638: Kirk Herbstreit - The Most Prepared Broadcaster In The World, Responding To Adversity, Faith, Elk Pride, High School Sports, NIL Deals, Lee Corso, & The Emotional Moment When The Buckeyes Won The Title

34:40It's Pepsi wants to do something within whoever. If he can make money in marketing, which is name, image, and likeness, it's marketing. So if he can create money for himself, I think we've all gotten to a point where that makes sense. But not a guy is over at Bowling Green, and he's an All-American, and LSU needs a left guard, and they're just like, how much does it take? A lot of these guys, these five stars, they're taking, to me, they're looking at their lives like this and not looking at it 40 years down the road. They're just looking at it right here. And they have, whether it's parents or agents, they're just trying to get as much as they can.

35:18and going back to some of the life lessons I learned from Bob Gregg and Ron Ulrey in this program here sometimes that might be the right answer Joe Burrow left Ohio State he wasn't gonna get an opportunity made sense for him Dwayne Haskins went ahead of him after JT Barrett left it worked out great for him there's plenty of examples where it works I just don't think the first sign of adversity you should leave I think you have to fight through that adversity I just don't believe in leaving your teammates. It's so foreign to me that that's even in play. So that part of it's really difficult. So I don't want to say I don't believe in NIO, I don't believe in Transfer Portal, because I think sometimes it applies.

36:00But I just don't, I think if you take a coach, these coaches are a little bit hesitant on how hard they're going to be on these guys because they don't want to believe. Imagine being a coach, and you're worried about, is this guy going to leave if I really do what I want to do with him? And so that's a concern for me. The whole thing, I think, where we're going in hopefully two or three years, hopefully it's different from right now. Like the NFL, there are rules, right? There's free agency. Like if Brock Purdy, who makes$850 ,000 in the middle of a Super Bowl run, decides at week eight, I don't want to play anymore.

36:41I'm a pro bowler. You're only paying me$850. I'm worth$50 million. Why am I going to play? Either get my contract right or I'm not playing next week against Philly. Can you imagine if that happened? That's what college football players are doing. Complete BS. The players went from our era, you had no say, to now they have all the say. All the say. So to put it in our perspective as parents, if you have kids, Imagine if your kids were, I don't know, 12 years old and they're like, hey, I need the keys to the car. And you're like, I'm your parent. You can't drive. You're 12. And the kid's like, oh, really?

37:19Give me the keys or I'm going to go live somewhere else. And you're like, what? No, no. And the kid has all the power. You have no power. No, please don't leave. Don't leave. Does that make sense? That's what college football is right now. The 12-year-olds are deciding what they want to do. And you're the parent going, okay, whatever you say. It's like the world is upside down right now when it comes to that aspect of it. What's crazy is you still turn a college football game on on Saturday. The marching bands come out. The uniforms come out. And we still go crazy. So as much as they're trying to kill the sport, I don't know if it's ever been more popular.

38:02so what I think the players are underestimating is what we all digest they're great players but I hate to say this they're a dime a dozen like you're on a conveyor belt as a player there's other players coming right behind you as long as that Ohio State uniform is in play or that Michigan or that Notre Dame fight song or that U.S. that's all fans care about so they're important but they're not they don't deserve all the say like they have right now they need to learn some things and go through some tough times because it's for their own good when they get older and become employees whether it's the nfl or in the real world they become husbands they become fathers this is hurting them long term not helping them so they gotta they gotta fix it and by the way who fixes it the ncaa doesn't fix it the conference commissioners are supposed to be in charge, but Greg Sankey's worried about his constituents in the SEC.

39:00Tony Petiti's worried about the Big Ten. No one's worried about the global view of the sport. They're worried about their region. So how the heck are we going to fix this? Who's in charge? That's probably my biggest concern is we're coming up with all these great ideas, but who do we present them to? no one's the boss and everyone's afraid to be the boss because they're afraid of litigation because if you stand up to a player as agent you get sued or you get threatened to get sued so then you go okay go back to the 12 you're 12 years old you want to drive go drive that's where we are hey Kurt question for you and first of all thanks for not forgetting where you came from we're all real proud thank you

39:51Thanks, buddy. Thanks, man. My name is Doug Fine, and I want to ask you, I know this is Coach Corso's last, he was going to do one more show. I know you have a special relationship with him. Could you share some of that and then also maybe your favorite Lee Corso story? Man, I would love to pull up my, I don't know if you can pull up my favorite Lee Corso story, But if you Google Lee Corso F-bomb, it would probably be mine. That's a great video. I don't know if your team can pull that up, but that would be priceless. So Lee Corso is 89 years old. He'll be 90 August 7th. Here's what's crazy is he came back.

40:34He did me a favor. I don't know if you guys still do the Sonny Unger Award. We used to do something called the Sonny Unger Award at Centerville. It was a fundraiser. Sonny Unger was a former Centerville Elk, and he was in Vietnam, lost his life. And I guess Bob Gregg or the families of the football players came up years ago, maybe in the 70s, with a fundraiser. So anyway, when I started to work at ESPN, probably right around when you were playing, we decided to try to bring whoever it might be. I had Mike Tirico come back with me one year. I had Chris Fowler. Of course, I had Mike Vrabel. Every year we were trying to, like, what should we do this year?

41:11kind of thing. We kept trying to raise the bar. Well, one year Corso came back, did an amazing job, and a week later he had a stroke and really never, has never really fully recovered. And I think our relationship before was me looking at him and him having his arm around me, not just on air, but I think where our relationship really changed was off air. when I got married I would ask him questions you know we'd be in the back of a car going to a photo shoot I didn't know him that well but he was a really good listener so I would just bring up stuff and I always call him like Yoda or like Don Corleone you know he's kind of kind of petting a cat as you tell him a story he's this Italian big Italian presence and here I am just like here's my thing this time you know and he just is like listening to me but he's really listening Picture Don Corleone, you know, just like listening.

42:08And then he would say like two sentences. And I'd be like, oh, okay, all right. And I would just, so time after time he would do that. I remember when my kids, you know, my kids like to play with lingos. You know, I'm throwing them all, and they, you know, are they going to play ball? And he's like, play the Legos. Play Legos with it. They want to play lingos, play Legos. You know, he's like, he goes, you're building a new house? Good for you. That's great. He goes, have you decided what you're going to do in the rooms? I was like, you know, he's like, whatever Allison says, you just go, okay, sounds good.

42:40He goes, she wants purple pillows? Purple pillows, okay, sounds good. He's like, all you do is nod your head. So anyway, there were just millions of those kind of stories over the years. So when you talk about life with somebody, it changes from just sitting next to them and working. So our on-air relationship really changed. He was my mentor. I always watched him. and he's putting the headgear on, and I'm just sitting there watching, learning how he does things without him really coaching me. I'm just watching. And I think after the stroke, they didn't know if he'd ever come back because he couldn't speak.

43:15After the stroke, he slowly got his words back, and it wasn't like we had a discussion. I'd just be sitting next to him, and he'd get caught on a word, and I would just try to subtly interrupt him in a funny way or just try to, whatever I could do to just kind of, just quietly just kind of give him a little nudge or just a little crutch for him to kind of gather himself and just finish his thought. And I didn't really think anything of it. I think you've probably done the same thing. It's just what you do, you know? And I think over time, that was 15 years ago. So imagine, maybe some of you either have been through a stroke or you know people, so his cognitive thinking at 89 is firing.

44:00I mean, he knows everything. He's taking his words out. So if you younger guys, you don't realize what Lee Corso was. Lee Corso was hot takes before we knew what hot takes were. He was the guy that said something, and everyone was like, oh my god, I can't believe he just said that. Like, he was that guy without trying to be that guy. He is an icon in our industry. I was so fortunate to sit next to him and watch him and learn so much from him and just build a relationship over time. It didn't happen overnight. I mean, this is my 29th year, my 30th year this year on the show. And we just build a rapport and a love for one another.

44:38But our roles changed after the stroke. I tried to take care of him. After all those years, he took care of me. And the last few years have been tough. You know, Nick Saban came on the show. Pat McAfee now is on the show. Like, the vibe of the show from when I started with Chris Fowler, young Lee Corso, myself, Chris Felica, Tom Rinaldi, Gene Wojciechowski, eventually Desmond came on, David Pollack, you know, all those people are gone with the exception of Desmond. So I'm like the last person that I started with on the show. So the vibe is different. Doesn't mean it's better or worse. It's just different.

45:14And Lee decided that he's going to do one more show. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it's Ohio State, Texas, because he started with the Brutus headgear that Ali helped get him to wear that first time. and it would be the last time you know the challenge there is that is currently a noon kick as much as you guys don't like those noon kicks it's which it would be great for this moment 100 ,000 people in that stadium he comes out to do his last pick puts the headgear on 100 ,000 people could be symbolic of the nation showing their love for him I think I would be so fitting to end his his run like that.

45:57I'm hoping it stays at a Saturday noon. I think Ohio State's trying to get it to be moved to a night game, so I have no idea how that'll play out. But I think our hope is that it's in Columbus, and it would be just an awesome, awesome moment. But he's my guy. Love him to death. And I'll tell you, when he retired, he doesn't have a computer. Like, forget social media. He has a flip phone. He knows nothing other than what his family or I tell him and I reached out to him and I was like, he still faxes, you know, from his office. Yeah. Really? Yeah. Yeah. He has no idea what's happening. Which, by the way, it's kind of nice.

46:38I may graduate to that, but I had to reach out to him after he retired. It went public a couple weeks ago. And I just I knew he'd probably hear from his four kids. I knew he'd probably hear from them and I said I had to call him and say how are you you doing all right you got to know what's going on out here I mean it was just an avalanche of love like you guys know in social media it's very rare to have a hundred percent positivity about something it was a hundred percent and I was just like man they are people I just want you to know they love you you know it's like you need to know that and he's just like he's always changed his subject I appreciate it and And then we talked about something else for about 15 or 20 minutes.

47:20And then I said, OK, man, I'll talk to you. I love you, buddy. Take care. And he goes, hey, tell everybody I appreciate that. It means a lot to me that they did that. I was like, I'll let him know. So I sent out a tweet letting him know that people love him and are thinking about him. So that's going to be a rough show to get through that last show. My name is Jeff Trenasquez, representing Taft here. OH. Hi. Thank you. Herbie, I appreciate that last drive against Michigan. I was in the stadium. Papa Joe's was rocking that night. Papa Joe's. What a spot. High Energy Park Alley. Oh, yeah. It's the glory days.

48:05It's just not the same anymore. It's not. It's fancy. Fletcher's. It's nice and clean. We need a bunch of trunk and stupor guys right here. But, you know, that was south campus for us with the rope. Oh, it's so good. I'm going to go back to what a couple of these gentlemen have asked you with regards to the state of college football. Obviously, conference realignment, it seems like the Big Ten and the SEC and then maybe everybody else. You know, what is the thought process that you have with regards to that? I mean, plus the transfer portal, you got guys playing football, basketball for six or seven years.

48:47I'm just wondering, you know, and then you got Coach Saban, right? Legendary coach. I mean, when you guys are back channels and stuff like that, was that a motivation to retire? Was it because the landscape, he just doesn't play that way? Which I appreciate the work ethic you earned. I'm just interested to hear what you guys do when the cameras are off and you're actually honest with each other. and you don't have social media or whatever. You know, what's the state with Coach Saban and, you know, Coach K stepped away, Coach Williams and other sports or whatever? You know, the landscape is just to the point where, shoot, I kind of want to go back to college if I ask you.

49:25But I'm interested to hear your take on that, so I appreciate it. Thank you. Yeah, I appreciate the question. How fun is that, though? I mean, it's tough during the time, but to go from 12 to eventually 10 and 8 and then into that starting lineup. I mean, it's great that you must have played for a great coach to recognize that you're working, you earned that. Instead of just labeling you, you know, you're just kind of a grunt. Like, he saw that. So that's great that he did that. And by the way, that impacted you the rest of your life. That's what I'm talking about. We're taking that away. We're not.

50:00Some of the advisors are taking that away, I think, from some of these guys. Yeah, Coach Saban is very misunderstood because he was the head coach of Alabama when they won all their games. I know Coach Saban incredibly well. That's one of the cool things about my job is getting to know these coaches and he was a guy that early in his career at Michigan State, he just, he and I, there we go, Sparty. We got everybody here, we got Sparty here. But he and I go all the way to michigan state and he he and i would have very very candid conversations he knew he could trust me and he could be open with me going way back to that era all the way through lsu beginning of alabama and so he and i talked very very honest with one another he got out a lot of it had to do with just not i mean he he related to players for a long time but i think he got to a point with all the changes uh at the stage of his career with all he had accomplished not because well we were cheating and now everyone's cheating this isn't that's like bullshit social media stuff that's not real that's not why he got out he got out because he couldn't do what he did you know go ever go to a practice and Nick Saban it is hard like it is if you're thinking about quitting and you go to a Tuesday or Wednesday practice you're probably gonna quit because he's gonna attack you and really test you and the guys that are there to get better they get through it to become great players and the guys that don't, they end up leaving.

51:30And I think it became more and more apparent he was struggling to relate to the way he likes to coach. And so I think he just thought it was the right time. By the way, he'd been calling me for the last three or four years prior to that, like, hey, what do you think about college game day? And I was like, hey, you'd be great. I think you'd be great. I think you'd be a natural. and so we've been talking after every season he would call me and talk to me about I think I might do it and let's see so it's really been trending to a direction but I think when you get to that stage in your career and you accomplished so much I think you wake up one day I don't think you have a plan I think you just wake up one day maybe and say I think that's it I don't I don't have what I used to have I am I think I need to for my players sake I need to get out and I think that's kind of what hit him he's more concerned you talk about a guy that loves college football and wants to get it right I don't think he sleeps at night because of the state of college football he if anybody can save it it's him like he he's like he's trying his everything he can to fix the sport and and still in a way to help players but not chaos and so I don't know if that'll ever happen whatever he says I just like shake his hand turn him around keep going buddy you can do it you can do it like if anybody gives us any hope it's him so pray at night for Nick Saban to try to figure out as much as you may hate him pray at night for Nick Saban to fix where we are currently because he really does he cares about the coaches cares about the sport cares about the players his heart is in the right spot always has been he is another guy I'm lucky to work with now but just lucky to cover I used to call him after he'd win a championship and I'm just like how do you get your guys not to talk to the other team like like all these other teams they'll catch a five yard out the DB will make a play and you know talk all kinds of junk Alabama, they just hit you into the ground and drive you into the ground, and then they get back in a huddle.

53:47And he's like, it's simple. He goes, when we're in practice, he goes, I don't do that on Saturday. He goes, when we're in practice, and a guy does that, he doesn't ever do it again. He goes, I tell them over and over, we are not here to talk to the other team. You can talk to your own team, but if I ever catch you talking to the other team, you're done. And they're just like, yes, sir. So maybe winning all those championships and the way he delivers a message, I'm guessing they don't want to test him. But I always appreciated the way Alabama carried themselves and not only beat you, but they beat you in like old school way.

54:23So he is a great man, great for the sport, great for college game day, but he is frustrated with where we are as much as anybody. And with his connections, I'm hopeful that he'll be able to try to get something done. Great. We had a question. My name is Josh Spokalman. I'm a big mental health advocate. So I wanted both of you, if it's okay, with y 'all busy schedules and how successful you are in your chosen field, what do you all do currently for your mental health and how do you balance that with as busy as you all are? It's a great question. For me, it's my faith. You know, I get tested a lot.

55:02And I don't want to get involved in politics in any way. But there was an incident that really touched me. And I apologize if I offend anybody. But there was, we have twins. And there were twins down in, I think it was Frisco, Texas, at a track meet. And one of them got, and I don't know the deal of what happened. and one of them in a track meet got stabbed by another guy in the heart and died right in front of his twin. And I just thought, I put myself in the shoes of that dad when I heard that story, and then I just happened to hear him speak. And the world we live in today, I thought, oh my gosh, like he's going to be really emotional and go after this guy.

55:46And he was upset and emotional about losing his son, but he almost was like praying for the other guy. Like he forgave the other guy. And I was like, that's like a whole different level of your faith being tested. Because I feel like my faith really gets tested a lot when people come at me on social media. I didn't get into this line of work to, I just have, I'm really prepared and I give opinions. And that's it. That's the end of the story. And I don't have an agenda. I'm not smart enough to do some of the stuff that people say. But when it happens time after time, you can get really resentful.

56:30And it can really affect you. So my answer is a lot of times, delete the app. And that's not healthy. That's like putting a Band-Aid on something. So I've just found daily devotional prayer and really trying to connect. helps me. It helps me get to a point where I'm like, okay, I need to work on me to be able to get to that point where that dad is. You know what I mean? So that and then just having very honest conversation with family and friends and opening it up. I'm a guy that likes to have conversation. I like to open my heart up with the right people. I find that to be very helpful as well.

57:14I would also mention that I feel like your dog's for you. Oh, no. You know, and Peter, honestly, Ben and Peter, and all the other guys, just such a comfort, especially on the road, I think. That's huge for me. In the woods. Like, some people like to be at a beach and, like, see a sunset at the beach. I love the woods. You know, I love my dogs, and I'm on a trail, and I'm in the woods. That probably, as much as anything, connects me from a spiritual standpoint to where I need to be. so I take a walk every day and we're moving back our plan all along was to move back up we moved our son young youngest son up to go to high school and he's finishing right now so that chapter is kind of closing our goal all along was to go back to our home in Nashville we kept our house so we're gonna go back June 1st and we're excited about that one of the things my wife and I talk about we miss is there's a trail that we just love and we go to every day and we miss that so much.

58:19So yeah, I think there's a lot of, sorry, that's a long answer, but there's just a lot there. I appreciate the question, Josh. Do you have anything? Honestly, I think people don't all get the luxury of voluntary hardship. What I mean by that is we were put through incredibly tough things, I think, at Center for Football. That's why Kirk and I bonded so much and have ever since. but I think you've got to keep doing that stuff. So to me, like you talk about mental health, I think I need to choose to do really hard things every day to prove to myself that I can keep doing hard things so that when adversity strikes, I'm prepared.

58:56And so I always feel like punishing myself in the gym, running, lifting, reading. I've interviewed 630 of the world's most impactful leaders over the past 10 years. I wasn't as smart as any of those guys and girls. So to prepare and to get ready and to do the hard thing and then do the hard thing and then do the hard thing. I just think you've got to do hard things. I think you have to voluntarily choose to do the hard things so that when adversity strikes, you're more prepared. When mentally, like, it's tough or, oh, I don't know if I can handle this. No, I've built evidence for myself. I build evidence for myself every single day because I choose to do hard things.

59:34So I think like that's maybe that's not the nice, fuzzy, fun answer because it's hard, but I think it's the right answer. It is for me, at least to say like if I voluntarily choose to punish myself physically and mentally, whatever comes my way, I feel like, you know, I can't predict that. But I have a better chance of getting through it because I've done it before. I do it every day. And I think, you know, unfortunately, like gotten lazy, like too many people are lazy. Like, we've got to choose to do the hard thing on a regular basis. We do that. I like your odds of conquering whatever the thing that you don't want to happen.

1:00:11I like your chances of beating that if you're doing it every day leading up to those moments. And I'll just add for this group, just because I have four sons and I have one as a senior in high school. Like, this generation, a lot of times they get ridiculed. I just found that this generation, I can't imagine going through what they go through. whether it's Snapchat and middle school and seeing all the emojis go to a party that you didn't get invited to. Can you imagine going through that in eighth grade or just everybody in your business and everything online? I just think if you're a parent of this age, just being there, listening, and you guys having some grace for yourselves because it is really challenging.

1:00:55None of us can relate to what you guys, you know what I'm saying? For sure. Nobody can relate to what you guys are going through so your coaches your parents just being in your corner helping you get through it it's one of the best things about team sports though yeah your guys like you got your guys and you're lucky to have such good coaches like you i know you don't fully realize that right now but god you're gonna you'll realize it as you get older like yeah we were so lucky yeah we were so lucky the coaches these guys care so much about you and what seems traumatizing for you in 16 or 17 if you have coaches to help you get through or your parents get through it you're gonna realize you're gonna be okay like it's yeah it's like it's probably paralyzing for you to go through it maybe you know people maybe gone through some yourself links but you guys i can't i just again i think all of us look at you and think keep just stay strong you know like like for me if i were your faith going to church like talking to parents talking to coaches but just keep grinding because it's not easy doing what you guys do people are cruel and you guys are in you're you're like in a sewage, you know, just a bunch of crap, and you're somehow trying to find a ladder to get out of it, and that's what a coach or a parent or your boys, that's who they are.

1:02:08They'll get you through it, but it's not easy, what you guys are dealing with. And I don't mean just sports. I'm talking social stuff. You know, you get to college football, and you play on national TV, and you miss a field goal, and the game's on the line, you get debt threats. Debt threats. That's real. You know, Will Howard, he took a knee against Oregon. He played his ass off at Oregon. He took a knee because he lost the time. And he took death threats. It's just insane that these people have a voice to get to you. And you just got to somehow insulate yourself the best you can because it's brutal.

1:02:49I think I have one last question. Hi, Kirk. Julie Benoit. I'm the center wheel grab Buckeye alum and big thanks to you for sharing your expertise tonight on football. Big thanks to your sister because she's making the magic happen. No doubt. Yeah, thank you. I think you've spoken really greatly about all of the important college football things tonight, right? But we are all dying to know, what is Peter's favorite treat?

1:03:20I tell you, when I feed my dogs, it's become like a science project. After Ben died, he was 10 years old. And the way, you know, I felt like, you know, I'd love to see him live another four or five years. And it just happened so sudden from cancer. And the more people I talked to, the more people talked about how cancer is obviously such a big thing with us, but also for canines and all animals. and because I love dogs so much, I, you know, researching the ingredients and why is this happening? And actually I'm doing a, he, not me, I'm with him. We have a three-day Purina shoot, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, because of him.

1:04:02And a lot of it is about what you need to feed your dogs and trying to help dogs out. So he is, you've never seen a dog attack a bowl of food the way he does. I've had dogs since my sister brought the first Golden I had back in 1985, a dog named Megan, who was another GM of a dog. I've had a Golden in my life since that day, moving forward. And this guy, I don't know if it's his big head or what it is, but he attacks his food. Just a sweetheart. They're all different. Their spirits and their energy are all just so different. You know, when Ben passed away, I took him to a Texas A &M game, and he was limping very, very noticeably after that game, like just literally the next day.

1:04:48And so a friend of mine who lives in New York said, hey, I know a holistic doctor. You've got to get him over to New Jersey. This guy works miracles and da-da-da-da-da. So I immediately flew to New Jersey and tried to do everything that I could for about four or five days. And just at that point it was too late. And the very, you know, the season doesn't stop. so that was on a thursday i was calling the bangles at the ravens when he he died and i went home for my son's game i would go home after after the thursday games to get back to see chase and i thought do i bring a dog out i mean he was at the time like 13 months never been out in public without all the dogs i'm just because when i take him i take him all he's never been out solo.

1:05:37So I took him to a Centerville playoff game at Wynton Woods. I know they played Wynton Woods. And he went, I was like, I'm going to take him into the game. It was sold out. I took him in and he was totally chill in the game, in the stands. He was just kind of like looking around. And I was headed to LSU, Alabama in Baton Rouge, which is one of the most hostile environments that the sport has. And I'm like, I'm just going to take him with me, see how it goes. If it doesn't work out, he can stay on the bus. And I took him out in the pregame. And first he came on game day, and everybody went crazy to meet him.

1:06:17And he's all perked up, tail. He just didn't know what he was doing. He's just like, hey, everybody, what's going on? And then I took him out in the field pregame. I always take Ben out of my song. Might as well take him out. I'm talking loudest music you can think of is on the speakers. balls are flying and bouncing players are all over the place players are coming over petting in full uniform and he's just kind of taking it in he didn't freak out he didn't do anything he was just kind of like watching wagging and I was like oh my god this dude he's made for this and so from that point on I took him every I took him every Thursday stays in a hotel with me goes to dinner with me Al Michaels who's not a big dog guy Ben Ben won Al over which was great I should have shared that picture with you Terry to put up there I was like I I don't know about dogs I was like I was like okay I was like if you don't like dogs I won't bring him around he goes yeah and then hey and the next morning he goes uh where's Ben and I go I left him up in a room he told me to and he goes uh he goes I want you to bring him down I go all right so I went back upstairs got Ben brought him down and Ben's super chill and I'll kind of came over kind of looked there's like 50 people in the room and he's like looking at him and reaches down touches him and he's like huh and he sits down we we call the game we're in chicago we call the game the bears we get done about midnight get back to the hotel we just happen to be across from each other never happened before so we always go back to our room and then we go down to a like a restaurant bar for a kind of a post game the studio show sherm with all these guys we just all get together post game and i go out i go he goes what is he did he take it i go no dude i go he's trained i go he's not gonna go to the bathroom and he goes what do you think he's doing all day he's been in there five hours i go he's probably asleep and he goes no way and i go yeah and i opened the door he goes and al went to his room and i tiptoed looked around the corner and ben was up on the couch in this hotel room sound asleep and I go I go I knock on his door I go come here look come here and he comes over he looks and he goes holy shit and he got so excited he gets his phone out and he's walking over and I'm filming Al Michaels filming Ben he's like taking video to show his wife like look at this dog he just sleeps in the in the hotel and from that point on I couldn't go anywhere without bringing Ben around Al Michael so once that happened when when Ben when Ben passed then he warmed up to to Peter too so it's amazing I've never been around Lee Corso and being kind to him and bringing my dogs around tells you a lot about the human element in this because I've called whatever it is 16 national championships 17 Rose Bowls I do all these things and people look at I think I'll be remembered for Lee Corso and my dogs.

1:09:22I don't know if there's anything I can call that will be bigger than those two. But I love doing it. I love being a part of it. I've got two years left, by the way, on my contract. I just signed a five-year deal with Amazon and ESPN. I've got three down, two to go. And after two years, I'll either step away or keep going. I don't know what I'm going to do. You're not stepping away. There's no way you're stepping away, dude. There's no way. I wouldn't mind just tail. I've never been to a tailgate. I wouldn't mind going to a tailgate. You guys look like you're having a hell of a time at those tailgates.

1:09:56I look out my bus in the window, and I'm like, oh, my God. Look at these guys. They're having a great time. You see that as a player. Remember you pull in? You're like, God, there's so much more fun. I mean, the smoke's going through the air, and everyone's waving, having a good time. So one day, I'm going to participate in that. We would love that. I'd love to have you. Yeah. I tailgated for the St. X Center Bowl game. That was the only one of the few times I got the tailgate. Hey, that was the last question, but Mom has a question, so I can't say no to that. Oh, no. Yeah. Kirk, I've never asked you this.

1:10:30You're not going to make me cry. You're not going to make me cry. Don't make me cry. I'm not going to make you cry. Okay. This is a question I've always wanted to ask you. Oh, boy. And I never have. At Centerville High School you played both football and baseball, and you were good in both. You played baseball. The whole team had played with so much joy. And I believe, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think you had a 500 batting average as a senior. Okay. I also wonder, you went into football, You followed it at Ohio State. You couldn't play both. So your whole career, you followed football, and you've done very well.

1:11:21Do you ever miss baseball?

1:11:27Baseball, as you probably know, baseball was my most natural sport. I just, I don't know. I was back in our day, you can relate to this, like we were in the yard. Like we were in the creek or the yard. That was all we knew when you grew up in my era. And so we played wiffle ball. We played pitcher's hand. We played pickle. We played anything you could imagine, not to mention Foursquare and all the other games that we played, hide and seek. I mean, it was just constant in the yard playing. And when we played baseball, I was always the youngest, and I just loved it. Baseball was probably my first love.

1:12:09Baseball, again, was my most natural thing. I played for a great coach, Tim Engelkay, who probably, we're talking a lot about Bob Gregg and Ron Allrey. Tim Engelkay probably impacted me as much as anybody in my life as well. If you guys know Tim Engelkay, I know he retired a few years ago. Oh, did he? Yeah, Tim, coach was a beast and scary. Like, just a tough, a tough coach that I made the varsity as a sophomore, which was fun, but scary just being around that environment. And I burst my appendix, almost died my 10th grade year because they misdiagnosed it. But I think I miss baseball. I mean, I always miss it when I watch it now, but I don't miss football, playing football at all.

1:12:55I didn't see how far I could go with baseball. Like if there's any regret I would ever have as an athlete, it was I didn't go just in baseball and just give it a run. But I don't I'm doing okay now, but I don't I Don't I don't dwell on it, but it would have been fun to see what what would have happened with that sport But I was just gonna say thank Terry. Thank you. Appreciate you having me. I know we stayed longer than you'd hoped but Ryan Ryan, thanks brother. Hey, I love you man. Oh, yeah Both of you need time to do this just give them a hand

1:13:41It is the end of the podcast club. Thank you for being a member of the end of the podcast club. If you are, send me a note, Ryan at learning leader.com. Let me know what you learned from this great conversation with the legendary Kirk Herbstreet. A few takeaways from my notes. I loved hearing him talk through what he was feeling the night Ohio state won the national championship and what it meant to him because he's so close with coach Ryan Day and Kirk's son is on the team and dealing with the heart issues that he had and the fact that that coach Day kept him a part a member of the team it was obvious that this was a super meaningful night and I just love how vulnerable Kirk has become he's showing his true self and to me that just makes him real and it makes him relatable and somebody that I really enjoy talking with.

1:14:33And then how Kirk, being the most prepared broadcaster on TV, stemmed from his time playing quarterback at Centerville High School for Coach Bob Gregg and Ron Ullery. It's where he learned his work ethic, to persevere, to get back up, to prepare, to be a great teammate, and it prepared him for his life. And I think he's taken all of those lessons he learned, again, from the legendary Bob Gregg and Ron Ullery, and uses them in his everyday life. And that's what makes him the best in the world at what he does. And then I loved hearing him talk about his relationship with Lee Corso, the 89-year-old Lee Corso, and how their relationship has evolved from Lee originally mentoring a young Kirk Herbstreet and helping him to become a great husband and dad and be great on TV and all of those things that Kirk is.

1:15:20But now Kirk is the one helping Lee as Lee has dealt with a stroke and other health issues. And it's so obvious when you see the look in Kirk's eyes, how much care and love he has for Lee Corso. It's a very special relationship. Once again, I would say thank you so much for continuing to spread the message and telling a friend or two, hey, you should listen to this episode of The Learning Leader Show with Kirk Herbstreet. I think he'll help you become a more effective leader because you continue to do that. And you also go to Spotify and Apple Podcasts and you subscribe to the show. Really important.

1:15:53you rate it hopefully five stars and you write a thoughtful review and by doing all of that you are giving me the opportunity to do what i love on a daily basis and for that i will forever be grateful thank you so so much talk to you soon can't wait