Kirk Herbstreit: Les Miles-to-Michigan report got me out of the coaching news business

The 2007 season is universally regarded as the wildest season in modern college football history.

It produced the only (pre-expanded College Football Playoff) 2-loss national champion the sport has ever known, and blockbuster names like Boston College, South Florida and Kansas all spent time as the No. 2-ranked team in the country. The BCS National Championship looked like it was going to be Missouri vs. West Virginia, until the No. 1-ranked Tigers and No. 2-ranked Mountaineers both lost on the final week of the regular season. From the season's Wikipedia entry, "(t)he No. 1 and No. 2 ranked teams had not lost in the same week of the season since 1996. In 2007 alone, No. 1 and No. 2 fell during the same weekend three times, including in both of the final two weeks of the regular season."

In addition to all that on-field madness, there was chaos from something that didn't happen off the field.

First, let's back up. 

The 2007 season began with a fitting omen, when Appalachian State, an FCS program at the time, upset No. 5 Michigan. It was the first and, considering the state of the sport, likely the last time an FCS team defeated an AP top-5 ranked opponent. The following week, Oregon went to the Big House and embarrassed the Wolverines, 39-7. Sparked by an unknown offensive coordinator named Chip Kelly, that Oregon team ended up being really good, but the damage was done. The Lloyd Carr era, which welcomed Michigan's first national championship in 50 years and had seen the Wolverines come within four points of playing for the national title the season prior, was over. 

Sure enough, Carr announced on Nov. 19, the Monday after his third straight loss to Ohio State, that he would step down after Michigan's bowl game.

"I wanted to be able to walk out of here knowing that to the very last minute, I did my job to the best of my ability," Carr said with watery eyes, per the Associated Press. "And I know I'll be able to do that."

The gears of the coaching carousel started turning, and on Dec. 1, broadcasting from in front of the Alamo ahead of No. 1 Missouri's rematch with No. 9 Oklahoma for the Big 12 championship that night, Kirk Herbstreit said this:

"I found out about a very close source to the situation going on in Ann Arbor -- we know that Les Miles will get a chance to talk to Michigan -- what I've found from a source is that, in fact, he will be announced as the new head coach at the University of Michigan. What I think is interesting is that Jon Tenuta, in my mind the best in the country, will be coming along with him as his defensive coordinator. So, Les Miles to Michigan, Jon Tenuta as the defensive coordinator. He's an Ohio State guy that could be going to Ann Arbor. That is a dangerous, lethal combination."

"The Buckeyes better watch out," Lee Corso added. "I'm telling ya." 

Narrator: The Buckeyes did not, in fact, need to watch out. 

Word traveled fast from San Antonio to Atlanta, where Miles was hours away from coaching BCS No. 7 LSU against No. 14 Tennessee in the SEC Championship.

LSU would go on to beat Tennessee, Oklahoma would beat Missouri while Pitt simultaneously stunned West Virginia, and the 2-loss Tigers -- "undefeated in regulation," as Miles memorably argued that year -- leapfrogged No. 6 Virginia Tech, No. 5 Kansas, and No. 4 Georgia to earn the right to face new No. 1 Ohio State in the BCS title game, which just so happened to be at the Superdome. The Tigers hammered the Buckeyes, 38-17, to win the second of three national championships won under three different head coaches so far this century. 

Elsewhere, two things happened. Michigan hired Rich Rodriguez (who'd already permanently altered college football history by bypassing the Alabama job a year earlier) a few weeks later, and Kirk Herbstreit decided he was done with the reporting business.

"I would never do that again," Herbstreit told Kevin Clark's This is Football podcast. "I don't break stories, I'm not interested in stories. I get told so much stuff I never talk about... I'm not saying shit ever again when it comes to breaking stories."

The years have muddled Herbstreit's memory in two ways.

First, at least in the GameDay clip above, Herbstreit offers no qualifiers on Miles's anticipated departure from LSU. He, Corso and Chris Fowler all treat Les Miles-to-Michigan as completed fact.

Second, Herbstreit wasn't out of the reporting business, at least not entirely. On Dec. 13, 2013, Herbstreit brought the hammer to Texas's long but ultimately fruitless pursuit of Nick Saban. This tweet was sent during UT's season-ending banquet, televised live on Longhorn Network, an event that many Longhorns fans expected (hoped, in retrospect) that Mack Brown would step down after 16 seasons as Texas's coach. Brown did just that, only 24 hours too late for Texas to potentially nab Saban.

One more interesting tidbit. Herbstreit retroactively reveals Tenuta, Georgia Tech's defensive coordinator at the time, as his source. We didn't know that on Dec. 1, 2007, but GameDay viewers did hear Herbstreit call Tenuta "in my mind, the best in the country." 

Herbstreit sits at the center of the college football media universe, and words from his lips travel instantly around the sport. Recall the meltdown that ensued when Herbstreit shared his opinion in the spring of 2020 that he would be "shocked" if that fall's football season happened. To date, I'll bet most Florida State fans believe Herbstreit himself kicked the Seminoles out of the 2023 Playoff, simply because he defended the selection committee's choice after the fact. 

Herbstreit's seat allows him to develop relationships with the figures who shape what happens between the white lines. This past February, he defended himself from accusations he encouraged Dylan Raiola to flip from Georgia to Nebraska. 

Now, 17 years later, do we regard Herbstreit's praise of Tenuta as his genuine opinion, back-scratching of a source, or a little of both? Considering how influential Herbstreit's words are, it's a question that bears considering.