Lee Corso is hanging up his headgear.
The legendary former college football coach and ESPN ‘College GameDay’ fixture for the past five decades announced Thursday that his final appearance on the show would be during the Week 1 episode of the 2025 college football season. ESPN has billed it as Corso’s final headgear pick, a nod to his signature closing move on ‘College GameDay’ when he dons mascot headgear to signal his pick for the game at the site in which the show is being broadcast from that week.
ESPN said a location for Corso’s final ‘College GameDay,’ scheduled for Saturday, August 30, will be determined at a later date. ESPN will also present special programming to honor Corso in the days leading up to his last show.
Corso, who turns 90 in August, debuted on ESPN’s college football pregame show in 1987. His first headgear pick – Ohio State’s Brutus Buckeye in Columbus, Ohio – happened on Oct. 5, 1996.
Corso joined ESPN 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 personality from the original ‘College GameDay’ cast still with the show.
“My family and I will be forever indebted for the opportunity to be part of ESPN and College GameDay for nearly 40 years. I have a treasure of many friends, fond memories and some unusual experiences to take with me into retirement,’ Corso said in a statement. “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 became a revered figure in college football and the face of ‘College Gameday’ over the years by mixing commentary with catchphrases like ‘Not so fast, my friend,’ and costume changes that turned into highly anticipated moments during the lead up to the first college football games every Saturday.
Corso remained a constant presence on the show throughout the past 38 years, although he has taken on a more limited role and missed several episodes for health reasons in recent seasons. Corso had a stroke in May 2009 that impacted his speech, but he made a full return to ‘College GameDay’ for the following college football season.
Corso has been on more than 70 campuses as part of ‘College GameDay,’ according to ESPN, and donned 69 different mascot headgear in order to make game picks. He has made 430 headgear picks all-time entering his final broadcast, with the Ohio State Buckeyes being his choice a record 45 times.
This story has been updated to include new information.
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