Kirk Herbstreit reveals reason behind emotional Ohio State reaction, turbulent year behind the scenes

Kirk Herbstreit was very emotional during the postgame broadcast following Ohio State’s win over Notre Dame in the national championship.

But, he had his reasons. It wasn’t just seeing his son Zak Herbstreit be a part of a championship squad, but it was a culmination of emotions. Kirk Herbstreit noted he was happy to see the Buckeyes fight back from adversity and block out the noise to win it all.

But there was more behind the scenes for the long time ESPN college football analyst.

“I only know how I feel at the time,” Herbstreit said on The Pat McAfee Show. “That’s not something you think about or predict. It’s just like a perfect storm for me. My son had heart failure two years ago. They were talking about a heart replacement there for a while, and he had to medically retire. And Ryan Day, I think, the gratitude I have for Ryan Day putting his arms around Zak and keeping him involved. You know, he’s almost like a GA with what he was doing. And Ryan insisted on putting his arms around him, Chip Kelly, all these guys, so there was that side of it looking down and seeing him in his jersey after, you know, potentially facing replacing your heart to that. 

“I haven’t really talked about this publicly, but, you know, Ali, my wife faced some stuff. It’s been a tough year for me behind the scenes. My wife got diagnosed with breast cancer. You know, Ben dies, it was just a lot of emotion. And when you’re doing what we do, you endure, you know, you do your job. And I think what happened, I couldn’t predict it, but when they won, I was so happy for Ryan Day and those players that I just talked about, because of what they faced and all the stuff behind the scenes. It was like, it was almost like, I don’t know, maybe a release of all that pent up stuff, and it just just got the best of me.” 

Kirk Herbstreit explains emotions following national championship

Herbstreit is a guy who wears his heart on his sleeve, that’s for sure. So the combination of everything in and out of the public eye all came together after Ohio State’s win.

“I’m an emotional guy in general, you know, and when things touch my heart, I’m not good at talking, you know,” Herbstreit said. “And then when that happens, and Scott (Van Pelt) came to me (on SportsCenter), I was already a little bit kind of dealing with it, and then he came to me first, and I was like, why do you got to come to me? That was just real. It was just me talking. And I think, like I said, it was a perfect storm of emotions, of a lot of stuff going through my head, looking down and seeing my son, my wife is in the booth with me. You know, it was a lot, but just happy for those players.” 

In the moment, no one could blame Herbstreit and his love for Ohio State based on being an alum, his son on the field and everything that happened leading up to the Buckeyes’ best moment of the season.

“That’s a lifelong memory that fan base will never forget, this run they put on, and you’re just proud. You’re happy for them,” Herbstreit said. “For what they faced at the end of that Michigan game. And I talked to these guys behind the scenes, and knew what they were going through and how hurt they were, and for them to endure that, overcome that man, what an example for sports, what an example for all of us in our walk in life, to go through adversity and learn that. 

“We grow more going through adversity. And they did as a collective unit. They overcame. Whether it’s Ohio State or any other team that it happened to be Ohio State makes that much more, but I’m a big sucker for ‘team,’ and when I see people go through stuff, and come together and overcome. Sign me up. I love it, and for it to be my team, so there was just a lot.”