Lee Corso, a fixture on ESPN College GameDay since the show launched in 1987, will don a mascot’s headgear for the last time. In many ways, he is College GameDay. However, as with all good things, Corso’s run ends after a career spanning nearly 40 years across five decades.
He will make his last appearance on August 30 in Columbus, Ohio, where the Ohio State Buckeyes will take on Texas. It’s a fitting place to end his career, as OSU will have hosted the show 26 times, appeared on it 67 times, and had the most wins (46-20) when it appeared on College GameDay.
A Fitting and Emotional End For a Broadcasting King
SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee is among the many people sending heartfelt tributes to Corso, including one produced by ESPN.
“Incredible tribute by @espn, for Coach Corso,” Lashlee posted on X. “So good and so thankful for what Coach has meant to college football, the many lives he has impacted, and how kind he has always been to all of us. There will never be anyone like Lee Corso. Everyone should watch.
Incredible tribute by @espn for Coach Corso. So good and so thankful for what Coach has mean’t to college football, the many lives he has impacted and how kind he has always been to all of us. There will never be anyone like Lee Corso. Everyone should watch. @ESPN_BillC… https://t.co/I35I3i88sJ
— Rhett Lashlee (@rhettlashlee) August 23, 2025
Corso, 90, began his career in college football as the quarterbacks coach at Maryland under Head Coach Tommy Nugent. At his mentor’s encouragement, Corso was among the first coaches of the era to recruit black players to attend historically white universities. When he got Darryl Hill to leave the Naval Academy to join Maryland, he broke the color barrier in the ACC in 1962.
He spent the next three decades as a head coach at Louisville, Indiana, and Northern Illinois. He also spent one year as head coach of the Orlando Renegades in the USFL before the league folded before its 1986 season.
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However, Corso became a celebrity and icon after joining ESPN in 1987 on College GameDay.
The show started broadcasting from the site of the week’s biggest game in 1993, and Corso’s catchphrase, “not so fast, my friend,” and his prediction of the winner of that day’s marquee game by donning its mascot’s headgear became a ubiquitous part of Saturday mornings in America.
While there’s a perception that Corso’s picks are not reliable, the truth is that his headgear picks are 286-144-0, with a strike rate of 66.51%.
Corso’s last game is a doozy, too. Ohio State will host the Texas Longhorns in an early-season battle between National Title hopefuls. College GameDay will air on Saturday, August 30, at 9 a.m. ET on ESPN.
