Loyalty is thicker than lineage. What makes college football what it is is the sense of community around it. It’s the social fabric woven around the very identity of its fanbase. And it runs deep, mind you! Come cheering for the wrong team at Thanksgiving dinner, and you might just get disinvited. But the Herbstreit clan dropped the hottest storyline when its dear family member set up base on the enemy’s turf.
Kick Herbstreit, the former Ohio State Buckeyes and GameDay host, has got the ‘Buckeye battle cry’ flowing through his veins. Yes, as an analyst, he must be neutral, but one can never let go of their roots. Kirk’s father, Jim Herbstreit, captained the Buckeyes, and his elder son, Zak, wore the scarlet as he clinched the national championship. But Kirk’s younger son Chase Herbstreit chose the—, well? Let’s call it the forbidden path, in the Buckeyes’ vocabulary? Chase flipped the script and committed to the ‘Team up North’. Yeah, quite a shocker for the fam and the fandom. No doubt, the Michigan faithful enjoyed every bit of the ‘not-so-easily-smooched-over-burn’ at Ohio State’s pride, but that was the reality.
But that doesn’t mean Kirk would burn the bridges. While the whole college football world lost its mind. After all, the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry doesn’t produce any game, but only ‘The Game’. As of 2024, Michigan overpowers Ohio State by bagging the most wins of any program in NCAA Division I football history. However, the ESPN host was busy doing something far more beautiful- being a dad. While Chase is doing drills at Ann Arbor, Kirk made him a ‘Michigan Promise’, as he wished him his 19th birthday.“Happy 19th birthday to my youngest son Chase! Hope you have a great day up in Ann Arbor today bud-love you and see you soon!” Kirk Herbstreit wrote.
Happy 19th birthday to my youngest son Chase!
Hope you have a great day up in Ann Arbor today bud-love you and see you soon! pic.twitter.com/ZZ4GoVrLkN
— Kirk Herbstreit (@KirkHerbstreit) August 7, 2025
Rivals ranked him at No. 133 as a QB in the Class of 2025, along with a three-star status. In his senior year at St. Xavier, he threw for 1,600 yards and 18 touchdowns and went on to commit to the Wolverines as a QB in the Class of 2025. Yes, it’s different for the Herbstreit’s to have a Maize and the Blue faithful, amongst themselves. But, as Dominic Toretto from the Fast and Furious franchise voices the ‘Family‘ spiel, blood is thicker than water, and lineage is stronger than your CFB loyalty.
But Chase’s story was not of rebellion; it was about grabbing opportunities that came knocking at his front door.
The guy who cried when the Buckeyes lost games committed to their arch-rival
Chase Herbstreit’s story is not about rebellion, but more about opportunity, timing, and a 15-minute window that changed the family’s football DNA. He didn’t have any solid offers coming his way. North Carolina, Penn State, Michigan, Notre Dame, and North Carolina State offered Chase a PWO scholarship initially. But he was still “this guy on the fringes,” said Herbstreit on the Built 4 More podcast.
What it took for Chase to commit to the Wolverines was a mere 15 minutes. And it all happened at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Chase accompanied Kirk during his meeting with Kirby Smart and Steve Sarkisian. The legendary Nick Saban was also in proximity. Kirk receives a call with the “Michigan GM, director of player personnel, or whatever,” on the other side of the line, wanting to talk to Chase and offer him the scholarship. So, Kirk passed the phone to Chase, and he accepted the offer. “I just signed my paperwork… I’m going to Michigan,” Chase said. Yes, Kirk did pass him the phone, but did he expect Chase to expect it? Nah, he was shocked? Yes. Surprised? Yup, but not disappointed.
“What an opportunity for him,” Kirk Herbstreit said on the Pardon My Take show. “You know that this is a kid that grew up a lifelong Ohio State fan, of all my kids, like he’s the guy that cried when they lose games, like he’s the Ohio State junkie. Ohio State did not really pursue him to the point of offering him a scholarship.”
Sherrone Moore and Michigan did offer him the scholarship. So, he grabbed the opportunity, landing straight in Ann Arbor.
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