Don’t bother telling Chase Herbstreit—ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit’s son and future Michigan quarterback—about how the Wolverines landed No. 1-rated quarterback recruit Bryce Underwood.
“Oh, I don’t think Chase cares,” Steve Specht, Herbstreit’s high school football coach at St. Xavier in Cincinnati, told The Epoch Times on Dec. 9. “He’s a kid that thrives on competition.”
Michigan confirmed the signing of the younger Herbstreit on Sunday, which led to his famous father giving a shout-out on social media. The elder Herbstreit played at Ohio State from 1989 to 1993 before his broadcasting career with ESPN. He also has a son, Zak, a walk-on senior tight end with Ohio State, and his older sons, Jake and Tye, previously played for Clemson in the early 2020s as walk-ons.
A three-year starter, Chase Herbstreit led St. Xavier to a pair of winning seasons with 3,972 yards passing for 32 touchdowns versus 14 interceptions. He also rushed for 657 yards and nine touchdowns in two seasons.
“He’s got really good pocket presence, but when things broke down, he was able to create with his feet, which really was different,” Specht said. “Tremendous competitor. Top 1 percent competitors I’ve ever coached in my career.”
A three-star athlete at 6-foot-2 and 185 pounds, Herbstreit is rated No. 148 by 247 Sports among quarterbacks nationally in the 2025 class. Underwood, a 6-foot-3, 205-pound five-star athlete, will enter the program amid high expectations out of Belleville, Michigan.
Herbstreit will also likely have to compete against the Wolverines quarterbacks who are already on the roster, including freshman Jadyn Davis, junior Jayden Denegal, and junior Alex Orji, who threw 44 passes in the regular season. That group could also change depending on the transfer portal.
Herbstreit’s first opportunity at St. Xavier came as a sophomore, when he took over as the starter in the sixth week of the season. He threw for 852 yards and four touchdowns in seven games versus a pick that season.
“I’ve seen a tremendous growth and improvement,” Specht said. “His senior year, [he] took us to the regional finals, and we had a shot at the end, just he did a great job for us.”
Specht also praised Herbstreit for how he handled having a father who is famous. While Specht related coaching his own sons amid high expectations, he understood it was “gonna be even worse … for Chase” with the public pressure, which Specht and the elder Herbstreit discussed ahead of time.
“But I'll tell you, he handled it great,” Specht said of Chase Herbstreit. “I’ve always said that, you know, the opinions are going to fly about the head coach, and then the opinions are going to fly about the offensive coordinator, and then they’re going to fly about the quarterback. That’s just the way it is.”
“And Chase understood that, he embraced it. And I would say that was the most impressive thing I saw out of Chase Herbstreit in the four years ... how he embraced that position. He embraced the pressure that goes along with it, and not only succeeded, but thrived in it.”
Herbstreit will next look to thrive in a Wolverines program transitioning from a 2023 national title team to a retooling program with first-year head coach Sherrone Moore and an incoming prized quarterback recruit.
