For one remaining time, Lee Corso will don the pinnacle of a college football mascot and utter his well-known catchphrase: “Not so fast, my friend.”
Saturday’s ESPN broadcast of defending nationwide champion Ohio State internet hosting Texas will sign the tip of the period as Corso steps away after a legendary stint in college football.
First as a participant, then a coach and at last a broadcaster, the now-90-year-old has been a mainstay within the collegiate ranks for greater than 75 years and has had an immeasurable affect.
Known for his larger-than-life persona – and the even larger mascot heads he’s worn – Corso retires as one of many pioneers of football tv.
“My goal on TV was to bring a smile to everybody’s face. I hope I have done that,” Corso stated on stage on the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles when he was honored on the ESPYs in July.
Corso’s football career started within the Nineteen Fifties when he took the sector for the Florida State Seminoles, the place he performed as each a quarterback and cornerback. As a CB, he held the college report for interceptions for twenty years.
After graduating, he turned his consideration to teaching. Over a 28-year career, he coached at Louisville, Indiana, Navy and Northern Illinois, in addition to a temporary stint as the pinnacle coach of the Orlando Renegades within the United States Football League (USFL).
His achievements throughout a number of applications have led to his induction into a number of athletic Halls of Fame, together with at Florida State, Louisville and Indiana, as well as to the state of Florida Sports Hall of Fame and the Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame.
But it was solely when the USFL fell aside within the mid-Eighties that Corso turned his consideration to tv.
He was employed to be a part of ESPN’s “College GameDay” program as an analyst in 1987 and, for 38 seasons, has remained an anchor of the staff.
In 1996, Corso began one thing that had a lasting affect not solely on the present however on college football as a complete: carrying outsized mascot headgear throughout dwell broadcasts.
Ahead of that season’s Ohio State-Penn State sport, Corso placed on Buckeyes mascot Brutus’ headgear and the remaining was historical past.
Since then, Corso has dressed up as Notre Dame’s Fighting Irish Leprechaun, the Stanford Tree, and even rode a motorbike with the Oregon Duck, amongst many others that introduced smiles to not solely the faces of followers but additionally his colleagues.
Corso would don the comically giant headpieces whereas making sport predictions, holding a Ticonderoga No. 2 pencil in hand and uttering his well-known catchphrase. This famed custom has been a staple on ESPN’s college football protection for nearly 4 many years.
Corso has made 430 mascot headgear alternatives all-time, compiling a 286-144 report. He has thrown on Brutus’ head probably the most at 45 instances with Alabama mascot Big Al’s head coming in second with 38 picks.
He has worn the headgear of 69 totally different groups and, as a former assistant coach at Navy, has by no means picked towards the Midshipmen. He went on a magical streak of predictions in 1999, going 11-0 along with his headgear picks, probably the most wins with out a loss in a single season since he started the custom.
“My family and I will be forever indebted for the opportunity to be part of ESPN and College Gameday for nearly 40 years,” Corso stated when his retirement was announced in April. “I have a treasure of many friends, fond memories and some unusual experiences to take with me into retirement.”
In 2009, Corso suffered a stroke which left him unable to communicate for a whereas however he finally made a return to ESPN’s protection.
A 12 months later, he was honored by the National College Football Awards Association with the Contributions to College Football Award in recognition of his lifetime of feat and integrity within the sport.
Ahead of his remaining sport, Corso was honored by Southwest Airlines as he waited to board his flight to Columbus, with the workers and ready prospects all giving him a standing ovation.
“With the popularity and cultural phenomenon that ‘GameDay’ became, there’s no one more responsible for that than Lee Corso. He changed the way the game was covered with the irreverence, the humor, the lack of a filter, all of those things that sort of set the tone and the standard,” “GameDay” host Rece Davis stated of Corso’s affect on ESPN’s protection.
Corso steps away as a seemingly ever-present determine on college football protection and one whose affect might be felt for the subsequent technology of broadcasters and followers.
Will another person placed on the mascot headgear to proceed and honor Corso’s custom? Or will the section even be retired alongside Corso? One factor is for positive although: The way forward for college football broadcasting will most actually look very totally different with out him on the panel.