KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — One of college football’s signature voices is set to retire this summer after nearly four decades on air, ESPN announced on Thursday.
College Football Analyst Lee Corso will retire from ESPN’s “College GameDay” in August shortly after celebrating his 90th birthday. ESPN said his final broadcast will be on Aug. 30, and additional programming to celebrate Corso is expected in the days leading up to that weekend.
“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.”
Corso joined ESPN in 1987 after having a 28-year coaching career at the college and professional levels, which included 17 seasons as head coach at Louisville, Indiana, and Northern Illinois among other schools.
Corso is well known for his headgear picks, an end-of-show segment in which Corso uses a mascot head or another type of headgear to pick the team that will win the matchup at the current “College GameDay” location. According to ESPN, Corso is 286-144 of his 430 selections in the segment, and of the 69 teams whose headgear he has donned on “College GameDay,” his most frequently chosen team has been the Ohio State Buckeyes.
During Week 1 of college football, Corso’s final weekend on air will see matchups of Louisiana State University at Clemson, Alabama at Florida State, and Georgia State at Ole Miss. That weekend, Tennessee will be facing Syracuse at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia.
According to ESPN’s biography on Corso, the seasoned broadcaster and coach is a graduate of Florida State who earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in physical education and a master’s degree in administration and supervision.
In 2001, “Sporting News” magazine named Corso the 17th most influential person in college football. Throughout the nearly four-decade run of “College GameDay,” the show has earned nine Sports Emmys. In 2006, the show was also given the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame’s Outstanding Contribution to Amateur Football Award.