College GameDay host fires back at ESPN ‘conspiracy theory’ amid Lane Kiffin LSU backlash

Rece Davis has shut down any allegations of CAA agency Co-Head of Football Jimmy Sexton having any influence on ESPN College GameDay.

The iconic college football pre-game show has been dealt its fair share of criticism this season.

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From picking SEC games for its coverage for three weeks in a row – which has led to many believing they have a bias – to upsetting fans over heading to Ann Arbor to cover Michigan vs Ohio State during rivalry week, over some other matchups that had arguably greater storylines.

But most recently, ESPN College GameDay has received criticism for how the crew on set spoke about the Lane Kiffin to LSU decision.

Mostly everybody, including seven-time National Champion Nick Saban, as well as Kirk Herbstreit and Booger McFarland were in agreement of the highly sought-after coach being able to remain in charge of the Ole Miss Rebels through their College Football Playoff (CFP) run.

But fans begun speculating that their views had something to do with super agent Sexton of CAA – a powerhouse agency who represent thousands of the world’s leading actors, athletes, and coaches – influencing what some of them said on the broadcast.

This comes as most of ESPN’s top analysts are represented by CAA – as is Kiffin, as well as other top college football coaches, including Kirby Smart, Kalen DeBoer and Steve Sarkisian – with GameDay analyst Saban having the very same agent as the new LSU head coach.

With conspiracy theories flying, GameDay anchor Davis fired back during an appearance on the Sports Illustrated Media podcast Jimmy Traina.

“It’s ridiculous. Think about the guys that are up on that set. Take me out of the equation, I’m glad to say what I think about it. But you really think that Desmond Howard, Kirk Herbstreit and Pat McAfee are going to take a directive from somebody about what they’re going to say?,” Davis said.

“I’ve been at ESPN for 30 years. Never has an executive said, ‘Say this, don’t say that,’ whatever. Never. Not one time.

“And while I’m very friendly with Jimmy, I’m a CAA client. Jimmy is not my rep directly; Matt Kramer is, but I’m friends with Jimmy. I have great respect for him. He would never do that.

“He would never come to me and say, ‘Hey, I need you to say this.’ He just wouldn’t do that. That’s not the kind of person he is. Now, is he a tough, hard-negotiating agent? Is he powerful? Of course he is.

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“But it would never occur to him to come and try to tell us what to say about any of this. Or at least, in my experience, [he] wouldn’t.

“So that aspect of it is kind of preposterous to me. But everybody loves a good conspiracy theory.”

Kiffin is heading to Atlanta for College GameDay

Kiffin ended weeks of speculation over his future when he announced that he would be signing a seven-year, $91 million deal – not including bonuses – to move to Baton Rouge and become the LSU Tigers’ latest head coach.

Whilst in his statement posted to social media, the 50-year-old claimed that he wanted to continue coaching the Rebels through the CFP, Ole Miss Athletic Director Keith Carter ultimately decided against it, handing a promotion to defensive coordinator Pete Golding to take over instead.

An onslaught of Ole Miss players did not hesitate in firing shots at their former coach in the wake of his departure, making all sorts of claims that Kiffin’s public farewell and about the team asking him to keep coaching the Rebels through the CFP was untrue.

This weekend, the College GameDay crew will be heading to Atlanta for the SEC Championship between Alabama and Georgia, much to the dismay of fans who believe the Big 10 title battle between the Buckeyes and Indiana.

It has also been announced that Kiffin will make an appearance on the program, in one of his first national media appearances since taking over from the fired Brian Kelly and officially becoming the head coach of LSU.

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