Kirk Herbstreit: A Piece of Sh*t

Oddly enough, the phenomenon happens in neon as well.

Déjà vu. Not the strip club, but the actual phenomenon. That is what I felt last week. I couldn’t believe it when it happened. I just had this overall sense that I had lived through this moment before. Last week ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit did it again. He went out and attempted to once again derail the future plans of the University of Michigan Football Program.

On November 24th 2010 Herbstreit was quoted in a radio interview stating that, “There’s been rumors up in here, up in the north, that on Monday (Michigan) might make a move, and release Rich Rodriguez. If that happens, within 24 hours Jim Harbaugh will be announced as Michigan coach.” Herbstreit of course fails to name his source for this information.

Herbstreit is doing this to undermine Michigan Football. The question I’m sure you are asking is why would Herbstreit do such a thing? Well, Herbstreit is a former quarterback of Ohio State. Generally I would not care what Herbstreit has to say and would blow it off as I do with all ESPN analysts; however, this is not the first time he has done this.

Let’s rewind shall we? In 2007, the day that LSU was preparing to play in the SEC Championship game, Kirk Herbstreit reported that, “Barring something extraordinary, Les Miles is going to Michigan.” As we all know Les Miles did not come to Michigan. Les Miles also had to call a press conference to address the issue before the game. After the press conference what choice did he have but to stay? The only other option is to lie like Nick Saban. Miles couldn’t do it. I do believe that Les Miles was planning to go to Michigan; however, Miles was forced into a no-win situation by Herbstreit’s comments. In the 2007/2008 season, Miles and LSU won the National Championship. Herbstreit reporting the day of the SEC Championship game could have been devastating to the LSU team. Just look at how Cincinatti handled Brian Kelley’s announcement he was leaving for Notre Dame. If Miles admitted he was planning on leaving, he is most definitely not wearing a National Championship ring.

Aryan brother Herbstreit in 2007

Hindsight is 20/20, but I feel it is safe to say that Ohio State has definitely reaped the benefits of Les Miles not coming to Michigan. Instead, we got stuck with Rich Rod who is 0-3 against Ohio State and will be 0-4 if he is not fired before next season.

It’s no secret that every diehard Michigan fan is praying that Rich Rod is booted out the door and Harbaugh is brought in to replace him. That’s been the talk for months. Herbstreit, however, has now put Harbaugh in a difficult situation. Harbaugh coaches Stanford who will be playing in a BCS bowl game this year. What purpose does it serve for Herbstreit to come out and make a statement like this now? What does he hope to accomplish? His hope is that things will work out like they did with Les Miles, and Michigan will once again be forced to pick someone who is not at the top of their list.

The thing that irritates me the most about this situation is that no analysts will call Herbstreit out on what he is doing. Even former Michigan great Desmond Howard – who sits next to him every Saturday – won’t call him out on it. I didn’t think my opinion of ESPN could be any lower after they hired Millen and continually send him to Michigan to “analyze” football games. I was wrong.

On a side note, I heard Matt Millen say something that really made me want to punch myself in the groin. During the game Millen stated that Rich Rodriguez deserves another year. I thought to myself immediately that if ever there was a reason to fire Rodriguez then that is it. Having watched the gigantic mustached turd that is Millen while with the Lions, I learned one very important thing: you always do the exact opposite of what Matt Millen thinks.