College football broadcaster Kirk Herbstreit rarely hesitates to share his opinion. He is often active in the college football community, sharing his opinion on many teams in the NCAA and how he thinks they will do in the coming seasons. He is also incredibly honest when covering games on broadcasts.
That honesty extends to criticizing his colleagues. On Sunday, the College Sports Only Instagram account shared a quote from Herbstreit regarding his opinion on popular college football insider Elle Duncan. In the quote, Herbstreit calls out Duncan for favoring head coach Kirby Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs too much on broadcasts. The quote came from an appearance on the “Next Man Up” podcast on Wednesday.
“You watch SportsCenter and Elle Duncan is sitting there cheering for Georgia,” Kirk Herbstreit said. “She’s openly cheering. I’m not a fan of that personally. I think it hurts your credibility. When that team is playing other teams, fans are looking at you like (dismissive hand gesture)… That’s different.”
Elle Duncan is from Atlanta, Georgia, so it makes sense that she is a fan of the Bulldogs. However, Herbstreit believes there should be more objectivity in broadcasting. He has the opinion that broadcasters should not show bias while broadcasting, instead taking a neutral approach to analyzing games, regardless of whether they are fans of one of the teams.
Elle Duncan Responds to Kirk Herbstreit’s Criticism
Kirk Herbstreit’s comments about Elle Duncan went viral after the podcast. They were reposted by many accounts, including the Awful Announcing X account. Duncan saw the quotes and responded on X.
“Didn’t have this on my bingo card for today but my fandom doesn’t impact in any way what or how we talk about teams on air. Ever. I…JUST..BARK?? Also **whispers** I’m not the only one. So why I get singled out?”
Didn’t have this on my bingo card for today but my fandom doesn’t impact in any way what or how we talk about teams on air. Ever. I…JUST..BARK?? Also **whispers** I’m not the only one. So why I get singled out?
— Elle Duncan (@elleduncanESPN) July 4, 2025
Duncan is certainly right that she is not the only person to show her bias on a broadcast. It is unclear whether Herbstreit only meant to call out Duncan or whether he was simply using her as an example to criticize people in the broadcasting industry for unbiased coverage in general.
Kirk Herbstreit is an alumnus of the Ohio State Buckeyes, but believes he maintains an unbiased view when covering their games.
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