Bill Belichick’s debut as head coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels was bad by any measure. The team suffered a 48-14 blowout loss to TCU, marked by a lackluster quarterback performance and atrocious defensive struggles.

So, when ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit uttered two words in a hot mic moment late in the blowout, some observers thought they knew exactly what he was talking about.

Herbstreit was caught on a hot mic groaning and saying, “You’re bad.”

Barstool Sports promptly shared the post on X, misquoting him and implying the criticism was directed at the UNC team.

“They’re bad,” they captioned it.

Kirk Herbstreit Blasts Barstool

Barstool Sports, which famously got caught staging a confrontation between Patrick Mahomes’ dad and former MLB pitcher John Rocker on Bourbon Street earlier this year, was quickly called out by Herbstreit for trying to manufacture controversy.

The ESPN College GameDay staple immediately called them out on X and clarified the matter.

“Must be a slow night,” Herbstreit said, directly addressing the clip. “Not sure why this is so confusing.”

“I said ‘YOU’RE bad’ to my spotter, Deron, for something funny he said when we were just coming back on air.”

He went on to accuse Barstool of making things up and suggested they better focus their efforts on praising the broadcast booth for calling an entertaining effort despite a boring blowout on the field.

“Instead of making up things I said, how bout giving Rece (Davis), Holly (Rowe), and I some love for getting through that game,” he fired back. “Those games are by far the toughest games you announcers have to call.”

RELATED: Barstool’s Dave Portnoy Says Patrick Mahomes’ Family Sank Fight With John Rocker

Barstool Sports Doesn’t Acknowledge the Error

Despite being called out by the source – Kirk Herbstreit – and having a Community Note placed on their post, Barstool Sports has yet to retract their misquote or apologize for the error.

Which is no surprise.

As reported on these pages, a viral video showed John Rocker “randomly” confronting Patrick Mahomes Sr. on Bourbon Street in New Orleans during Super Bowl weekend. Barstool Sports posted the video, then later announced that the pair had signed for an exhibition boxing match.

It seemed like a coincidence to absolutely nobody.

Still, Barstool founder Dave Portnoy insisted the melee caught on video was not staged by any stretch of the imagination.

The charade was only exposed in court because Mahomes, who was on “intense supervision” after a sweetheart plea deal for his third DWI, forgot to pee in a cup as required by said agreement.

Court documents indicated Mahomes Sr. had to admit that the Rocker incident “was a staged altercation to get publicity for [a] celebrity boxing match that was set to take place in April 2025.”

Barstool should probably stop manufacturing news and stop pretending they are a legitimate outfit at this point.

Also Read:Patrick Mahomes Hilariously Explains ‘How the Globe Works’ to Travis Kelce as Team Preps to Play in Brazil