444: Kirk Herbstreit - Honoring The Life Of Centerville Football Coach Bob Gregg

Nov 3, 2021

Kirk Herbstreit, former Centerville QB and five-time Sports Emmy winner, remembers Centerville coach Bob Gregg. He revisits brutal summer workouts, a defining playoff win, Gregg’s culture of excellence and how that discipline shaped teammates and Kirk’s own work ethic. The conversation honors Gregg’s toughness, humility, and lasting community impact.

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ANECDOTE

First Impression Of Coach Gregg

Kirk Herbstreit first met Bob Gregg as an intimidated eighth grader and immediately felt both scared and eager to play for him.
He watched Centerville upset Moeller in the rain as a freshman, realizing the program's execution and pride made them contenders despite inferior talent.

ANECDOTE

Summer Workouts Built Team Bond

Kirk describes brutal June and July workouts that 'broke him down' but created a strong brotherhood among players.
The shared suffering forged an 'unbelievable bond' that became the cultural backbone of Centerville's success.

INSIGHT

High School Values Shaped A Career

Bob Gregg taught humility, sacrifice, perseverance, and that the team is more important than the individual.
Herbstreit credits those principles from ages 14–18 for shaping his entire adult life and professional approach.

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Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12 https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12

Kirk Herbstreit played quarterback at Centerville High School. He was a PARADE All-American and the Ohio Player-of-the-Year as a senior (1986) … threw for 1,298 yards and 10 TDs as a senior … also rushed for 576 yards and 16 TDs his final year … career totals of 55 TDs and 4,258 yards in total offense in two years as a starter … led Centerville to a 10-0 record as a junior … all-league in baseball. Currently, Kirk is the lead analyst for ESPN's College GameDay, a TV program covering college football and he is the #1 color analyst on college football games on ESPN and ABC. For his TV work, Kirk has won five Sports Emmy Awards. He is known as one of the best sports broadcasters of all time.

Notes:

"Coach Gregg was a legend on the field but so much more. He was TOUGH-DEMANDING-at times intimidating. But he taught us about TEAM-HARD WORK-PERSEVERANCE & SACRIFICE. Blessed to have him in my life."
"Part of what makes football great is what you learn playing it. Being selfless, learning how to go through adversity as a group, learning about perseverance."
When first meeting Coach Gregg, "I was like half scared and half man I want to play for this guy."
The Centerville Elks were about execution, work ethic, pride, and excellence.
- "I thought... Mannnn, how lucky am I to be part of this program."
The summer workouts:
- "The Monday's and Friday's were bad... The Wednesday with the circuits were DREADFUL. I was scared to death."
Coach Gregg had established the "decade of dominance" before Kirk was there. "You had an appreciation and you were in awe of him and the program."
- "We thought, 'Am I going to be good enough to be part of this program?'"
"Those workouts broke me down... And then they built us back up."
- "As a group, we went through torture, but we did it together. It created this unbelievable bond."
"Bob Gregg taught me so much about humility, sacrifice, hard work, team team team... The team is so much more important than you. All the fundamental principles that you use in life are what you learned from him."
- "The person you are today is because of that."
"What I learned from him... We beat teams with superior talent with execution and preparation and our work ethic collectively. And our team. It was from all that work we put in June and July."
"You can get a leg up on your competition in anything you do in life by just outworking them."
- "When you feel like you don't matter, the best thing you can you, how you create confidence, is by outworking everyone in the room. Do little things. Do more. Do more."
"I thought work ethic was HERE, before I met Bob Gregg, and then they taught me the hard way, that I was capable of working a lot harder."
"Coach Gregg reminds me a lot of Nick Saban."
- They have incredibly high standards and keep their players humble.
- "You and I are grinders. All of us that played for him are wired the same way. I don't think that's a coincidence. It's because of Coach Gregg."
"His personality... I wish more people got to know him. He had a personality that to outsiders seemed gruff. Some thought he was a tyrant. But if you really got to know him, he was not that way. He had a soft heart."
"I think we need more than ever, right now, MORE people like Bob Gregg."
- "He's going to ruffle some feathers, but he's going to do it the right way."