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College Football Icon Lee Corso Retiring from Role on GameDay

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1 year ago

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Lee Corso

College football will experience an end of an era when the 2025 season kicks off in late August. And the end of this era has nothing to do with the transfer portal or NIL. College football will experience an end of an era because Lee Corso will retire after one final show to open the season on August 30.

For one final time, Corso will ignite the crowd behind the College GameDay set with his prediction. GameDay signing off with Corso waving while wearing the headgear of a particular school became a simple way he showed his passion and love for the sport. Fans wanted to see Corso wear their team’s headgear more than they wanted support from any other analyst or guest picker.

But now that era is over. The staple of college football’s premiere pregame show will now move into retirement. And as much as Corso’s ability clearly diminished over time, he remained the one constant for fans forced to deal with the constantly changing landscape of the sport.

Corso, who turns 90 in August, has been a part of college football’s premier pregame show since it debuted in 1987. His very first headgear pick was October 5, 1996, when he donned Ohio State’s Brutus Buckeye mascot head in Columbus, Ohio. Entering his final broadcast in August, Corso has made 430 headgear picks all-time.

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“My family and I will be forever indebted for the opportunity to be part of ESPN and College GameDay for nearly 40 years,” said Corso as part of ESPN’s press release with the announcement. “I have a treasure of many friends, fond memories and some unusual experiences to take with me into retirement.”

Corso then elaborated even further: “ESPN has been exceptionally generous to me, especially these past few years. They accommodated me and supported me, as did my colleagues in the early days of College GameDay. Special thanks to Kirk Herbstreit for his friendship and encouragement. And lest I forget, the fans…truly a blessing to share this with them. ESPN gave me this wonderful opportunity and provided me the support to ensure success. I am genuinely grateful.”

Corso joined ESPN in 1987, following a 28-year coaching career at the college and professional levels – including 17 seasons as a head coach at Louisville (1969-72), Indiana (1973-82), Northern Illinois (1984) and with the USFL’s Orlando Renegades (1985). He is the only original College GameDay personality still with the show. (He was a contributor in 1987-88 and joined as an analyst in 1989). During his tenure, College GameDay has earned nine Sports Emmy awards in the Most Outstanding Studio Show – Weekly category and is nominated again this year.

Many of Corso’s colleagues and friends, including Rece Davis, Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit released video tributes after the news broke.

Needless to say, August 30th will be an emotional day for the GameDay crew, but it will also mark the end of an era for college football as a whole.

Part of this story was taken from ESPN’s press release.

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