Lee Corso's emotional farewell: His final 'College GameDay' at Ohio
State holds special significance
[August 30, 2025]
By JOE REEDY
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — It is rare for a sports broadcasting figure to
retire on his own terms or to be able to accept the tributes or
adulation of colleagues and fans.
Lee Corso gets to experience that on Saturday.
Corso makes his final appearance as part of ESPN’s “College GameDay”
crew before No. 3 and reigning national champion Ohio State hosts
top-ranked Texas.
Since announcing his retirement earlier this year, Corso has received
his share of acclaim and send-offs. He was honored at the ESPY Awards in
July and received a standing ovation before boarding his flight in
Orlando, Florida, on Thursday.
“It’s a gamut of different emotions. I’m trying to stay in the
celebratory lane this weekend,” said GameDay analyst Kirk Herbstreit,
who has sat next to Corso since 1996. “We don’t want to be emotional or
sad when it’s his last show. We can be sad next week. But this weekend,
we need to be celebrating him. Everything he’s meant to us and to the
sport.”
Corso, who turned 90 on Aug. 7, has been a part of “GameDay” since its
start in 1987 and has made pregame shows entertaining under a simple
philosophy: “Football is just the vehicle. It’s entertainment,
sweetheart.”
“Almost everyone, no matter what they accomplish in our industry, sort
of gets dragged out boots first. They don’t really get a chance to say
farewell,” GameDay host Rece Davis said on Friday after a production
meeting. “I think it’s a real blessing that we’re able to give Lee his
flowers on a day when he’s feeling great, doing great, and excited for a
game.”
GameDay’s 26th appearance in Columbus also marks a full-circle moment
for Corso. It was outside Ohio Stadium on Oct. 5, 1996, where Corso’s
popular headgear prediction segment began.
Corso donned Brutus Buckeye’s head before Ohio State faced Penn State,
and the rest is history.
Corso has worn 69 different schools’ mascot headgear and has dressed up
as Notre Dame’s Fighting Irish leprechaun, the Stanford tree, and
historic figures James Madison and Benjamin Franklin. However, Brutus
remains Corso’s first love, wearing it 45 times.
“When we looked at the schedule, the obvious place was to try to go to
Tallahassee, where he played (at Florida State), but this game is so
big. The fact that it’s a noon game. It became a no-brainer to have it
here,” Herbstreit said. “It is very kind of storybook. The fact that we
started with this and and end it here in Columbus.”
Corso has a 66.5% winning rate on his headgear predictions (286-144),
which is much better than his 73-85-6 mark in 15 years as a coach at
Louisville, Indiana, and Northern Illinois.
His final headgear pick will be on the field at Ohio Stadium. Besides
airing across all of ESPN’s networks, Fox Sports may show part of it.
The final hour of both pregame shows will also take place in the
Horseshoe.
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Kirk Herbstreit, left, greets Lee Corso on stage at the ESPY Awards
at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, July 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark
J. Terrill, File)
 Tom Rinaldi and Chris Fallica —
former GameDay crew members now with Fox Sports — are also expected
to give their thoughts on Corso’s retirement.
“Now that his career, obviously coaching but now as a broadcaster,
is ending, you look back on the impact that you made. And he
certainly made a major impact on a lot of people,” Ohio State coach
Ryan Day said. “For him to be here for his last mascot game in his
last year means a lot to all of us.”
When GameDay started, Corso was the analytical one known for hot
takes, while the late Beano Cook was the funny one who made game
predictions a production.
The show took place at ESPN’s studios in Bristol, Connecticut, until
it went on the road for the first time in 1993, before Notre Dame
hosted Florida State in a No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup. The show has been
on the road regularly since 1995.
Chris Fowler was the host from 1990 through 2014 before Davis took
over. Besides Herbstreit, Desmond Howard has been with the show
since 2006, Pat McAfee joined in 2022, and Nick Saban last year
after retiring from Alabama.
Fowler, who will call Saturday night’s game between No. 9 LSU and
fourth-ranked Clemson, will also be a part of the GameDay crew on
Saturday.
Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said the beauty of Corso and “College
GameDay” is that they allow fans to experience the flavor of being
at a game at Texas or Alabama on television.
“Coach Corso was able to bring the aspect of a coach and a very
analytical approach to the games being played, but then the
entertainment and doing the headgear at the end of every show,”
Sarkesian said. “I know that was something we all used to look
forward to. What was he going to do? Like that was going to
determine who would win the game or not, but that was the beauty of
the show, getting people excited about every Saturday for college
football.”
GameDay producer Jim Gaiero thinks Corso may still have a surprise
or two for Saturday. No one would be surprised if he led on that he
was picking with Ohio State and ended up going with Texas.
But even though Corso will no longer be a part of Saturday mornings
for college football fans, his impact will continue to be felt.
His ability to bring entertainment to a preview show helped get away
from seriousness. You can be outrageous and still do your job, but
you can still have fun,” Gaiero said. “I think other shows have
tried to do that, even political shows.”
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