David Pollack’s career at Georgia, along with his NFL background, gave him a high level of authority as an analyst. However, he was also among the well-known on-air figures released by ESPN during a huge wave of corporate layoffs in June 2023.
David Pollack Breaks Silence on ESPN Exit After 45-Second Call
Pollack’s departure from ESPN came after a call from former ESPN executive Lee Fitting. Former ESPN host Sage Steele spoke with the former Georgia star about his career this week, during which he opened up about his sudden layoff.
“It was a phone call,” Pollack said (31:30). “I pick it up, and I’m like, ‘What’s up, dude? It’s June. And I’m like, we’re about to go on a trip to Boston and Maine and he was like, ‘Hey.’ I was like, ‘What’s up, dude?’.. And then and then it was like 45 seconds in, I was like, ‘I don’t think this is going to go well.” Like I read it. I was like, ‘Oh, I’m reading the room.’ And then he said, he was like, ‘Hey, man. We’re having some let goes and you’re going to hear about some stuff over the next couple days.’
“I was like, ‘Sweet, Okay.’ I was like, ‘Dude.’ And I said it right there on the phone. I was like, ‘Man, thank you so much. Like, what an opportunity.’ Like, I just got to travel the world. I got to bring my son to like 29 campuses. I’m like, ‘Dude, this wasn’t a job. This was amazing.’ So yeah, it was a but, it was out of the blue for sure.”
Pollack joined ESPN in June 2009 and initially served as a college football analyst for studio programming and co-hosted “Palmer & Pollack” on ESPNU. He joined the cast of the Emmy Award-winning Saturday morning show College GameDay in 2011 and remained a key figure for more than a decade.
Pollack was also selected to replace Craig James on ESPN’s Thursday Night College Football broadcasts in 2012. He contributed to College Football Live, SportsCenter, and College Football Playoff coverage. Pollack said the layoff decision didn’t leave him bitter, instead saying to Josh Pate that he “was surprised.”
Meanwhile, Steele also asked Pollack whether ESPN had provided a reason for the layoff.
“They just said layoffs,” Pollack said (32:45). “I think they were making changes at the network. I think that there’s a lot of people that speculate and see different things and stuff. I tried not to think about it too much because I found, man, that there’s very little difference between success and failure. Like it’s really just how you handle it and how you handle it like how you address it. So I’m way less concerned about what happens to me. I’m way more concerned about my response.”
Pat McAfee later took over Pollack’s spot on College GameDay, and Pollack shifted into independent media and keynote speaking. He launched his own podcast called “See Ball Get Ball” for the 2024 college football season.
