’s still coaching,” Herbstreit said.
Given how outspoken both Stephen A. Smith and Shannon Sharpe are, you just knew that they were going to respond and while Stephen A. showed love to Herbstreit and Fowler, Sharpe wasn’t so kind.
“You’ve got to quote me accurately,” he said. “I stated, Ryan Day, if you don’t win the national—if you ain’t in that final four competing for the national championship, after that and four straight losses to Michigan we can get somebody at Ohio State to do that. Lose four straight to Michigan? Don’t be in the championship picture with a $20 million roster and 20 NFL-caliber players returning to the squad? Oh, we can get somebody that can do that.”
Sharpe, meanwhile, sent a more direct message to the College football broadcasting team.
“If we’re going to be on the same team, if we’re gonna work for the same network, don’t do that,” Sharpe said. “Kirk, Chris Fowler, I promise you, if you ever mention any platform that I’m on again talking about ‘I wonder what they’re going to say as negativity,’ I promise you, ESPN ain’t got enough bosses to keep me off y’all for what I’m going to say… don’t play with me.”
We need to see Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit be a guest on First Take.
