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Kirk Herbstreit reveals what he will “never do again” as a broadcaster

Kirk Herbstreit has long been the face of ESPN’s college football coverage, providing insightful analysis of College Game DayHowever, he learned the hard way that breaking news is not his strong point.

Herbstreit recalled his infamous report “Les Miles to Michigan” during a recent appearance on Kevin Clark’s This is football Podcast. Herbstreit said he would never try to break news again after the backlash to the report.

On December 1, 2007, the Saturday of the conference championship, Herbstreit said Matchday that Miles would resign as LSU's head coach to become Michigan's next head coach. Miles would speak to the media before the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta and call Herbstreit's report inaccurate.

So what went wrong? Herbstreit says he got the news from the man who was set to become Miles' defensive coordinator in Ann Arbor.

“A guy called me, and it was late in the year, and he said, 'Hey, I can't believe it, I'm going to Michigan and I'm going to be their new defensive coordinator,'” Herbstreit recalled to Clark. “And I just knew him by acquaintance, and I said, 'What? You're going to Michigan?' And he said, 'Yeah, I'm going to be Les Miles' defensive coordinator at Michigan.'”

Herbstreit told Clark he was unsure how to proceed with his big scoop, but the source had given him permission to release the information. Herbstreit consulted with his Matchday executive producer who told him to bring the story live on air.

In conversation with Clark, Herbstreit said he had played down the bombshell by adding: “unless there are unforeseen circumstances.” In a YouTube clip from MatchdayHowever, Herbstreit makes no mention of “unforeseen circumstances” when reporting Miles to Michigan. Watching the clip in question also reveals that the defensive coordinator in question, Herbstreit's source, was Jon Tenuta, a Columbus, Ohio native who was an assistant for the Buckeyes from 1996 to 2000. Tenuta was on the staff at Georgia Tech in 2007.



Whether he intended to mention “unforeseen circumstances” and then forgot, or simply wishes he had added that caveat in hindsight, it is safe to say that Herbstreit will not put himself in that position again.

“I would never do that again,” Herbstreit told Clark. “I don't break stories; I don't care about stories. I get told so many things that I never talk about. I like to stay in that lane… And I learned a very valuable lesson: If somebody calls me and says something, I might pass it on to Pete Thamel or a reporter… I'll never say anything again when it comes to breaking stories. I didn't even go looking for that story. It came to me. But I made the mistake of talking about it publicly.”

Nearly 17 years later, “Miles to Michigan” remains one of the most fascinating “what if” problems in recent college football history.

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