Bleacher Report Talks to ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit About His Journey to Comfort

I recently got the chance to speak to ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit about the "Journey to Comfort" campaign he’s been doing with Dove. I was also able to get some of his thoughts on a few of the hot topics in college football.

If you’re a college football fan, you’ve likely seen the commercials Herbstreit shot with Dove for the campaign, as he sat down to share a few of his stories about the defining moments in his life and describe how they’ve helped him become comfortable in his own skin.

Check out the commercials here.

In the spots, Herbstreit talks about his first experience on College GameDay and how we wasn’t expecting to initially get the job. He also discusses his role as a father and how taking on the challenge of raising his children has helped shape his life.

I asked Kirk about what the experience of working with Dove was like and about the stories he shared for the campaign. Here’s what he told me:

Well, it’s probably the most fun I've ever had doing a commercial shoot. I think it’s a brilliant idea by Dove. You've got different individuals like myself, who get to tell their stories. All of our stories are just about our journey to comfort.

My personal journey, the story I shared in one of the commercials, was about that uncomfortable moment that we've all been through, and we've lived to tell about, and how it helps us to become a little bit more comfortable in our own skin.

We all have those moments in life.

My personal journey I shared is when I was about 26 years old, I was auditioning for my dream job on College GameDay, and that was definitely one of those moments.

My four boys were actually on the set with me, and that was one of my other Journey to Comfort stories I shared. Just being a father of four young boys, and just some of the fun and the trials and tribulations that offers.

What’s funny is, I shared at the time how one of my sons was 5 years old, and how he was very intrigued by the way the camera was set up. When I was actually live on TV (for a SportsCenter spot), there’s a little monitor, and he really liked to sit on the chair and see himself on that little monitor. He couldn’t figure out the difference between that little monitor and real TV.

Then we had Round 2 just a few weeks ago with my latest 5-year-old. He did the exact same thing.

I was on live on the BCS selection show, and he peeked his head around the exact same way, and it kind of caught me off-guard and by surprise, until Rece Davis let me know that he was behind me.

It’s always a lot of fun, and we definitely had a lot of fun shooting the commercials.

After we finished discussing the "Journey to Comfort" campaign, I was able to get down to business and get Kirk to talk a little college football.

With a "Game of the Century" rematch between No. 1 LSU and No. 2 Alabama looming on the horizon, here’s what Kirk had to say about the possibility of seeing a rematch in the BCS National Championship Game:

I’m OK with it.

I really don’t look at it as a rematch. I look at it as who are the top two teams by the time we get to Dec. 3.

After watching 15 weeks of college football, that’s what the system is for. It’s not for setting up a rematch or being against a rematch. It’s basically who are the best two teams after watching all the games.

If LSU and Alabama are the two best teams, then so be it.

Who cares if we've seen them play?

I think people need to understand with the BCS standings, two-thirds of the voting is done by humans—by the Harris Poll, by the Coaches’ Poll.

As much as you want to blame the computers, it’s really the voters who have most of the say.

I’m looking at it, and I don’t have a real issue with there being a rematch. I’m more interested in who we think the two best teams are at the end of the day.

Let’s put them in the championship game, and let’s play it out.

I also got Kirk’s take on the college quarterback that everyone’s talking about, Stanford’s Andrew Luck.

Kirk and his announcing partner, Brent Musburger, have seen Luck up close and in person on a few occasions, most recently in a loss to Oregon, and I thought he could give some valuable insight on what’s he’s seen out of the star signal-caller.

Here’s what he had to say about Luck and all the hype that’s surrounding him:

First of all, I think he’s an outstanding player, but I don’t know if it’s possible for any quarterback to be as good as the hype that he’s received.

So many people have said so many wonderful things about him that the bar is raised so high, and if he throws an incompletion, or if he actually has the audacity to throw an interception, it’s as if he’s not worthy of being a first-round draft pick.

I think he’ll be a slam dunk in the NFL. I think he’ll be an outstanding player. He does all the things you want to see in a first-rounder and a guy that’s going to be a franchise quarterback.

The fact that he decided to come back, I knew the expectations, because I've seen them before. For that kind of guy to come back, the expectations are always so high, it’s nearly impossible to live up to.

You have to remember that his best receiver, Chris Owusu, hasn’t been in the lineup, his tight end Zach Ertz is not in the lineup. It’s definitely had an impact on what we've seen, and it’s definitely had an impact on what his results have been.

I finished up the interview by asking Kirk what his take on the Heisman race was now.

The thing about the Heisman Trophy is since it’s so wide open this year, now that we all vote electronically, and now that we don’t have to submit our vote on our ballot, we’re finding that voters are holding onto that decision until the final week.

Kirk pointed out that guys like Trent Richardson and Andrew Luck may not get to play on the final Saturday of the season, and that could end up possibly having an effect on their campaigns.

All in all, it sounded as if Kirk was just as excited as the rest of us to see how wild things will get in the final few weeks of the season.

He also sounded excited to be apart of the "Dove Men+Care Journey to Comfort" campaign, which includes other famous sports personalities such as Drew Brees, Albert Pujols, Joe Girardi, Andy Pettitte, Magic Johnson, John Thompson III, Bobby Hurley, Stewart Cink and Davis Love III.

Remember to check out dovemencare.com to see all the latest products that Dove is offering to keep you comfortable in your own skin.

Follow Dove on Twitter to play the “Over-Under Challenge” for a chance to win two tickets to the 2012 Rose Bowl.

And lastly, stay tuned to Dove’s YouTube channel to see all of the various videos and campaigns the company is continually putting together.