College Football HQ

Stephen A. Smith fires back at Kirk Herbstreit for comments during Ohio State's win vs. Tennessee

The guys on First Take heard what Kirk Herbstreit said about them, and they weren't happy.

James Parks

Stephen A. Smith claps back at Kirk Herbstreit after the ESPN analyst took issue with his comments about Ohio State's Ryan Day.
Stephen A. Smith claps back at Kirk Herbstreit after the ESPN analyst took issue with his comments about Ohio State's Ryan Day. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
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Watching as Ohio State pounded Tennessee in the first round of the College Football Playoff, analyst Kirk Herbstreit took a moment to call out the guys on ESPN’s First Take for what he perceived to be their trying to get head coach Ryan Day fired.

Coming out of that game, Stephen A. Smith and Shannon Sharpe both took issue with Herbstreit’s assessment of their comments.

“That is not true,” Smith said of Herbstreit’s claim that First Take tried to get Day fired.

“I did... Not First Take. That was me, Stephen A. I’m going to own that. And what did I say specifically, Kirk Herbstreit, because you’ve got to quote me accurately, my brother.

“I watch you on College Football GameDay. I don’t misquote you. Don’t misquote me. What I said was, this man Ryan Day, if he doesn’t get a national championship he should go, even with a 66-10 record.”

Smith also said that Ohio State needs to get very close to winning the national title for Day to keep his position with the school.

“I didn’t stutter one bit, I ain’t stuttering now. You get the job at The Ohio State, which you know, Kirk Herbstreit, you got to beat. This man has lost four in a row,” Smith said.

“… And then not only do you lose four straight to Michigan, you get to the College Football Playoff, and you get bounced out by Tennessee. That’s what I was saying, you can’t lose to Tennessee now. You’ve gotta handle your business.”

“To their credit, they blew them out. They beat Tennessee like they stole something. Major props to you. But in the end, what it comes down to is this. You’re Ryan Day, the job is two-fold: beat Michigan and make sure you’re in the national championship picture,” Smith said. 

“You’ve got a $20 million payroll with NIL. You’ve got 11 dudes that were NFL caliber that returned to the school for this season. You didn’t even win the Big Ten.

“And then if you get bounced out early in the College Football Playoff, had that happened, you damn right I would’ve been on national television, right before Christmas, ‘Ryan Day got to go.’”

Shannon Sharpe was more pointed in his response to Herbstreit, issuing a kind of warning to his ESPN colleague about what was said.

“I’m going to be a good teammate. I’m going to let it slide... But hey, if we’re going to be on the same team, if we’re going to work for the same network, don’t do that,” Sharpe said. 

“Kirk, Chris Fowler, I promise you, if you ever mention any platform I’m on again, and talking about, ‘I wonder what they’re going to say’ as negativity, I promise you, ESPN ain’t got enough bosses to keep me off y’all for what I’m going to say.”

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James Parks
JAMES PARKS

James Parks is the founder and publisher of College Football HQ. He previously covered football for 247Sports and CBS Interactive. College Football HQ joined the Sports Illustrated Fannation Network in 2022.

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