Kirk Herbstreit has insisted that he did not offer a brutal assessment of Bill Belichick’s college football debut during ESPN’s live coverage of UNC’s season opener.
Belichick and UNC suffered humiliation Monday night when they endured a blowout 48-14 loss to the TCU Horned Frogs as the the head coach’s 24-year-old girlfriend, Jordon Hudson, watched on.
And ESPN announcer Kirk Herbstreit appeared to compound the Tar Heels’ misery when he was caught in a hot mic moment.
At the start of the fourth quarter, Herbstreit was overheard saying what many fans believed to be ‘they’re bad,’ before chuckling.
The comment would have been a brutal but accurate assessment of UNC’s performance given the 41-14 scoreline after the third quarter.
Kirk Herbstreit (R) suffered a hot mic moment during Bill Belichick’s (L) college football debut
Belichick’s 24-year-old girlfriend Jordon Hudson was caught watching on in Chapel Hill
However, the 56-year-old later took to social media to defend himself, clarifying that he actually said, ‘you’re bad.’
‘Must be a slow night..not sure why this is so confusing. I said “YOU’RE bad” to my spotter Deron for something funny he said when we were just coming back on air,’ Herbstreit wrote in response to another account that had shared the clip.
Regardless, the Tar Heels were objectively bad.
UNC running back Caleb Hood capped the game’s opening drive with a touchdown but it was all downhill from there.
The Tar Heels went on to surrender 41 consecutive points before returning to the end zone late in the third for a consolation touchdown.
Gio Lopez, the quarterback Belichick tapped to be the Tar Heels starter, completed only 4 of 10 passes and tossed an interception that was returned for a touchdown.
Lopez was later pulled by Belichick with backup Max Johnson, the son of former NFL quarterback and Super Bowl winner Brad, taking his place.
Johnson brought a sliver of hope for the Tar Heels, completing 7 of his first 8 passes for 81 yards and a touchdown to his brother, Tar Heels tight end Jake.
The ESPN announcer later took to social media to clarifying his hot-mic comment
Belichick and UNC suffered a blowout 48-14 loss to the TCU Horned Frogs on Monday night
Belichick didn’t have any update on the injured Lopez afterwards and wouldn’t say he would be the team’s starter next Saturday in Charlotte.
‘Give TCU credit, they came in and did a good job, they were the better team tonight,’ Belichick told reporters, adding: ‘We got a lot of work to do.’
Belichick specifically cited two turnovers for touchdowns that ultimately doomed the Tar Heels on Monday.
Meanwhile, a lot of social media’s focus was on Hudson, whose 49-year age gap with Belichick has caused a stir over the past year.
Long-time college football reporter Brett McMurphy joked: ‘In history of college football, Super Bowl champion coaches w/24-year old girlfriends have never won any games as a college head coach.’
McMurphy later pointed out that Max Johnson is also 24.
