Is Pat McAfee returning to College GameDay in 2024? Popular CFB analyst weighs in on the decision

Popular ESPN College GameDay analyst Pat McAfee has had a contentious relationship with ESPN in the last few months, leaving his future up in the air ahead of the start of the 2024 college football season. His cryptic comments during a June episode of his show left fans speculating that his time with the segment was over.

“We’re not getting into that,” McAfee said in June on The Pat McAfee Show. “I don’t know if (many, many years) is the case, but it will get figured out. And it will. It was an honor, it is an honor to be a part of College GameDay.”

On Wednesday, he posted an emotive video on X of his best moments from last season, keeping fans in suspense until the very last moments when he confirmed his return for the new season.

“I’m lucky, I’m honored, I’m humble, I’m grateful and…” McAfee said in the clip. “I’m back. … I can’t wait for Dublin on August 24th. Let’s have the greatest year of football in the history of college football. Hell yeah.”

Pat McAfee deals with negativity on the show

A poll by The Athletic last year revealed that 48.1% of college football fans did not like the controversial Pat McAfee appearing on ESPN's "College GameDay" show. The analyst said the reason he had not signed yet for the 2024 season was due to the result of the poll.

In addition, he was locked in a war of words with ESPN executive Norby Williamson, whom he accused of attempting to sabotage his show, increasing speculation that he would not sign on for an extra year.

During his own show, McAfee highlighted how difficult it was to deal with the ongoing negativity he was facing from college football fans.

“It’s like, these college fans are awesome, they’re phenomenal, they’re incredibly passionate," McAfee said. "But man, that negativity — normally when I get dropped into a new show like the WWE, that negativity is like three months.

"They hate my life, they hate my — they hate everything about me. And then they’re like, ‘You know what? This guy, not that bad.’ How about this? I’m back. I don’t love it. I don’t love that my life is just going to continue to have people telling me to run into oncoming traffic, swallow a barrel.”

Pat McAfee probably weighed the options and decided that he could deal with the negativity that has arisen of late.