Considering his family’s ties to Ohio State, it couldn’t have been easy for Kirk Herbstreit to see his boys suit up for Clemson.

During a recent appearance on “What’s Next with Eric Wood,” the ESPN college football analyst was asked just how tough it was for his sons, Tye and Jake, to pick Clemson over Ohio State.

“Because of the respect I have for Dabo and that program, I would love to see them in an Ohio State uniform,” Herbstreit said on the show. “First of all, you have kids, your kids go through their own journey. If they choose to play ball, they choose to play ball and if they don’t, then they don’t.

“They wanted to play. They went to a summer camp going into their senior year at Clemson and did pretty well and Dabo was like ‘I think we want to offer these guys preferred walk-ons.’ Initially, I was like, ‘man, they grew up brainwashed Ohio State kids.’ But the respect, again, that I have for Dabo outweighs everything. And so it was easy. Now, it’s such a thrill just to see them in those uniforms.”

Credit Herbstreit for letting his kids make their own decisions and fully respecting and embracing those decisions — no matter how much the Buckeye in him may disagree.

Ultimately, the way Herbstreit sees it, if his kids are at a place of Clemson’s caliber, they are doing something right.

“I’m glad they are at a place that gets it,” Herbstreit concluded.