The Lee Corso era on College GameDay is coming to an end. ESPN announced on Thursday that the legendary studio analyst will make his final appearance on August 30, 2025 and then retire.
Corso has been one of the defining figures in college football’s rise in popularity over the last few decades. His joy and exuberance on the College GameDay set helped make the show one of the defining studio shows of our time. And ESPN’s decision to send Lee Corso and company on the road to campuses across the country for College GameDay has proven to be one of the best moves in the history of sports media.
As his retirement was announced on Thursday, his ESPN colleagues and scores of other people from around the sports media world and beyond paid tribute to the college football and broadcasting icon.
Corso has not been the same on air since a stroke that he suffered in 2009, but he has still been a beloved figure ever since. Any appearance that he was able to make on College GameDay was cherished as we all knew it was not going to last forever.
ESPN has made new additions to College GameDay recently with Pat McAfee and Nick Saban joining the set to prepare for this moment. But Corso’s famous headgear picks have remained the climax of every episode of College GameDay in which he has appeared.
The fact that Lee Corso will get to go out on his terms with a huge celebration of what he has meant to college football to kick off the 2025 season is the best way that ESPN could have handled the situation. And the countless tributes that have poured in for Corso in the minutes since his retirement announcement show just what a huge celebration it is going to be.