ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit Is Ready to Speak His Mind on 'Race, Religion Or Politics'

The 2024 college football season kicks off August 24, when Florida State and Georgia Tech face off in Dublin, Ireland. So it's time for the sport's pundits to warm up the vocal cords, cake on the makeup and get back to work.

Kirk Herbstreit was back in front of a mic on Tuesday morning, but he wasn't talking exclusively about sports.

Appearing on Dan Dakich's OutKick.com "Don't @ Me" show, Herbstreit doubled down on his stance on transgender athletes that he expressed on X last week during the firestorm over Algerian boxer Imane Khelif's eligibility at the Paris Olympics.

The International Olympic Committee confirmed Khelif's eligiblity and denounced the backlash she received on social media. Italy's Angela Carini even apologized after her "too strong" accusation against Khelif and decision to quit their match after just 46 seconds sparked the controversy.

All of those facts were ignored by Khelif's critics. So when he was asked "Do men belong in women's sports?" on X, Herbstreit responded, "Of course not. Ridiculous question."

Herbstreit got the chance to explain his curt reply and firm point of view on Dakich's show.

“I'm sure people are upset about it. I think it's kind of a no-brainer," Herbstreit said. "I don't have a daughter. I have four sons. If I had a daughter, I'd probably be way more outspoken about the discussion on the topic. I just kind of made it sound like, 'Why are you even asking this question?' is the kind of the way I took it.

"Lee Corso used to give a speech, and one of the things he would say within that speech is he's like, don't ask me about race, religion or politics, or don't talk publicly about race, religion or politics. And now I think that's all anybody talks about is race, religion or politics. I try to stay on the sidelines for a lot of that, but you can only take so much, until you want to start to speak up a little bit and actually say what you think. But, when I retire, or get in a position that you're in, I'll be able to say what I think a lot more.”

Herbstreit then said he doesn't "give a s---" about what people might say when he does address such topics.

“I don't really care at all. Like I'm done giving any s---- at all about any of it," he said. "It's almost like there are two different sets of rules and if you have a view that's a little bit more traditional you know, I'm a Christian guy. It's like there's a different set of rules for that viewpoint, and it's hard to just turn the other cheek time after time after time.

"So yeah, I didn't really care and I don't care at all, which is a good thing. I think it's good and healthy to get to that place, compared to 'Oh gosh, I don't want to get canceled. I don't want to get people upset.' I don't give a s---. I'm just going to say certain things. My problem is I have a temper and so if I get to that point, if that fuse gets lit, I let it go and then I'll explode and say something, so that I have to be careful of that.”

This new unburdened Herbstreit should make for the most provocative "College GameDay" season ever.