Kirk Herbstreit talks new Amazon NFL role, how to balance with college football

Kirk Herbstreit will join Al Michaels on Amazon’s Thursday Night Football this season in a new NFL role for the long-time college football broadcaster known for being a familiar face on ESPN’s “College GameDay.”

Herbstreit spoke with Pat McAfee about the change, and how he will prepare for the new job.

“I’m like you, my hobbies kind of keep me up with a lot of this stuff,” Herbstreit said. “But where I’ll have to really roll up my sleeves with the NFL will be, not so much familiarity with the players, because I do know that a lot. But schemes, whether it’s the defense or the offense, the structure of the offense and how they like to attack, how the defenses try to slow you down. Red zone, third down, stuff like that, but also the rules. The rules in college and pro are different in some key areas.”

Herbstreit noted the quarterback changes around the NFL, something he called “monumental.”

Herbstreit called 2 NFL games last year, and said those experiences made him probably more interested in doing it down the road. Yet he hopes to never give up on college football.

“It’s always just been my passion and I don’t think that will ever change, but I’m really looking forward to learning the nuances and the game behind the scenes that you know about the NFL, I’m looking forward to getting much closer to the product and falling in love with it that much more,” he said.

“College has always been my passion but I’m really looking forward to getting much closer to the NFL product” ~@KirkHerbstreit#PMSLive pic.twitter.com/ARRRi4qHkx

— 🅿️at McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) March 28, 2022

Keith Farner

A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.