Kirk Herbstreit is not only the most well-known face of college football coverage at ESPN, but also a key resource for many of the other personalities at the company.
That includes game and studio analyst Dusty Dvoracek, who calls games alongside Dave Pasch for the Worldwide Leader and is a fixture on SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt.
In a recent interview on the Show Pony Live show with host Chris Childers, Dvoracek revealed how helpful Herbstreit was in orchestrating Dvoracek’s opportunity at ESPN. The Oklahoma grad began to make a name for himself in the area and wanted to broaden his profile from local radio and television to the national stage.
“I reached out on Twitter to Kirk Herbstreit. Did not know him,” Dvoracek said. “I reached out to Joel Klatt, and Doug Gottlieb was a buddy of mine, (so I) reached out to Gottlieb.”
Of the three, Herbstreit’s efforts proved most useful. The College GameDay host and lead ESPN college football game analyst set Dvoracek up for a meeting with executive Lee Fitting. After a series of interviews with Fitting and others, Dvoracek went to Charlotte for a wide-ranging audition.
At the time, Dvoracek said, he wasn’t sure he would be calling games. He was tested on his skills as a color commentator, a studio analyst, and even a news anchor.
Over time, Dvoracek rose to be one of the top college football analysts at ESPN, where he even called a College Football Playoff game in 2024.
Dvoracek attributes much of his success on the network to Herbstreit’s gesture.
“I’ll say it was a lot of hard work, but it was also wanting to grow, reaching out, trying to utilize contacts,” Dvoracek added.
“And Kirk Herbstreit, just him, that introduction was integral in getting my foot in the door, and I’m forever grateful and appreciate his friendship and his mentorship. Obviously, you have to go earn it, you’ve gotta go get it done, you’ve gotta go do well in the interview process, and the audition, and then once you’re in, you’ve got to continue to produce and be good at your job. But it also takes somebody helping you and getting you a break.”
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.