When I was only 4 days old, going home from the hospital in suburban Cleveland, and Woodstock was ending hundreds of miles away in upstate New York-
Kirk Herbstreit was being born in suburban Dayton. Kirk and I are almost the same exact age. We had similar Ohio-suburban upbringings.
When I was graduating from Cleveland State University in the Winter of 1992, Kirk Herbstreit was leading Ohio State to, what E. Gordon Gee infamously stated as, "(the 13-13 tie is) one of our greatest wins ever."
Shortly after graduating from THE Ohio State University, Herbstreit got a job at ESPN's College GameDay and the rest is history.
Herbstreit's first son went to Clemson. That was fine.
Herbstreit's second son went to Clemson. That was fine.
Herbstreit's third son went to Ohio State. That was fine.
Herbstreit's fourth son.....
Really, as on Ohio State Alum, your kid could have gone to any of 132 FCS or 128 FBS schools. The only school you couldn't send your kid to is Michigan. It's not a hard concept. Choosing one of the 260 other schools SHOULDN'T have been a problem.
Now you are saying that the Ohio State-Michigan game is nothing but a stupid rivalry and Herbstreit's Kid should be able to go to any college that he wants? I would have listened to that argument IF Michigan could have offered a better deal for the Herbstreit Student than any other college in America. You don't begrudge a student a premium opportunity for his future.
But that's not what Michigan is offering. Michigan signed the # 1 High School recruit in the entire nation, Bryce Underwood, to come play quarterback for the Wolverines. If Chase Herbstreit, the 2,413th best recruit in the nation, the 148th best quarterback, wanted a chance to play within the next 3 years, Michigan was literally the WORST school he could have signed with.
If Herbstreit worked hard and studied his playbook, he could have gotten that full-ride scholarship at somewhere like Bowling Green or Middle Tennessee and played as soon as next season. (And probably made a little NIL money on the side.)
But according to Kirk himself: "'Ohio State did not really pursue (Chase) to the point of offering a scholarship,' Herbstreit said. Chase will be on scholarship at Michigan...Herbstreit went on to say that 'Chase was mainly interested in big schools, naming Michigan, Ohio State and Notre Dame.'"
So let me make sure I am hearing this right. The most important thing to Chase is attending a Big School, even if it means risking sitting on the bench for his entire college career? Doubtful.
I am going to tell you what really happened, which no one will say out loud. Someone at Michigan is paying Chase NIL money to embarrass Ohio State on the recruiting trail. "Even Herbstreit's Kid is coming to play at Michigan" will be Michigan's recruiting pitch for the next 5 years. NIL money wasn't in play for the other 3 Herbstreit kids. It doesn't matter if Herbstreit's Youngest Kid ever sees the field. That NIL money is already well spent in advertising for the school up North, hell I'm writing about how Ohio State just got red-faced in recruiting. Michigan is offering a scholarship AND NIL money to go there.
You say I would let my kid go to Michigan? Not if my kid loved football and I knew the administration was using him and planned on letting him languish on the bench.
Kirk Herbstreit makes $18 million a year as, maybe, one of Ohio State's most recognizable football ambassadors. He should not have let his kid get used like that for money. An amount of money that he could have defrayed if his son just picked one of 260 different schools.