During a standoff that took place between the 2023 college football season and the summer of '24, it wasn't clear that Pat McAfee would return to as a permanent fixture on the analyst desk for a third season. Following a critical poll run by in which just under 49% of responses said they didn't like McAfee on the show in October '23, McAfee publicly flirted with the idea of leaving .
That, of course, didn't happen. stalwart Herbstreit later threatened to leave the show if McAfee walked, and ESPN ultimately came to an agreement with the former Colts punter. In the two seasons since, McAfee has become a staple on the show, instituting a popular new student kicking competition in which he's given away a significant chunk of his own money, and largely filling Lee Corso's role as the final analyst to give his pick for the game hosting that weekend's show. He doesn't put on any headgear, often opting to lead the home fans in chants and cheers—and on one occasion, going off a high dive at Miami.
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Even with Corso retired, the show has been pulling the best ratings of its entire run, and McAfee is its new entertainment centerpiece. All indications are that whatever issues viewers have had with McAfee have largely receded—or at the very least, aren't stopping people from tuning in—but that hasn't stopped McAfee from griping about the treatment he's received on the show.
In a recent video posted to his Instagram stories, and transcribed by , McAfee took aim at those who complain about his antics, even setting his sights at some of the producers of .
“If you think about old white people and old ESPN people, those are really the people that hate me the most at this stage of life,” McAfee said. “Now granted, there’s some other groups that certainly have threatened my life on a pretty regular basis, I’d say they hate me too. But throughout the entirety, old whites and the old ESPN people over the last like three years have really hated me. That’s who all the producers are of too. So now—it’s been a fun run. College football is great. O.K., cheers. Have a great day.”
Now, logic would dictate that 's producers don't actually hate McAfee, considering his role has only grown. He, of course, is the one sitting at the center of the desk—not Herbstreit or fellow newcomer Nick Saban—and when time comes to close the show, McAfee is seemingly allowed to do whatever he wants.
His did draw the ire of some anonymous ESPN employees, though, who responded in a report by . From reporter Michael McCarthy:
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Even if he's ruffled the feathers of some mid-level producers, those that sit in Bristol's highest chairs have consistently supported McAfee, with president of content Burke Magnus telling , “Pat is a creative force. He’s pushed hard to advanceand his impact has been enormous."
This is far from the first time that McAfee has brushed up against his ESPN colleagues. In the most notable example, McAfee accused ESPN SVP Norby Williamson of trying to "sabotage" his show in early 2024. Williamson, a nearly 40-year veteran of the Worldwide Leader, left the network less than three months later.
McAfee may believe that he is still an outsider at ESPN, and in some ways that is true—he owns his own production and licenses his eponymous daily talk show to the network. However, as the Williamson incident shows, he wields about as much power as any on-air personality there.
