Lee Corso has lived a life. And although it’s no time for an epitaph – Corso is retiring, not shuffling off this mortal coil – it’s as good a time as any to recall our favorite memories authored by the twinkle-eyed clown prince of ESPN’s “College GameDay.”
On Thursday, ESPN announced that Corso would make his final “College GameDay” appearance in August, in Week 1 of next season. It will end a nearly 40-year run for Corso on the its flagship college football broadcast.
“My family and I will be forever indebted for the opportunity to be part of ESPN and ‘College GameDay’ for nearly 40 years,” Corso said in a statement released by ESPN. “I have a treasure of many friends, fond memories and some unusual experiences to take with me into retirement.”
There has been nothing “usual” about Corso’s career in football. Born in Cicero, Illinois, Corso moved as a boy with his family to Miami, where he became a good enough athlete to be offered a signing bonus by the Brooklyn Dodgers. Instead, he went on to play football at Florida State, where he roomed with actor Burt Reynolds. Corso eventually found coaching, working with Bill Belichick’s dad at Navy and coaching future ESPN co-worker Tom Jackson at Louisville before stints as the head man at Indiana and Northern Illinois.
But his lasting legacy – and our guess is Corso is more than satisfied with it – will be the decades’ worth of fun he had, and shared, on “College GameDay.” His headgear stunts became a staple and, eventually, the most anticipated moment of every week’s episode.
Illinois fans with enough tree rings can recall Corso’s finest Illini-themed set piece, on Nov. 20, 2010, just outside Chicago’s Wrigley Field, where Northwestern would host Illinois in the first college football game on the grounds in more than 80 years.
Former Bears coach and noted tough guy Mike Ditka joined the crew on set, and when the time came for the analysts to pick a winner, Ditka said his piece and selected Northwestern. “I gotta live here,” he said.
On hearing this, Corso let out a disappointed “Awwww” and dramatically turned to his favorite foil in colleague Kirk Herbstreit. “Listen, Pat Fitzgerald is a great coach,” Corso said of the then-Wildcats head man. “But I was born in Cicero, right?” Then he turned away from the studio desk.
“Gimme that helmet.”
Hey Lee Corso…
Great pick today! GREAT PICK!@CollegeGameDay | #ILLINI pic.twitter.com/GqCfIWzwwC
— Illinois Football (@IlliniFootball) November 3, 2018
Corso donned the oversized Illinois headgear, setting off a chorus of boos in the Clark Street crowd, and then mugged for effect while offering his signature Windsor wave as the broadcast faded to black. It was perfect theater.
And it only got better for Illinois fans when the visitors broke open a game they led 27-24 at halftime when Illini quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase tossed a touchdown pass to A.J. Jenkins and running back Jason Ford punched in a couple of short scoring runs to salt away the win.
Corso was in our homes on fall Saturday mornings for long enough to give most college football fans at least one of those moments, goofing, jeering, drawing a reaction, having a ball – and always bringing us along for the ride. It’s hard to imagine a better legacy.
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