We all know Nick Saban to be a commanding and stoic personality who always sets an example with his actions at Alabama. However, when you sit with ‘the’ Pat McAfee, even Nick Saban couldn’t quite control his humor when McAfee ripped his shirt to reveal his “reddish barrel of torso” last year, picking Texas A&M to win over Notre Dame. Of course, the pick was wrong, but the entertainment? Pure gold. Even Nick Saban couldn’t help but admire Pat McAfee’s energy.

“I’ve never been to anything like this. This is so much fun,” said Nick Saban. Now imagine the same entertainment just on an even more intense level? Sounds unreal, right? Well, that’s exactly what’s going to happen against a game where, according to Kirk Herbstreit, McAfee will announce and will get a hero’s welcome.

Herbstreit and McAfee discussed their college football announcing schedules and the games they would likely announce on. There were several games that stood out, and the duo looked excited to announce them. But the game that Herbstreit picked to be the most important was the Backyard Brawl between the Pittsburgh Panthers and the West Virginia Mountaineers because of McAfee’s deep connection with both Rich Rodriguez and the Mountaineers.

“We’re starting now completely undefeated. Pitt is week three, I think,” said McAfee. To which Herbstreit replied instantly, “Oh my God. I hope we go to that in that game. Can we go to that?” said Herbstreit. “It’s in Morgantown. Yeah, oh, we gotta go. Yeah, there is a real opportunity,” McAfee replied. The game will be special for McAfee because of his past playing days under Rich Rodriguez at WVU, who has now become the head coach again.

McAfee played for Rich Rodriguez’s West Virginia from 2005 to 2008 and thrived under the head coach. For instance, in the senior season, McAfee broke the school’s all-time record for scoring with a field goal and surpassed Slaton. In a sense, McAfee became one of the greatest punters of the school in his time, averaging 44.7 yards per punt, finishing as a finalist for the Ray Gun Award. So, yes, the welcome for Pat McAfee in Morgantown will be unworldly. However, there’s also a dark chapter that lies tucked in for Pat McAfee at WVU.

Pat McAfee revisits a dark chapter in his WVU days

McAfee, though, thrived at WVU as a punter, but it all came after he had to run away from the college following a missed field goal incident in 2007. In that season, WVU was on to play the BCS championship game, having only lost to South Florida, and coming into the game against Pitt with the hopes of winning and moving ahead to the finals. However, the team lost after McAfee missed two crucial field goals, and the fans turned against him.

“I didn’t know if I wanted to live anymore. My life changed immediately that day. It was a terrible f—— night, to be honest. I drove, parked, slept, and kept driving. I didn’t know where I was. I didn’t know where I was headed. I didn’t know what was coming next,” said McAfee to Ross Dellenger about the time after that Pitt game.

The moments were so gruesome that his car was vandalized at the time, and he had to get on the road to escape the utter chaos. However, despite the dark chapter in McAfee’s life, he redeemed himself and became one of the team’s legends. So, imagine now, if McAfee pulls up as an announcer in this year’s Backyard Brawl? It will probably open some old wounds, but McAfee’s electrifying aura would surely play its part in subduing all that, right?