Two years into their collegiate careers, it is still odd to think about a player named Herbstreit in any uniform not representing the Ohio State Buckeyes.
However, Kirk Herbstreit does in fact have twin sons, both of which are on the Clemson Football team.
Anyone not living under a rock knows that Herbstreit (quarterback 1989-1993) and his family are true Buckeyes through and through. That is why it was such a shock when they made it public that his twin sons were committing to Clemson instead of the school that not only he attended, but his dad, Jim Herbstreit, co-captained in 1960 and later coached at under legendary coach Woody Hayes.
Recently Herbstreit was asked about how it felt watching his sons, Tye and Jake, play for the Tigers on a recent podcast of What’s Next with Eric Wood and the longtime ESPN analyst shared what makes it so easy for him to watch his sons in playing for Dabo Swinney.
“Because of the respect I have for Dabo and for that program,” Herbstreit said. “I would love to see them in an Ohio State uniform.”
Herbsteit then went onto to talk about why he thinks it is important for parents to let their children carve out their own paths in life and how his kids in particular ended up in Clemson.
“First off, you have kids, your kids go through their own journey,” Herbstreit said. “If they choose to play ball, they choose to play ball. And if they don’t, then they don’t. They wanted to play. They went to a summer camp going into their senior year at Clemson and did pretty well. Dabo was like ‘I think we want to offer these guys preferred walk-ons.’ Initially, I was like, ‘man, they grew up brainwashed Ohio State kids.’ But the respect, again, that I have for Dabo outweighs everything. Yeah, it was easy. Now, it’s such a thrill just to see them in those uniforms.”
Both Tye (wide receiver) and Jake (safety) begin the 2021-22 football season as redshirt sophomores in the Clemson program.
