Zak Herbstreit is a 6-foot-2, 240-pound junior who joined the Ohio State football team as a walk-on in 2021 and saw action in three games last season.
He told the Dayton Daily News at the Peach Bowl in December he was looking forward to vying for more of an on-field role this season after backing up senior Mitch Rossi as the H-back/fullback for the Buckeyes in ‘22.
“I think it’s been everything and more,” he said then of his first two seasons at Ohio State. “I’m learning so much which I think is in the plan. Like I’ll maybe have an opportunity to play next year. I’m just trying to take all the coaching I can.”
The younger Herbstreit was predominantly a traditional tight end (known as the ‘Y’ in play-calling terms) in high school, but he said he was enjoying learning to play out of the backfield, off the wing or even split out.
“I absolutely love it. I love just putting your head in someone’s chest and driving through it,” he said. “You’ve just got to focus more and know exactly where in the offense you’re going to be. Like a traditional ‘Y’ tight end you’re either left side or right side whereas as an ‘H’ you’re off the ball or you can be flexed out or something like that.”
However, new tight ends coach Keenan Bailey said last month Herbstreit had missed some time in spring practice with an undisclosed injury.
“So I haven’t had the ability to coach him so much yet as far as on the field goes, but I’ve known Zak as a player and as a man for a long time, and I love Zak,” Bailey said.
Kirk Herbstreit, who was a star quarterback at Centerville High School in the mid-1980s before playing for the Buckeyes and becoming a prominent college football analyst, told former NFL punter Pat McAfee and former NFL/Ohio State linebacker A.J. Hawk (a fellow CHS alumnus) during an appearance on McAfee’s show on Thursday his son was in good spirits.
“He’s home with us where his mom can take really good care of him,” Herbstreit said.
"We had a setback with Zak last Friday and the last week or so has been a real whirlwind..
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) June 22, 2023
He's at home in good spirits and it's gonna be a long process to see how his heart responds"
All of the positive vibes @KirkHerbstreit 🙏🙏#PMSLive pic.twitter.com/fDdQH6ca76
After Zak was originally diagnosed with pneumonia, further tests revealed a heart issue.
“He had very few symptoms,” Kirk said. “You would never know that he was dealing with what he’s dealing with so we’re at the beginning of this. We’re gonna be positive, but it’s a long haul and we’re gonna get better.
“I really would encourage anybody who’s playing sports to go a little bit more than just doing your normal physical or even EKG. That’s not really enough. The echo is what you really need to discover some things that potentially can be scary. So we’re very fortunate that he got the echo and found some stuff.”
On social media, Kirk Herbstreit expressed gratitude for the outpouring of support he had received for his son since news broke of his having to be hospitalized Wednesday.
Just an update on Zak. He came home yesterday from the hospital and is happy to be with his family. With that being said, like I mentioned earlier, this is a long process. Will take months to see how his heart is responding to his medication. We are hopeful he will be okay but…
— Kirk Herbstreit (@KirkHerbstreit) June 22, 2023
“I really wanted to thank ALL the people that have reached out concerned about Zak,” he wrote. “It has been overwhelming to see such outpouring of love and well wishes. The tweets-texts-calls have been very powerful and appreciated. Thank you for your ongoing prayers. Zak is an upbeat positive person by nature and is looking forward to feeling much better in the future. God bless all of you and thank you again for your concern over our son Zak!”
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