In a recent interview with Bryan Curtis on The Press Box podcast, Kirk Herbstreit recalled memories of his start at ESPN and relayed a story of some early notes he got as a member of GameDay...

quote:
Herbstreit said he was the son of a coach, and thus, always had an intrinsic respect for Corso. That deference had some on the GameDay set wishing for more conflict on the show.

“I remember about the middle of the year, a guy came up to me at ESPN who worked on GameDay [and said], ‘You’ll never last if you don’t figure out how to aggressively go after Corso,’ because that’s what Craig had done,” Herbstreit said. “I just didn’t think that I could do that.”

“I was calling him Coach and Craig was calling him Lee,” Herbstreit continued. “If I would disagree with him, I would disagree with him in a very respectful manner. Craig would be like, ‘You’re crazy, old man!’ in a fun kind of way. I could never do that. I remember them telling me, ‘You’ll never work if you don’t start getting aggressive with Corso.’ I was like, ‘Well, then it’s not going to work, because I’m not going to go that route.'”

Originally published on SECRant.com

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PrimeTime Money•10 days

I like their respectful relationship. Not every show has to be combative. In fact it gets old and annoying when the panelists are going after each other.

SomeLSUguy•9 days

Towards the end, one of the things I appreciated most was how Kirk got Lee through the show... I mean it wasn't just behind the scenes stuff, you could see it on camera. I'm reminded of an old saying, "respect your elders."

Dr RC•9 days

Yeah it’s fine when it’s clearly a true difference of opinion where they ca actually explain their point but the way “arguments” are now forced into every single fricking thing that approached debate sucks arse.

lsutigersFTW•10 days

It’s not that type of show and it’s never really been that type of show and that’s what kind of makes it cool. Somebody could say something stupid and somebody else will interject and be like no I don’t see it that way here’s how I see it.

TouchdownTony•9 days

I just can’t take the laughing hyena Desmond Howard.

Mr Happy•10 days

Common decency is too rare a phenomenon.

Spankum•10 days

Herbie has always been a class act!

ReedRothchild•10 days

lol yeah like that time he cried on national tv over his white guilt.

theunknownknight•10 days

he never recovered from that. It was like he pulled down his pants to show the world his little wee-wee

Timeoday•9 days

Herbie will do ANYTHING for money. Frig' him!!

Che Boludo•9 days

Maybe he should have pushed back on the network's push to have him cry on TV. That said, I liked his respect for Corso and their dynamic, especially when Corso was getting really bad. Seemed almost like a son or grandson in his care for him. That was at least genuine, unlike the fake tears.

PuertoRicanBlaze•9 days

That explains why Mark May sparred with Lou Holtz all the time... right?

SoFla Tideroller•10 days

Most people behind the cameras on the production side are idiots.

JackieSonnier•10 days

I wonder if Herbie would have had his support puppy if he then could have been more aggressive?

BobABooey•10 days

Hollywood Herbstreit

Timeoday•9 days

Can't watch that nonsense anymore. Herbstreit and his emotional support dog ruined it for me.

Nix to Twillie•7 days

That’s stupid if you. Just sayin.