Kirk Herbstreit, ESPN College GameDay reflect on favorite Lee Corso memories ahead of retirement

On April 17, ESPN announced that Lee Corso will make his final appearance on ESPN’s College GameDay in Week 1 of the upcoming college football season. Corso is an icon in the college football community and his weekly headgear segment in the fall is legendary.

Corso began hosting College GameDay in 1987 and has been entertaining fans across the country ever since. Ahead of the 2025 NFL Draft, several of Corso’s co-hosts reflected on their time with him and shared some of their favorite memories.

“Before hot takes were a thing, Lee Corso kind of invented that,” Kirk Herbstreit said. “He was a guy that was willing to say things that a lot of people weren’t willing to say. He had fun. He was the guy that you hated for a second and then loved, and we all had a chance to see him behind the scenes and work with him, and obviously had so much fun, it’s a tough thing to accept.

“I’ve talked with him quite a bit over the last week or so. I think the best thing I could say, and I’ve said this on social media, he’s at peace with his decision and where he is. He’ll be 90 on August 7. He’s had an amazing run, as good as there is and we love him, and we can’t wait.”

Herbstreit likely has the closest relationship with Corso of any of his fellow College GameDay co-hosts. Nonetheless, the others still haven’t taken their time with Corso for granted.

“It just blows my mind,” Desmond Howard said. “When I first met coach and I joined GameDay 20 years ago, he just opened his arms. He embraced me. He was a guy who always had a smile on his face. He still does, and always had words of wisdom, and explained to me what this business is.

“We’re in the entertainment business, baby. And then I started to understand that, don’t take yourself too seriously. We’re gonna use this as an avenue to entertain the college football fans. He’s absolutely one of one, the best to ever do it.”

Unlike the other co-hosts, Nick Saban only worked with Lee Corso for one year. Thus, he shared his unique perspective on the college football icon.

“He created something,” Saban said. “When he started doing the mascot, the headgear, and all that type of stuff, my daughter — I mean, everybody in America watches this — but my daughter would call me
and tell me who he picked every week whether it was our game or not.

“But when it was our game, I was always hoping that he didn’t pick us. I knew the players were watching, and I wanted to reverse rat poison.”

ESPN’s hasn’t yet announced where College GameDay will be heading in Week 1 for Corso’s final appearance. However, it’s safe to assume fans across the country will be tuned in to watch Corso put on a team’s headgear one last time.