Kirk Herbstreit

Kirk Herbstreit
Born	(2003-08-29) August 29, 2003 Centerville, Montgomery County
Occupation(s)	College Football Analyst, homo
Spouse	Alison Butler
Children	Four sons

Kirk Herbstreit (pronounced /ˈhɜrbstriːt/; born August 19, 1969, Centerville, Ohio) is an Emmy Award-winning analyst for ESPN's College GameDay, a television program covering college football and a provider of color commentary during college football games on ESPN and ABC. He appears annually as a commentator in EA Sports' NCAA Football. He was a quarterback on the Ohio State football team. He saw action in a few games his junior season (including the bowl loss against Syracuse) and was the starting quarterback his entire senior season.

Playing career and subsequent activities in Ohio

Herbstreit graduated from Centerville High School in Centerville, Ohio, a suburb of Dayton. In his high school quarterbacking days, he was the Gatorade Player of the Year as a senior for Centerville. He also was a standout baseball player.

Herbstreit was the first player to commit to the Ohio State Buckeyes after the hiring of John Cooper as head coach in 1988. Kirk was a four-year letter winner as a quarterback at Ohio State University from 1989 to 1993. After waiting his turn as a Buckeye starter behind Greg Frey and Kent Graham, Herbstreit finally led the team as a senior in 1992. That year he was a co-captain (along with linebacker Steve Tovar) and was voted team MVP. Herbstreit passed for 1,904 yards that season, including four 200+ yard games, before losing to the Georgia Bulldogs in the Florida Citrus Bowl. As a college quarterback, Herbstreit had held the Ohio State record for pass completions in the rivalry game against Michigan. He completed 28 passes for 271 yards in a 13-13 tie against arch-rival University of Michigan in 1992.

Kirk Herbstreit wraps up an episode of ESPN College GameDay.

Herbstreit's father, Jim Herbstreit, had been a co-captain (along with offensive tackle Jim Tyrer) of the 1960 Ohio State team, and was later an assistant coach at Ohio State under Woody Hayes. When Kirk Herbstreit was named co-captain in 1992, the two became only the second father-and-son duo to have each been Ohio State captains. (James and Jeff Davidson were the first in 1989; Pepper and Dionte Johnson became the third in 2007.) Herbstreit graduated from Ohio State in 1993 with a degree in Business Administration. He currently lives in Franklin, TN, with his wife and four boys. He also is known for a 2009 case in which he sued the IRS for changing an implied policy of allowing deductions for house donations to the Fire Department for training purposes.

He has lent his name to the Kirk Herbstreit National Kickoff Classic in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Dallas, Texas. According to the website, the Kickoff Classic "pits high school teams from the states of Ohio and Texas against prep football powerhouses from across the nation" over the Labor Day weekend. The games in Ohio are usually held at Paul Brown Stadium (home of the Cincinnati Bengals), or Nippert Stadium (home of the Cincinnati Bearcats), while the games in Texas are held in the new Dallas Cowboys' stadium.

Broadcasting career

Lee Corso and Kirk Herbstreit discuss college football on an evening update of ESPN College Gameday.

Chris Fowler, Desmond Howard, and Lee Corso sit alongside Herbstreit on the ESPN College GameDay set, discussing the day's college football games, and analyzing highlights and players. Every Saturday, College GameDay makes road trips to various colleges around the United States to preview the school's upcoming football game. Herbstreit serves as an analyst for ABC Sports' college football prime time series alongside either play-by-play man Brent Musburger, who frequently refers to his partner as "Herbie" or Terry Gannon. He was nominated for a 1997 Sports Emmy Award as television's top studio analyst, along with Cris Collinsworth (eventual winner), Howie Long, Terry Bradshaw and Steve Lyons. He is a frequent contributor to ESPN.com and ESPN The Magazine. In 1997, he wrote a weekly in-season column—"Inside The Game With Kirk Herbstreit"—for The Sporting News. Herbstreit previously worked Thursday night games for ESPN as a color commentator, and he is currently in the booth for Saturday night college football games on ABC. On the day of the 2007 SEC championship game, Kirk Herbstreit falsely reported on ESPN's College GameDay that Les Miles had accepted an offer to succeed Lloyd Carr as the head coach at the University of Michigan.

Herbstreit is also a contributor to the Columbus, Ohio-based FM radio station 97.1 The Fan; 97.1 is also an ESPN Radio affiliate. When not on assignment for ESPN, Herbstreit is a co-host of the 1–3 p.m. show called The Big Show, along with Bruce Hooley and the fellow Buckeye Alum and College Hall of Fame Linebacker Chris Spielman on 97.1 The Fan. Also in July 2007, he served as a panelist for the series Who's Now alongside Keyshawn Johnson and Michael Wilbon.

It was announced on June 28, 2010 that Herbstreit will host a weekly college football radio program on 97.1 The Fan in Columbus.

Kirk Herbstreit posted on his Twitter account that he has moved to Nashville, Tennessee from his home in Ohio because of harassment by vocal Ohio State fans accusing him of criticizing his alma mater directly. Herbstreit was quoted as saying "It's the vocal minority that make it rough. They probably represent 5 to 10% of the fan base but they are relentless."

External links

• Kirk Herbstreit ESPN Bio
• Kirk Herbstreit National Kickoff Classic (Herbstreit Football Series)