Pat McAfee remains College GameDay’s most visible personality, but his loud, entertainment-first approach has also worn down viewers who want the program to spend more time on football.

That argument has picked up fresh momentum after a turbulent few weeks. His reaction to a University of Utah video, the criticism that followed, and a new round of complaints about his role have put ESPN’s decision to make him a central part of its Saturday coverage under the microscope.

The latest complaint came from an X user named Brandon, whose November 4 post calling for McAfee to be fired has reportedly passed one million views. Brandon, who has 237,100 followers, wrote: “I want Pat McAfee fired by midnight @espn.”

The post struck a chord with viewers who feel McAfee now takes up too much space on GameDay. It also appeared as the 2026 midterm elections ended. But this is no longer just one viral post.

On November 3, Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough also took aim at McAfee, saying he had “just had enough” of what he sees as the former punter’s growing influence over the show.

Scarborough praised Rece Davis, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard and Nick Saban, then argued that ESPN was allowing McAfee to eclipse them. His criticism was not that McAfee lacks energy or cannot draw an audience.

“I look forward to waking up on Saturday mornings and watching that,” Scarborough said. “It’s like he’s melting down.” He also took aim at ESPN, saying the network could run its business as it pleased, but that the result was “a shame for the viewer.”

Co-host Willie Geist agreed that the show felt different since McAfee joined the cast full-time in 2022. He described GameDay as a Saturday morning ritual for college football fans, one that people leave on while getting ready for the day’s games.

The show still has its familiar appeal, Geist said, but it has become “a little bit of the McAfee show.”

That is the complaint ESPN keeps running into. McAfee has brought a different kind of energy to a program that spent decades building its identity around Lee Corso’s headgear picks, analysis from former players and coaches, and the atmosphere of the campus hosting the broadcast.

His arrival changed the rhythm. The shouting, crowd interaction, celebrity appearances, and occasional shirtless moments are now part of the weekly routine. The disagreement, though, is not new.

In January, The Athletic’s annual college football media survey found that 49.5% of respondents did not like McAfee on GameDay. Another 31.6% said they liked him, while 18.9% had no opinion.

The negative figure was the highest recorded across the three years the survey had asked the question. In the same survey, though, 83.6% said they preferred GameDay to Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff.

Still, the split is revealing. A sizeable group can enjoy the program while wanting less of McAfee. Despite everything, ESPN has little reason to ignore the numbers.

The network’s own ratings figures show that the program is doing very well. Through Week 7 of the 2026 season, College GameDay averaged 2.8 million viewers, putting it on pace for its most-watched season.

ESPN said six of the show’s nine most-watched regular-season episodes had aired in 2026. Its final hour averaged 3.6 million viewers. McAfee’s field-goal contest has also become a reliable attraction.

ESPN reported that the segment produces an average 10% increase in viewership from its start to its conclusion, and that McAfee and the contest have distributed more than $14 million since he joined the program.

Those numbers make an immediate firing demand difficult to take seriously as a business proposition.

Yep, he can go work for Newsmax,” wrote a user, replying to Brandon on X. Another user simply urged ESPN to “stop playing in our faces.”

Still, the most polarizing remark was from a user who took the backdrop of the midterm election results to target McAfee.

“I agree,” the user wrote. “Now that we voted out a bunch of loser politicians, we need to get rid of Pat McAfee on Game Day. He is toxic and always wants to be the center of attention.”

The latest wave of complaints has also been fuelled by McAfee’s October 24 appearance at the University of Utah. Before the broadcast, the university’s official Instagram account posted a video asking students to imitate McAfee.

Some of the students poked fun at his on-air persona, with one calling him corny and another describing him as “creepy.” The university later deleted the video and apologized, saying it had intended to create lighthearted engagement but had missed the mark.

McAfee was unhappy with the post. On his show the following Monday, he said he had felt ” very uncomfortable” seeing it shortly before walking in front of the crowd.

He also referenced the fatal 2025 shooting of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University, raising concerns about the atmosphere around a college event. His comments drew a fresh round of criticism, including from former ESPN broadcaster Linda Cohn.

“Since when are you allowed to curse at 9:15 in the morning for GameDay?” Cohn said on the Sage Steele Show on October 28. “I can’t believe it. That’s how desperate ESPN has become. And it’s not just McAfee; it’s Saban.”

Despite the fresh criticism mounting against McAfee, he also has substantial support amongst fans, too. “PatMcAfee don’t buy into the hate; keep being you,” wrote a user. Another user, though, targeted Brandon and said: “no one cares.”

For now, ESPN has a ratings success and a very public disagreement over what that success should look like. McAfee remains part of the GameDay cast, alongside Davis, Herbstreit, Howard and Saban.

The network has invested heavily in his presence, and the audience figures give it a strong reason to keep doing so.