Fans furious with Kirk Herbstreit over Dominic Raiola Nebraska story
Dec 2, 2017; Charlotte, NC, USA; ESPN personality Kirk Herbstreit walks down the field prior to the game between the Clemson Tigers and the Miami Hurricanes in the ACC championship game at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports
Many fans are furious with Kirk Herbstreit after hearing a story that Dominic Raiola shared on Wednesday.
Wednesday marked National Signing Day for college recruits. Raiola, who played at Nebraska and whose son Dylan recently enrolled at the school, appeared on Rivals’ Signing Day show with Adam Gorney for an interview Wednesday. Dylan is a 5-star recruit and regarded as the top quarterback in the 2024 recruiting class. He had been committed to Georgia but switched to Nebraska nearly two months ago.
During his interview, the elder Raiola discussed what led his son Dylan to switch a commitment from Georgia to Nebraska. Dominic said that Dylan felt he wanted to help Nebraska get back on the map. Dominic, who played at Nebraska from 1997-2000, said that he feels college football is better when Nebraska is good. Apparently Herbstreit feels the same way.
Dominic specifically cited a phone call from Herbstreit as being influencial in supporting Dylan’s move to the Cornhuskers.
“When this was happening, I will bring up one guy’s name. His name’s Kirk Herbstreit. When he saw the smoke about Dylan entertaining Nebraska, he called me. He said, ‘dude, is this true? [Dylan] got to do it. He got to do it.’ [Herbstreit’s] affinity for Nebraska, for a guy like that to tell me and get behind me. Like, I knew, I knew [Dylan] needed to do it. But I wasn’t going to sit here and say ‘You need to go change that place or be a part of the change of that place.’ “So when Kirk told me that, man. I had other coaches reach out to me and say ‘the place is special. Coach (Matt) Rhule is a special leader.’ It just snowballed into something really beautiful at the end of the day, and we’re really proud of the decision [Dylan] made,” Raiola said.
Kirk Herbstreit 🤝 Dylan Raiola flipping to Nebraska@NebraskaRivals | @adamgorney pic.twitter.com/IFE7m6F4mi
— Rivals (@Rivals) February 7, 2024
Though Dominic made clear in his interview that his son had independently been giving serious consideration to switching from Georgia to Nebraska, fans who only heard that clip were furious with Herbstreit. Many felt it meant that Herbstreit, an ESPN analyst, was anti-Georgia, anti-SEC, influencing a recruit, and worse.
Kirk Herbstreit is about to get dragged and I am 100% here for it. This is straight up unethical and just plain stupid at best on his part. https://t.co/0pns9HNsmH
— Bobby (@BobbyWilson1004) February 7, 2024
Hi! I’m Kirk Herbstreit and I’m just a tv announcer who has no effect on college football playoff committees or recruits. #FSU #UGA #LunaticFringeFanBase pic.twitter.com/QBVSGrbmyb
— “Lunatic Fringe Portion of FSU Fan Base” (@EFESHEW) February 8, 2024
Kirk Herbstreit is really feeling himself these days, huh? Between his crusade to influence the selection of the CFP playoff field & now the clandestine influencing of the recruitment of high profile players, the man isn’t even bothering with the pretense of objectivity anymore. https://t.co/CZiVo9qyyC
— GloryUGA (@glory_uga) February 7, 2024
I'm quite sure I've heard Kirk Herbstreit lecture college football stars about *not listening to the outside voices" when talking about transfers.
The call is coming from inside the house, Herbie! pic.twitter.com/VlyjvTOPxf
— Jonathan Smith (@DegenerateTBone) February 8, 2024
Herbstreit may have had good intentions, but this reflects poorly on him. He is an extremely influential voice in the college football world — just as Dominic Raiola said. For him to get involved one way or another in a recruit’s decision hurts his ability to be unbiased on the air.