College GameDay is an ESPN pregame show that began in 1987 as part of the network’s coverage of both college football and basketball. The show has a tailgate-like atmosphere at the collegiate site of that week’s biggest game, with fans of many different teams attending.
The show’s current main introduction and theme music, used since 2007, is performed by country music group, The Cadillac Three, featuring country singers, Darius Rucker and Lainey Wilson, who performed the 2005 crossover hit “Comin’ to Your City” by Big & Rich.
From its inception to his retirement on Aug. 30, Lee Corso had been the main host of the show. Corso announced his retirement in April and said it was because of a stroke he had many years ago.
The stroke was caused by a blockage in his small artery, leading to partial paralysis. He was left unable to speak for about a month after the stroke, although he suffered no permanent damage. He made a full recovery, returning to air on Sept. 5, 2009.
Since he had suffered a stroke, other on-air analysts of the show, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, Chris Fowler and Pat McAfee, were able to fill in when Corso needed assistance on-air since the stroke severely slowed his cognitive function. As a result, Corso had to script and rehearse his appearances on the show and was no longer able to effectively ad lib.
He was born in Cairo, IL to Italian immigrant parents on August 7, 1935, before his family moved to Miami. He starred for the Florida St. Seminoles in both college football and baseball.
From there, he became a Graduate Assistant (GA) at Florida St. in 1958 before becoming a quarterback coach for the Maryland Terrapins from 1959-1964 and the offensive coordinator for the Navy Midshipmen from 1965-1968.
He eventually became a head coach, first for the Louisville Cardinals from 1969-72, then the Indiana Hoosiers from 1973-82 and finally the Northern Illinois Huskies for one year in 1983. In 1984-1985, Corso coached in the United States Football League (USFL) for the Orlando Renegades.
After the USFL disbanded prior to the 1986 season, he was hired by ESPN as an analyst for College GameDay. The first time the program originated on a college campus was on Nov. 13, 1993, at South Bend, IN, between #1 Florida St. and #2 Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
He predicted that Florida St. would remain unbeaten and defeat Notre Dame, 31-30. However, in the game, Notre Dame jumped out to a 21-7 halftime lead and held on to win, 31-24 after batting down a potential touchdown pass in the final seconds of the game.
His first headgear selection in which he picked the headgear of the team he predicted to win occurred on Oct. 5, 1996, when #3 Ohio St. Buckeyes blew out #4 Penn St. Nittany Lions, 38-7 in Columbus, OH. Of course, he picked Ohio St. to win when he put on the Ohio State’s Brutus Buckeye mascot as his pick to win the game.
Since that date, he always concludes the pregame show with his headgear selection. For his 250th headgear pick on Nov. 1, 2014, held at Morgantown, WV, he picked Texas Christian University’s (TCU) mascot, Super Frog. #7 TCU defeated #20 West Virginia Mountaineers, 31-30.
His 400th headgear pick took place on Sept. 16, 2023, at Boulder, CO when he put on the head of Colorado’s Chip the Buffalo before their game against Colorado State. Nevertheless, the unranked Colorado St. Rams upset #18 Colorado Buffaloes, 43-35, in double overtime.
At Columbus, OH, he made his 431st and final pick on Aug. 30, 2005, when he chose the Brutus Buckeye mascot. In a defensive battle, #3 Ohio St. defeated #1 Texas Longhorns, 14-7. Corso ended his tenure for College GameDay with a record of 287–144 (.666) all-time in headgear picks.
Coincidentally, on the day of his retirement, all six of the teams Corso had coached won their respective games (Florida State, Maryland, Navy, Louisville, Indiana, and Northern Illinois). In addition, all six of Corso’s picks from the picks segment of College GameDay were correct (Tennessee, South Carolina, Florida State, Miami, LSU, and Ohio State).
He often played the role of comic foil to co-hosts Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit. Corso’s catchphrase, “Not so fast, my friend!”, with pencil always in hand, would commonly be exclaimed in playful disagreement to his colleagues’ predictions.
His other catchphrases include: “Offense sells tickets, but defense wins championships,” “In college football, there’s no such thing as an upset. It’s just one team playing better than the other” and “The team that makes the fewest mistakes will win.”
