Kirk Herbstreit will visit a college football campus that he hasn’t been to since 2023. The reason? He put off the fanbase by telling them that their program is not worthy of a playoff birth. Naturally, that touched a nerve. And now, he find himself as the analyst for the clash at Tallahassee.

Back in 2023, The Seminoles were undefeated at 13-0. But late in the season, with QB Jordan Travis’ leg injury, the CFP spot slipped past their fingers, and instead went to Alabama. There was massive backlash to that move as analysts and fans alike were pointing out the SEC favoritism. But Herbstreit backed the call. This is where Noles fans started to form the opinion of Kirk as someone who doesn’t consider FSU as worthy as other SEC teams.

Now coming back to the present. The Seminoles, after defeating Alabama, have lost to Virginia over the weekend. And with Bama’s victory over Georgia, College GameDay took a quick turn to Tuscaloosa for the Vanderbilt clash. FSU fans’ reaction? “Kirk running away from Tallahassee! 😂 He’s too cowardly to face the Noles,” one fan commented under GameDay’s announcement.

However, in a new twist, Herbstreit will finally announce his presence in the FSU campus as the commentator for their game against Miami. NoleGameDay’s Dustin Lewis shared on X. “Broadcast crew for #FSU vs. Miami: Play-by-Play: Chris Fowler; Analyst: Kirk Herbstreit; Sideline: Holly Rowe,” he wrote. “Herbstreit makes his return to Tallahassee after all. #Noles.

And rightly so, it has stirred up the 2023 conversation again. One individual wrote. “This is going to be brutal to hear as a Cane fan because we KNOW he is going to be mouthing FSU —- all night trying to fix 2023 all in one shot. Lol.” Presently, Florida State has a 33-36 record against the Canes over their 69 years of football history. On the home turf, the Noles have not lost a single match against Miami since 2019.

Although Herbstreit’s return makes for a bitter welcome, the FSU campus has a big reason for joy as they welcome the return of their beloved ‘Sunshine Scooter’ Lee Corso. The ESPN legend retired this year, but will come back to his college turf during the marquee matchup on the weekend.

Who are the announcers for the FSU vs Miami game?

For nearly three decades, Kirk Herbstreit’s voice has boomed off the ESPN microphone. One of the marquee faces in college football broadcasting, he has been part of ESPN’s College GameDay for 28 years and has won the Sports Emmy five times as the Best Analyst. In addition to college football, the analyst has further called NFL matchups, back in 2020 and the 2021 season. In 2022, he worked on Amazon Prime Video’s Thursday Night Football games, working across 33 games and 16 GameDay shows in 36 cities over a four-month period.

Among the veteran voices of the broadcasting landscape, Chris Fowler will be present at Tallahassee as the play-by-play announcer. He joined ESPN back in 1986 as a reporter of Scholastic Sports America, spreading his expertise across SportsCenter, SportsCentury, and Saturday Night Football for ABC, among others. Aside from football, he has covered Triple Crown races (Horse racing), men’s basketball’s Final Four coverage, a few editions of X Games, and Winter X Games. Moreover, his stacked tennis portfolio is another element, covering the US Open, Wimbledon, and the Australian Open, as part of the Network. Last year, Fowler was nominated for a Sports Emmy, owing to his play-by-play commentary

Holly Rowe will be on the sideline. She has been part of sports journalism for the last 30 years. Aside from football, she has covered the NCAA Women’s Final Four, the NCAA Women’s College World Series, ABC Saturday Night Football, the WNBA, and Men’s Basketball, among other experiences. In addition to that, she has covered the Heisman Trophy ceremony and made history as the Utah Jazz’s first female color commentator.

The game will be held on October 4, kicking off at 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC at Doak S. Campbell Stadium.