Herbstreit

1. Though he is best known as being from Centerville, Herbstreit spent his earliest days in Trotwood: His father, Jim, was an assistant coach at Miami University when Kirk was born, but the family moved to a house on Weybridge Avenue when Jim opted for a career change.

Kirk has fond memories of those years.

“My block was like a lot of blocks in Trotwood,” Herbstreit wrote. “We had a mix of nationalities, races, religions — not that it mattered to me. I just wanted to play sports. All we did in the early 1970s was go to school, and then the minute we were out of school we played every game imaginable: four-square, freeze tag, baseball, Wiffle ball, football ... whatever.

“It was glorious. It was perfect.”

2. His experiences in Center v ille coinci d ed with his deepening love of sports: Herbstreit’s idyl- lic life lasted only until his parents got divorced when he was about 8.

“Sports became my way of coping,” he wrote. “I was either playing sports, watching sports or listening to sports. It was my escape from the pain of our fami- ly’s disintegration.”

Herbstreit describes tough times for his mother, sister and brother as they tried to scratch out a life with his father remaining distant.

“Since he couldn’t have custody of us full-time, he decided to barely deal with us at all . ... My dad had been a bigger-than-life figure to me, but now we couldn’t depend on him.” 3. A return to Centerville launched another chapter of his life — as a hotshot recruit: Herbstreit lived in multiple places and attended multiple schools — including the Miami Valley School in Dayton — as each of his parents remarried then divorced again.

That led to a reset in his life with his father asking him where he preferred to live and what high school he wanted to attend. He chose Centerville over Cincinnati Moeller and Princeton because he was attracted to the old-school coaching style of Bob Gregg.

Though Herbstreit grew up an Ohio State fan, the book reveals he found a lot to like about Michigan — coach Bo Schembechler, his offense and a the Wolverines’ quar- terback at the time, Jim Harbaugh.

He ultimately chose Ohio State because, well, it was Ohio State, the school where his dad was a captain who both played and coached for Woody Hayes.

His senior season could have gone better — the Buck- eyes were 8-3-1 with a tie against Michigan — but the media exposure proved to be valuable in his transition to his next career.

4. The book goes on to describe his personal and professional path since finishing his playing career: “I am a reflection of my dad, of my mom, of the complex and layered circumstances of my childhood,” Herbst- reit writes toward the end. “I could have let those circumstances dictate the arc of my life. I could have blamed others. I could have been a self-pity guy.

“I chose resilience. I chose toughness. I chose compassion and a smile on my face. I miss my dad. He made mistakes as a father — we all do — but I’ve tried to learn form his mistakes, and from my own.”

5. Herbstreit’s career in the media is chronicled along with his continuing to cultivate the relationship with his father and becoming a dad himself to four boys: Though he moved his family to Nashville in 2011, Herbstreit’s career brings him back to his home state regularly, and that is happening again this weekend when he will call his second Ohio State game of the season.

It’s also a chance to see his son, Zak, a freshman walk-on tight end for the Buckeyes, and catch up with old friends.

“My hope all along was that the book would resonate with some other people that maybe have been through their own trials and tribulations,” Herbstreit said. “And that’s what I’ve been really touched by.”