(Photo Courtesy: USA Today Sports)
College football's favorite television dreamboat isn't going anywhere.
ESPN and Kirk Herbstreit are closing in on a contract extension that will keep the forever youthful college football analyst in the Worldwide Leader's fold until 2022, according to a report from the network's unauthorized oral historian, James Andrew Miller.
Herbie's rise up the ranks at ESPN has paralleled the network's growing – and sometimes controversial – role in the business of college football.
Herbstreit came to prominence when he replaced Craig James on College GameDay in the mid-1990s. His arrival at ESPN coincided with the network's decision to take the Saturday morning pregame show on the road for live broadcasts from the sites of that day's biggest games. The move quickly solidified the show as a staple of the sport's culture.
Since then, ESPN has elevated Herbie to its top color commentator for college football broadcasts in addition to his spot on GameDay alongside Chris Fowler, Desmond Howard and Lee Corso. He also appears on a number of the network's related shows, such as College Football Live and the weekly unveiling of the BCS standings.
For better or worse, the latest round of media negotiations has cemented ESPN as the source for college football entertainment. Today's news means Herbstreit will be a part of that for the foreseeable future.
