The longtime face of ESPN’s College Gameday, Lee Corso, is making his exit.
ESPN announced Thursday that Corso will work Gameday for the final time in Week 1 of the coming season, ending a tenure that has spanned the entire existence of the show. The location of the Week 1 edition will be announced closer to the date.
Corso has been perhaps the best-known member of the Gameday cast throughout its run as the premier college football pregame show, particularly since it began traveling to game sites in 1993. His weekly ‘headgear pick’ — in which he announces which team he thinks will win the week’s featured game by donning a mascot head — has long been the show’s closing act.
He has remained the show’s constant amidst any number of changes over the years, most recently the additions of Pat McAfee and Nick Saban.
Corso has dealt with several health issues during the latter stages of his tenure. The aftereffects of a 2009 stroke affected his speech. More recently, undisclosed issues kept him off the air occasionally in the past few seasons. During the height of COVID, he appeared on the show remotely from his home as he was in the age group at most risk of the disease.
As he has aged, his on-air appearances have corresponded with social media concerns — some genuine, others cruel — in a fashion reminiscent of Dick Clark’s New Year’s Eve appearances toward the end of his life.
Yet even at an advanced age, Corso has continued to appear on the show more often than not — traveling all over the country for a live, raucous three-hour extravaganza that has at times ended with him dancing a jig alongside the Notre Dame mascot. Even with his role shrinking over the years, it has been a high-wire act requiring energy and acuity.
It has become increasingly common for sports analysts to work well into their 80s, even their 90s. The 89-year-old Corso joins ESPN’s Hubie Brown, 91, in retiring this year. Another ESPN colleague, 85-year-old Dick Vitale, recently returned to the air after a lengthy absence due to cancer treatments.
In addition to his work on Gameday, Corso was for a time a game analyst on ESPN Thursday night games alongside Kirk Herbstreit and Mike Tirico. He also filled that role on the EA Sports college football video games of the early 2000s. He was a coach before entering broadcasting and played at Florida State.
