ESPN’s “College GameDay” is making some last-minute changes ahead of the 2026 college football season.
Awful Announcing reported on Wednesday night, August 26, that the show’s lead producer is changing. “College GameDay” producer Jim Gaiero is being taken off of the show. He’s being reassigned to Super Bowl and golf duties.
“Jim Gaiero, a veteran ESPN producer who has served as a lead producer on College GameDay for 10 years, will no longer produce the show, multiple sources confirm to Awful Announcing. Many involved with GameDay were informed of the news earlier this month. Matthew Garrett, a vice president of production at ESPN, is expected to take over as executive producer of GameDay,” they reported.
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What led to the changes?
Multiple sources told Awful Announcing that “friction” with McAfee likely led to the changes on the show.
McAfee had made some telling comments on social media in 2025.
“If you think about old white people and old ESPN people, those are really the people that hate me the most at this stage of life,” he said. “Now granted, there’s some other groups that certainly have threatened my life on a pretty regular basis, I’d say they hate me too. But throughout the entirety, old whites and the old ESPN people over the last like three years have really hated me. That’s who all the producers are of GameDay too. So now — it’s been a fun run. College football is great. OK, cheers. Have a great day.”
Other factors could be at play, too
ESPN, meanwhile, is claiming that the move is mostly Super Bowl-related. ESPN is set to broadcast the Super Bowl for the first time in 2027.
“ESPN asserts that Gaiero is set to take a significant role on ESPN’s production prep for the Super Bowl in February, where he’ll contribute to pregame studio programming. Additionally Gaiero, an avid golfer, is expected to play an important role in ESPN’s golf strategy around the Masters and PGA Championship, and he will eventually become the lead producer for both events in 2028. Gaiero will also produce ESPN’s Thursday night college football game. Multiple sources pointed out that with a daughter in middle school, it will be good for him to get his weekends back as well,” Awful Announcing added.
The first “College GameDay” of the year is set for next weekend.
