Kirk Herbstreit Gives Major Life Update After Painful Revelation About Mental Health Struggles Triggered by OSU Fans

Kirk Herbstreit has been the controversy magnet throughout his career. The ESPN mogul recently received heat from the internet over an on-road live streaming. But nothing hit harder than the Ohio State fans turning on him after he took a stand against all the unnecessary hatred Ryan Day was getting after the gusty loss over the Wolves. As a Buckeyes alum who even played as a starting quarterback in his senior season at Ohio State, he palpably had a special spot for his alma mater. But in his long 15-year broadcasting career, he found it hard to please the fans. And now, the College GameDay commentator is stepping out of Ohio.

Back in 2011, Herbstreit and his family took a drastic step to move out of their residence in Centerville, Ohio, to settle into Nashville. After 10 years, in 2021, Kirk again reverted to Ohio as his youngest son, Chase, was about to make a debut with St. Xavier’s school. Now he’s leaving the town behind to relocate to his old home in Nashville.“Ohio will always be my home. I’m always going to be an Ohio State Buckeyes and a Cincinnati Reds fan,” said Kirk Herbstreit, as he bids goodbye to his childhood land. “Nashville is a great town, and the people there have been amazing. So far, so good.” 

Three years didn’t treat him with a bunch of rose petals. It seems Kirk reaches the end of his tenure, but if you think of it as a counterattack to how some fans targeted him most ruthlessly, you’re wrong. It was solely because Chase is wrapping up his stint with the school. “We’re moving back. Our plan all along was to move back up. We moved our youngest son up to go to high school, and he’s finishing right now. So that chapter is kind of closing,” Kirk cleared the air during his candid chat with Donnie Evege. For those unversed, Herbstreit didn’t sell his house in Nashville. He used to stay in a rental home in Cincinnati for the sake of Chase’s smooth coordination with the school and coaches.

Now, the time has come, and it never feels heavier than this. “Our goal was to go back to our home in Nashville. We’re going to go back on June 1st, and we’re excited about that. One of the things my wife and I talk about, we miss, is there a trail,” added the ESPN analyst. The city once was a stranger for the Herbstreit family became the major miss of their last five years of life in Cincinnati. “One of the things my wife and I talk about that we miss is that there’s a trail. We just love it, and we go every day, and we miss that so much,” the head coach said, walking down memory lane.

While Kirk didn’t make the move purposefully to avoid the ‘lunatic’ OSU fanbase, it will still provide him the much-needed escape from the unhealthy scrutiny hinge over his head. Despite being a loyal fan of the burnt orange and white, Kirk knows how far the toxicity can go. But he doesn’t care at all. Shifting homes has always been his distinct decision, no matter how you perceived it to be.

Kirk Herbstreit had to leave Ohio State a decade ago, amidst sporadic backlash

Kirk has had a lot this year. His wife was diagnosed with cancer while his son has been fighting heart complications for over a couple of years. Certainly not a good time to take any more tears to his mind and heart. But the fans kept on bearing with their widespread trolling.

Things got really hard. But Kirk continued doing what he does best. He admitted that the sneers affected his health in some way or the other, but we still try to believe the relocation decision doesn’t have any connection with the trouble he’s been facing. Or does it have so? Well, we can’t rule that out as well. Ten years back, when Kirk left the Buckeyes nation, the situation called for it, subtly yet strongly.

“We just felt that the time was right,” he said. “Doing my job, it’s the greatest job in America. I wouldn’t want to do anything else. We didn’t get chased out of town by Ohio State fans at all. There were a few isolated incidents where we just thought about things and family, and their safety, and decided it was probably in the best interest of our family to move.” See, things haven’t changed a bit. Connecting the dots isn’t that tough. But we would like to believe otherwise.