A brief pregame ceremony is scheduled to recognize Kirk Herbstreit, who was already scheduled to be in town to see his son, Chase, play quarterback for the Bombers.
The city will declare Friday “Kirk Herbstreit Day,” too, but by now that is not necessary to get people to associate the person and the place permanently.
“I’m sure you’ve heard all the shout-outs he gives to the Elks on TV,” Kirk’s sister, Teri, said. “If there’s a big game, he’ll say something, or he’ll just throw in an ‘Elk pride’ real quick, and I just think that’s really great not just for the players but just for the whole community.
“I think some people go to college, and it’s like you don’t even know where they went to high school,” said Teri, who raised her kids in Centerville and works for the Washington-Centerville Public Library. “And he would never let that happen, and I love that.”
Centerville football was already a big brand by the time Kirk Herbstreit enrolled at the school in eighth grade, and his name carried some weight thanks to his father, Jim, being an Ohio State football captain and former college assistant coach.
But Kirk’s mother Judy’s decision to put him under the tutelage of legendary CHS coach Bob Gregg paid off for both the player and the school, as he became a star quarterback and the Elks’ winning tradition continued, and they remain closely linked to this day.
Herbstreit went on to become an Ohio State captain himself and then a television fixture for football fans whether they tune into ESPN’s College GameDay, the network’s top college football game of the week or NFL Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime.
“Any time I think of Kirk Herbstreit, I think of Centerville, and anytime I think of Centerville, you know, Kirk Herbstreit’s name is one of the ones that come to the forefront,” said longtime Elks baseball coach Tim Engleka.
He said Herbstreit, a left-handed hitting third baseman, had pro potential on the diamond and recalled with precise detail the time Herbstreit broke a scoreless tie against Wayne with a two-run double that eventually won the game but also sent him to the hospital with appendicitis.
“The doctor said that slide into second base might have been what kicked it in, but that was Kirk Herbstreit,” Engleka said. “That was the way he played.”
He also left a lasting impression on Ron Ullery, the long-time head coach of the Elks who is now offensive line coach at Springboro. He was the offensive coordinator at CHS when Herbstreit arrived in Centerville, and they’ve developed a friendship in the years to follow.
Ullery appreciated what he could do for the Elks on the field then but sounded more impressed with his willingness to contribute to the cause since, including his support for the annual Sonny Unger Banquet, a key fundraiser for CHS athletics.
“He would bring in (fellow ESPN personalities) Lee Corso and Chris Fowler,” Ullery said. “He would bring in Ohio State players, NFL players and guys that he played with at Ohio State. He would bring in (broadcaster) Mike Tirico. It was amazing the group of guys that he would bring in at no charge to the foundation at all.”
Ullery’s son, Brent, is the head coach of the Elks now and said his players are well aware of the presence of one of their predecessors on one of the most popular sports platforms around.
“Just being from Centerville, people have great pride, but Kirk kind of puts it on a global scale for us,” said the younger Ullery, a former CHS player who played receiver at Ohio State from 2003-07. “It’s like not only do we have pride, but we have something to be proud about. He puts all the things that are great about Centerville out there for us and lets people see it. And I just think it’s incredible that Centerville has such a positive association with it.”
As it turns out, Herbstreit was already instilling pride in future Elks before his fame reached the level it has today.
Ryan Hawk still hasn’t forgotten their first encounter when he was a freshman-to-be hoping to follow in Herbstreit’s footsteps as an Elks quarterback.
Credit: Charles Rex Arbogast
Credit: Charles Rex Arbogast
“I was kind of an idiot, not sure what was going to happen in the fall, but Kirk came and introduced himself to me,” said Hawk, who went on to be a four-year starter for the Elks and earn a scholarship to play quarterback at Miami University before finishing his career at Ohio. “And he shook my hand. I remember he said, ‘Oh my God, dude, you’ve got huge hands. That’s going to help you a lot as you play.’
“I’ve learned this now more as someone who studies leadership for a living: He knew the weight of his words, and he was aware of the impact he could have on this young kid who had no idea what he was doing.”
Teri Herbstreit went a step farther, suggesting Kirk’s shoutouts to Centerville aren’t just for the Elks but anyone in the region who wonders if they can make it big.
“Honestly, it’s more personal than that,” she said. “Not to keep people knowing who we are, but more: You come out of Dayton, Ohio, you could do whatever you want. Work hard, be humble. You could do whatever you want.”
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