{"id":201258,"date":"2025-09-05T03:30:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-05T03:30:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/201258\/"},"modified":"2025-09-05T03:30:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T03:30:11","slug":"kirk-herbstreit-emotional-over-sons-triple-success-in-new-media-gig-as-his-own-college-gameday-contract-set-to-expire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/201258\/","title":{"rendered":"Kirk Herbstreit Emotional Over Son\u2019s Triple Success in New Media Gig as His Own College GameDay Contract Set to Expire"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kirk Herbstreit<\/b> has worn the headset and blazer long enough to see the sport change in ways no one could\u2019ve scripted. But nothing could\u2019ve prepared him for the sight of his son, Zak Herbstreit<\/b><\/strong>, carving out his own lane in college football media. And that\u2019s especially after a heart scare that nearly cut short more than just a playing career. And just like a true Herbstreit, Zak went full blitz into Week 1.<\/p>\n

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In an X post on September 4, Kirk Herbstreit let his emotions come to the surface. \u201cAnother guy that had a great 1st weekend of CFB! Love it!!\u201d he wrote. That \u201cguy\u201d was Zak, who in his first weekend as an On3 national analyst hit a triple-header that would make any college football junkie jealous. \u201cWhat a way to start the season. Hit Ohio State\u2013Texas, Clemson\u2013LSU, and UNC\u2013TCU all in one weekend and got the full gameday experience at each. College football is back!\u201d Zak posted on X. Three massive games, three different stadiums, one whirlwind weekend. And that\u2019s nothing short of an impact.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Zak\u2019s role at On3 isn\u2019t some cushy inheritance or nepotism, as some have viewed. On August 4, he was officially introduced as host of Off Script with Zak Herbstreit, a YouTube series built on conversations with the game\u2019s biggest names and behind-the-scenes access from Saturdays across the country. \u201cZak has tremendous natural talent and has grown up immersed in college sports,\u201d said On3 founder and CEO Shannon Terry. \u201cHis ability to connect with today\u2019s college stars will bring a fresh and authentic perspective to the On3 network.\u201d This is a guy who knows the grind besides a familiar last name. But if you don\u2019t already know, his grind has been anything but smooth.<\/p>\n

The former Ohio State tight end saw his career derailed when heart issues forced him from the field. \u201cIt will take months to see how his heart is responding to his medication,\u201d Kirk Herbstreit shared when Zak was hospitalized. Yet instead of sulking, the resilient son threw himself into coaching, graduated last spring, and is now grabbing the mic instead of the playbook. \u201cI\u2019m grateful for the path that led me here, and I\u2019m excited to bring real passion, insight, and a player\u2019s mindset to the content that On3 creates,\u201d he said. That optimism is straight out of the Herbstreit DNA. While Zak is sprinting into his media future, the conversation around his father is shifting toward something far more uncertain.<\/p>\n

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Kirk Herbstreit\u2019s uncertain College GameDay future<\/b><\/p>\n

As Zak builds his first act in media, Kirk Herbstreit\u2019s own future has been a topic of debate. College GameDay may look steady on the outside, but The Athletic recently reminded fans just how close ESPN came to losing its face. By 2022, burnout was real. \u201cEveryone I started with on the show, except Lee Corso, is gone,\u201d he admitted. But now, the legend is gone too. Adding Amazon\u2019s Thursday Night Football duties and ESPN\u2019s Saturday slate only piled on the pressure. Something had to give. And for a moment, GameDay looked like the odd man out.<\/p>\n

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Then came Pat McAfee<\/b>, tank tops, megaphones, and a jolt of pure caffeine<\/a> to a show that desperately needed it. Kirk Herbstreit admitted he changed everything, not just the show\u2019s chemistry, but his entire perspective on why he wanted to stay. Add Nick Saban<\/b> to the mix, and suddenly, he is lobbying to sign extensions with both ESPN and Amazon. Herbstreit\u2019s GameDay contract runs only through 2026. That means ESPN has a two-year runway to figure out whether this McAfee\u2013Saban\u2013Herbstreit trio can stick long-term. Just two seasons ago, Kirk sounded ready to walk. Now, he\u2019s talking like a man who wants both his jobs for as long as they\u2019ll let him.<\/p>\n

Today, Kirk Herbstreit is\u00a0heading to Oklahoma for another\u00a0GameDay weekend between OU and Michigan,\u00a0while Zak is scripting his own path through the sport. One is college football\u2019s most trusted voice<\/a>, the other its newest storyteller. And the symmetry is poetic, with a father questioning his future while his son embarks on his own.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kirk Herbstreit has worn the headset and blazer long enough to see the sport change in ways no…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":201259,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[2967,86772,34861,1641,1637,87793,2359,111316,54034,1638,36524,87798,1318,2941,3958,111315,1317,1315,1316,1619,1647,1618,1645,15545,2955,62,52270,1648,2949,67,132,68,1646,2352,1615,2957],"class_list":{"0":"post-201258","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-football","8":"tag-2967","9":"tag-30er","10":"tag-7er","11":"tag-am","12":"tag-an","13":"tag-analytiker","14":"tag-auf","15":"tag-bahnhof","16":"tag-besiegt","17":"tag-der","18":"tag-ein","19":"tag-feld","20":"tag-football","21":"tag-fusball","22":"tag-kollegium","23":"tag-mu0026ampt","24":"tag-ncaa","25":"tag-ncaa-football","26":"tag-ncaafootball","27":"tag-npstrans","28":"tag-nur","29":"tag-quer","30":"tag-redaktionelle","31":"tag-schaut","32":"tag-spiel","33":"tag-sports","34":"tag-texanischen","35":"tag-toppic","36":"tag-und","37":"tag-united-states","38":"tag-unitedstates","39":"tag-us","40":"tag-verwendung","41":"tag-vorheriger","42":"tag-x0x","43":"tag-zwischen"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115149578173293899","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201258","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=201258"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201258\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/201259"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=201258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=201258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=201258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}