It’s not just the coaches burning the midnight oil to devise strategies. Even ESPN personalities are in a similar boat, working late nights to anticipate and shape the narrative around the game for a spectacular broadcast. As for former Buckeye Kirk Herbstreit, the start of the football season has begun with a much more packed schedule than anticipated.
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“I’m in an age where I’m trying to fight for every hour,” Herbstriet said on the Front Office Sports News podcast on September 10, when asked about his sleeping schedule during the season. “I get up at night to begin with. But especially because my brain is just cranking about a certain game. Like right now, I’m already thinking about Ohio State and Texas. I have the Buffalo Bills and Detroit Lions next week, and I’m already kind of thinking about that.”
“So you probably know when you’re thinking too much, when you lie down, it’s very challenging. Let alone the flights and the travel, just the fact that it’s hard to slow my brain down. I would say, depending on the night, I try to get five [hours]. If I can get five or six, I’m pretty proud of myself this time of year.”
Herbstriet is entering his 30th season with ESPN’s College GameDay. This is not the only rodeo the Ohio State alum has on its plate. He is also the primary color commentator of Thursday Night Football. So the heavy physical and mental toll of pulling double duty for two different networks is bound to make one tired.
The itinerary during the season leaves practically zero room for Herbstreit to rest. From Sunday to Wednesday, he immerses himself in multi-day film study and preparations exclusively for the week’s upcoming NFL matchup. On Thursdays, he travels to the host city to broadcast Thursday Night Football marquee alongside legendary partner Al Michaels.
As the final whistle of the NFL games blows, he immediately hops on a flight straight to the destination city of ESPN’s College GameDay. Then comes the time for his second gig at the start of the weekend. On Saturday morning, the alarm is set for early hours. He sits at the College GameDay desk for the three-hour live morning show. Before kickoff, he heads straight into the broadcast booth for the Saturday night primetime game alongside Chris Fowler and Holly Rowe.
“Saturday, I do GameDay,” Herbstreit said on the wingmen podcast before the start of the season. “I equate it to being on a treadmill at 10 miles an hour, [and] it’s like 10 till February.”
It’s not like Herbstreit hasn’t tried to drop things from his schedule. He is no longer serving as the the lead color commentator alongside Chris Fowler for EA Sports’ College Football. Joel Klatt replaced him for the 2027 edition of the game. Before that, Herbstreit served as a broadcast voice for the franchise across 15 different game releases over a span of more than 20 years.
In an interview with On3, he revealed that when he initially accepted the Amazon NFL gig in 2022, he made up his mind to walk away from College GameDay within a few years. However, his deep love for the college games kept him anchored to the desk. Despite describing the lifestyle as an absolute blur that leaves him completely sleep-deprived, Herbstreit remains locked in for the entirety of the 2026 season.
The next college game day broadcast would be straight from Austin, Texas. The top-five non-conference showdown between the No. 4 Texas Longhorns and Herbstreit’s alma mater, the No. 1 Ohio State Buckeyes, will take place on September 12.