Kirk Herbstreit

Kirk Herbstreit met Alison Butler at Ohio State University, where she was a cheerleader. They have been married since June 13, 1998, and have four sons: identical twins Jake and Tye, Zak, and Chase.

His sons have followed him into college football. Tye and Jake played at Clemson, Zak joined Ohio State as a preferred walk-on, and Chase has been a member of the Michigan Wolverines.

Herbstreit played quarterback for the Ohio State Buckeyes from 1989 to 1993 and was a four-year letterman. He became Ohio's Gatorade Player of the Year as a senior at Centerville High School before becoming the first player to commit to Ohio State after John Cooper was hired as head coach.

As Ohio State's senior quarterback in 1992, Herbstreit was a team co-captain, team MVP, and most motivational player. He passed for 1,904 yards that season and set an Ohio State record with 28 completions against Michigan in a 13-13 tie. The record stood until Troy Smith broke it in 2006.

Herbstreit's father, Jim Herbstreit, was also an Ohio State player and captain before becoming an assistant coach at the university. Jim and Kirk became only the second father-and-son pair to serve as captains of Ohio State teams. Herbstreit graduated from Ohio State in 1993 with a degree in business administration.

Herbstreit joined ESPN as a college football sideline analyst in September 1995 and became a lead analyst on College GameDay in 1996. He has worked on the program with figures including Lee Corso, Desmond Howard, Rece Davis, Chris Fowler, and Nick Saban.

He became ESPN and ABC's lead game analyst in 2006, calling the marquee game for ABC Saturday Night Football alongside Chris Fowler and sideline reporter Holly Rowe. He has also contributed to ESPN's NFL Draft coverage and worked on ESPN's Monday Night Football broadcasts.

In 2022, Herbstreit joined Al Michaels in the booth for Amazon Prime Video's inaugural season of Thursday Night Football. He has also been associated with the College Football video game series as an in-game commentator and debuted the podcast Nonstop with Kirk and Joey with former Ohio State teammate Joey Galloway.

Herbstreit has won five Sports Emmy Awards, including three for Outstanding Studio Analyst and two for Outstanding Event Analyst. He was inducted into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame in 2023.

He has called 18 Rose Bowl Games, more than any other broadcaster, and has called College Football Playoff semifinal games and every National Championship Game of the CFP era alongside Chris Fowler. In 2021, he published the memoir Out of the Pocket: Football, Fatherhood, and College GameDay Saturdays with Gene Wojciechowski.