Indiana University Athletics
Kirk Herbstreit Talks Lagow, Indiana
8/24/2017 4:44:00 PM | Football
Q. Next week College GameDay is going to be headed to Bloomington for the first time. I was wondering, what do you like most about first-time visits with your colleagues, and what are you looking forward to most about Bloomington and the coverage that ESPN will be doing from there next week?
KIRK HERBSTREIT: I'm fired up. First of all, to get the season started like you are, just to be able to see football, to be able to see real games. I've been on the treadmill watching these classic type of games and you know you've got an issue when it's the middle of August and you're watching Pitt against Clemson for the third time. It's like we need a new game to watch.
So I'm excited to kick the season off and in kind of grand fashion for game day, which is very rare, by the way, for us to get on the road on a Thursday night. How interesting to have an Ohio State on the road in a conference game against an Indiana team with a great deal of experience, and Indiana against their former head coach. There is just a lot there for an opening game on a Thursday night.
And Indiana, as you know from covering them, thinks very well of themselves to think that they can compete not only with Ohio State, but I think they can finally take that step to get over the hump and compete in the Big Ten East.
So I'm excited. I don't know any of the sandwich places there, but I'm sure it's a great place to grab a sandwich and get ready for an exciting couple days in Bloomington.
Q. The other day Richard Lagow was talking about having the opportunity to meet with you in San Diego this spring. What was the impression he made upon you those couple days in San Diego? What were your takeaways from some of those interactions with him?
KIRK HERBSTREIT: I was really fortunate to hang out with a few of the guys out there, and my youngest son went out there with me and we were visiting with George. I just had all the guys. I had a very favorable impression of them all. Richard to me is, I think, a great example of a guy that came in as a JC guy and was looking for a place to land. Kevin Wilson brought him in, and he came in, and I think he would be the one and he's probably talked to you about this, just about how he was trying to just kind of figure out the system and figure out defenses at that level of football. I think his head was spinning a little bit. Meanwhile he was putting up decent numbers with the exception of the 17 interceptions.
I think now after going through that and leading them into a bowl game, I think you come back. Now it's almost like he's just a different guy. You know, he seems like he's coming out of his shell a little bit more. He seems much more confident in not only his ability to make throws, but I think also more confident in knowing maybe the personnel, their strengths and their weaknesses. I don't know. I think he is incredibly confident that this team has a chance to surprise a lot of people. That was probably the lasting impression that I had was he couldn't wait for August 31st, and he couldn't wait. Loves his teammates, just loves being a part of that program, and I think it's a great story. I really look forward to watching him and the Hoosiers not only on the 31st, but to see the year that they have under Tom Allen, now in his first official year.
