Stephen A. Smith and Shannon Sharpe heard what ESPN colleagues Kirk Herbstreit and Chris Fowler had to say about Worldwide Leader over the weekend.
On Monday's “First Take,” Smith and Sharpe addressed comments from Herbstreit and Fowler during Ohio State's 42-17 win over Tennessee in Saturday's College Football Playoff, and the former back Eyes quarterback Herb Streit blamed head coach Ryan Day for amplifying the criticism, saying in part that “'First Take' tried to fire him.”
“I'll say it in front of you two.” [Herbstreit and Fowler]stop it, stop it,” Smith said Monday. What's covered in Awful Annunciation. “…Kirk Herbstreit, 'First Take has to fire him.' That's not true. They did. It wasn't 'First Take,' it was me, Stephen A. I'm going to own it. So, what did I say specifically, Kirk Herbstreit, you have to quote me exactly, my brother, I said you on “College Football Game Day” Look, I won't misquote you. Don't misunderstand my words. ”
Smith recalled: his thoughts on day Friday's post included: “If this guy gets shoved out of here this weekend, he needs to get out.”
“I said to this guy, Ryan Day, if you can’t become a national champion, you should go. Even with a 66-10 record, I didn't stutter one bit. I still don't stutter. You got the job at Ohio State, Kirk Herbstreit, you have to beat Michigan. The guy has lost four years in a row, winning three in a row against Jim Harbaugh and Sherone Moore, and losing four in a row to Michigan. Not only did we lose, we made it to the College Football Playoff and lost to Tennessee, that's what I was saying, there's no way we can lose now Tennessee. You gotta go take care of your business. To their credit, they blew them away.”
It remains to be seen how Day and the Buckeyes will fare against top-ranked Oregon in the second round, but Smith centered Monday's conversation around the current situation with Fowler and Herb Streit.
“Mr. Fowler, Mr. Herbstreit, I love you all, thank you all, you all are great, do a great job, you know I love you, Kirk, you know that. But you must quote me exactly,” Smith said.
Herbstreit called it “the fringe of madness.” The show aired Saturday amid calls from fans for Day's job following the team's Nov. 30 loss to unranked rival Michigan.
“Ohio State's crazy fringe is as powerful as anywhere in the nation. …I don't know, but I'm sure they'll be happy tonight and excited about what the Ohio State team did. But God they… Forbid they lose to Oregon. They might want to fire him again,” Herbstreit said.
Fowler added: “When you hear the experts talking about it with conviction on this network and elsewhere, it's frankly nonsense. For the public to pull the trigger and remove the coach. No. The administrators do and they are behind him. [Day]”
Afterwards, Herbstreit said, “'First Take' tried to fire him. They thought he was done, so I'm looking forward to seeing what they say on Monday after this performance.”
If Mr. Herbstreit had listened, he might have heard Mr. Sharp focus on his performance.
“I'll be a good teammate. I'll let it slide. You're all on ESPN, because if you hadn't chosen the path you chose, I would have lit a fire up their butts.” Sharp said.
“Congratulations, everyone, Ohio State, you won the game. But if we're going to be on the same team, if we're going to work on the same network, don't do that. Kirk, Chris Fowler , I promise, if you ever mention the platform I'm on again and say, “I wonder what they're going to say that's negative,” I promise, ESPN has I don't have enough bosses to take away from you guys what I'm about to say. ”
