Herbstreit Walks Back Comments About 2020 Season, Says He's 'Not Making Any Predictions'

ESPN commentator says there's much to learn before making decisions in "very unusual times"

In a conference call with media on Monday morning, Kirk Herbstreit seemed to walk back his earlier statement that he'd "be shocked" if there was college football played in 2020.

“I’m not making any predictions. ... We all need to listen to the guidelines,”said Herbstreit, who expressed that his comments may have been overblown a bit.

The popular ESPN analyst and color commentator did say that he's not traditionally a fan of spring football like the XFL and the AAF. He remarked that he's not exactly on board with the idea of moving football season to the spring.

“Spring is when we get the baseball bats out," Herbstreit said. "I watch college baseball. I’m a baseball junkie. But it just goes to show you how far we’re willing to go to get our football. I have a really hard time getting into spring football - I like it when it goes away after the Super Bowl in February; it makes me want it so much more when it comes back. But this is desperate measures; we’re in uncharted waters.”

Herbstreit did note that a spring season might create a tough decision for top 2021 draft prospects like Trevor Lawrence. Would those individuals elect to play the season, or avoid the risk of injury and skip the year in order to preserve their draft stock?

“It does make you kind of wonder what some of the players at [the highest] level would do," Herbstreit said.

The Sooner that would most likely face such a decision is Creed Humphrey, who chose to return to Norman for his redshirt junior season despite the fact that many experts projected him to be a first-round pick in the NFL Draft.

The center is currently one of the most highly regarded prospects in the 2021 draft class.

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