Few programs that surround an individual sport are as appointment viewing as College GameDay on ESPN. For nearly 40 years, the weekly spectacle that GameDay provides covering teams and players from around the country has been a vessel into the world of the sport that’s unmatched. In 2005, College GameDay added its own version of the Heisman Trophy as Desmond Howard joined the program.
The College Football Hall of Famer walked into the proven commodity of College GameDay aware of its impact and ready to contribute.
“This is the way people start their Saturday mornings. It’s like when we were kids. We would start Saturday morning watching cartoons and that would take us into the rest of our day,” said Howard. “College GameDay is the same way, but for adults.”
Howard enters his 21st season as part of the weekly ESPN staple leading into the first kickoffs of the afternoon. He won the 1991 Heisman Trophy winner and Super Bowl XXXI MVP. Howard joined ESPN just a few years after 11 seasons in the NFL. He credits hard work and a focus on pivoting and adjusting to the times. Those are his reasons for his success with the flagship college football program on ESPN.
“I came in with what I consider to be ESPN’s A-team who had fantastic chemistry. never wanting to disrupt their chemistry,” said Howard. “I came in observing and trying to get in where I fit in, and learning from the best in the business. At the same time, I added my own personality and flavor to the analysis that I present.”
Lee Corso’s Impact
In the time that Howard has been with College GameDay, he has shared the stage with former Indiana head football coach Lee Corso. Moreover, Howard attended the University of Michigan, a Big Ten Conference rival of the Hoosiers, when news broke that Corso would be retiring following one final program of College GameDay, Howard reflected on Corso’s impact on the sport of college football.
“Coach Corso is one of the most influential TV personalities the sport of football has ever seen. Not just college, but the sport of football,” noted Howard. “He belongs on the Mount Rushmore with the likes of Keith Jackson and John Madden. They were so influential on the sport of football. To me, that’s the type of influence he’s had throughout his career.”
In Howard’s 20 years working alongside Corso. Howard says there have been many lessons and items he’s learned over that time, as Corso never lost that coaching mentality even while a teammate on screen.
“This is entertainment and not to take yourself too seriously. That’s the most important thing that I learned,” explained Howard. “He’s done a fantastic job of helping me personally understand what the purpose is.”
Moreover, while the College GameDay crew at the time of our interview had yet to have any production meetings, Howard shared his thoughts on how he’d like to see the final episode of Lee Corso’s run be produced.
“It’d be an infomercial. A three-hour celebration of Lee Corso, so we may talk a little football,” noted Howard. “Every 30 minutes, have a different celebrity guest come in and surprise him. Tell us a story about the impact Lee’s had or how he influenced them. We’ve had major celebrity guest pickers, so I would do something of that magnitude and weave it in and out of our show.”
Adapting To Change With Pat McAfee, Nick Saban
With the understanding that Corso’s time with the program was coming to a close, ESPN has added two fresh faces to the program over the past couple of seasons. Pat McAfee was added in 2022, and former Alabama head coach Nick Saban made his debut on the program last year.
The addition of Saban at the time added more credibility to the program with a national championship coaching resume. Questions lingered about whether Saban, who was not known to share much personality with the media, could perform and add to the program.
Howard believed year one for Saban was a fantastic start because of how much Saban showed his intent to be great with it.
“It was a simple equation. He allowed viewers to see a completely different side of him, which blew them away because they didn’t know it existed,” said Howard of Saban’s first year on College GameDay. “I was surprised by the amount of questions he would ask during or after a meeting. He was really dialed in. You could tell how engaged he was in the meetings by the depth of his questions.”
As for the addition of McAfee, Howard relates his presence on the program to a “tornado coming in.” While McAfee’s energy can be overwhelming for some, Howard says his knowledge of the game rings through the screen each and every Saturday.
“I see his knowledge of the sport. Some people get caught up in the messenger. I love the message,” said Howard. “The quality of the information is equally as relevant or entertaining as the messenger.”
Howard credits the production team of College GameDay for crafting the environment with the additions of McAfee and Saban. Ensuring that the flow of the program remains the same. As a result, College GameDay program remains the top show on Saturday mornings, but it does have its competitors.
College GameDay Competition
In July, FOX Sports and Barstool Sports announced a partnership where Barstool founder Dave Portnoy. As part of the partnership, Portnoy would be a featured contributor on Big Noon Kickoff. The program serves as a direct competitor to the College GameDay product, airing some weeks from the same locale throughout the college football season.
It should be noted that Howard admitted he was not aware of the partnership made last month by FOX and Barstool. The Heisman Trophy winner believes however that he doesn’t view the FOX Sports program as competition.
“This must be their move to try and offset what we have with [Pat] McAfee, I’m assuming,” said Howard about the addition of Portnoy to Big Noon Kickoff. “They want to compete. I like those guys. To me, our competitor has been the NBA on TNT because we’re always battling against them for the Sports Emmy. No disrespect to those guys [Big Noon Kickoff], I’m sure they do a fantastic job.”
Regarding Portnoy’s addition to Big Noon Kickoff being what he assumes is a counter to McAfee’s presence on College GameDay, Howard says McAfee, being a former player, brings a wealth of knowledge and information to the stage and the show itself.
The sport of college football demands that wealth of knowledge. There are over 130 teams that play in Division I college football. The ability to absorb the amount of information on players, teams, and coaches is difficult, as Howard compares it to covering the NFL.
“College football is such a monster. I don’t want to say the NFL is easy, but it’s not as challenging as college football,” said Howard.
With the recent announcement of the National Football League acquiring 10% of ESPN in a landmark deal in which the network will take over the NFL Network and NFL RedZone, Howard says that he’s not had any thoughts on being a part of any new look ESPN may provide the NFL Network.
“The state of college football right now, the whole landscape is changing,” explained Howard. “Between conference realignment, NIL, and figuring out the transfer portal, the NFL is a smooth sailing ship.”
College GameDay is once again set to sail on another voyage this season. The path will bid adieu to a legend of the past while forging ahead. Howard is excited to see what a new football season brings entering his 21st season on College GameDay. With hopes the quest is not so fast, my friend.
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John Mamola is Barrett Media’s sports editor and daily sports columnist. He brings over two decades of experience (Chicago, Tampa/St Petersburg) in the broadcast industry with expertise in brand management, sales, promotions, producing, imaging, hosting, talent coaching, talent development, web development, social media strategy and design, video production, creative writing, partnership building, communication/networking with a long track record of growth and success. He is a five-time recognized top 20 program director in a major market via Barrett Medi’s Top 20 series and has been honored internally multiple times as station/brand of the year (Tampa, FL) and employee of the month (Tampa, FL) by iHeartMedia. Connect with John by email at John@BarrettMedia.com.
