Dan Dakich Defends Pat McAfee Against ‘Idiotic’ Backlash

Pat McAfee Faces Fan Backlash After College GameDay Midterm Results.

A social media post demanding his removal from ESPN’s College GameDay crossed one million views on November 4, 2026.

The post, from an X user named Brandon, read: “I want Pat McAfee fired by midnight @espn.”

Replies included comments like “You are speaking my language” and “Need him fired on live TV.”

One viewer joked: “only time the words ‘want’ and ‘pat mcafee’ will ever be used together.”

The backlash came just after the 2026 midterm elections.

It also followed criticism from several media personalities.

Former MSNBC host Joe Scarborough raised concerns on Morning Joe the day before the election.

Scarborough praised Rece Davis, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard and Nick Saban.

But he felt McAfee had taken too much attention away from the rest of the panel.

Co-host Willie Geist agreed, saying the broadcast had become too centered on one personality since McAfee joined full-time in 2022.

An audience survey from The Athletic in January 2026 found that 49.5% of respondents disliked McAfee’s presence on the show.

Only 31.6% liked it, and 18.9% had no opinion.

Former ESPN personality Katie Nolan also joined the criticism after McAfee’s October visit to the University of Utah became a talking point.

On her Casuals podcast, Nolan accused McAfee of acting irresponsibly before expecting others to protect his emotional well-being.

McAfee had said he felt “very, very uncomfortable” on Utah’s campus after the university posted a video of students making jokes about him.

He referenced the assassination of Charlie Kirk, who was killed at Utah Valley University in 2025.

Nolan questioned his handling of the situation.

“The guy is winning in every sense of the word, and yet is constantly acting like the world is attacking him baselessly,” Nolan said.

“He acts irresponsibly, but then wants everyone to be responsible for his emotional well-being, and to take care of him.”

Nolan acknowledged McAfee’s value to sports broadcasting, calling his energy a good injection into an industry full of “old-guard guys.”

But she argued that being a prominent personality means accepting negative reactions.

Into this storm stepped Dan Dakich.

On Wednesday, November 5, 2026, the OutKick host took Scarborough to task.

Dakich corrected Scarborough’s claim that “kids” had made signs targeting McAfee.

He said the university’s official account had shared something of “kids coming at Pat McAfee.”

Dakich also said everyone on the show talking about college sports looked like “idiots.”

He made the case that College GameDay was “stale” and “dead in the water” until McAfee arrived.

Dakich accused Scarborough of co-opting sports fandom to look like a “real guy.”

He compared Scarborough to former vice presidential candidate Tim Walz, who once misused the term “Hail Mary.”

Dakich noted that McAfee was not one of the issues voters cared about in the 2024 election cycle.

“I’m telling you, this is going to be fascinating,” Dakich said.

“This is going to be absolutely fascinating. No, it’s amazing. Hate won last night, but Pat McAfee ain’t among the hate. Hate won. We’ll see how hate progresses and what they do with it, but Pat McAfee being on GameDay wasn’t one of the issues.”

College GameDay has been a Saturday morning staple on ESPN since 1987.