ESPN announces Lee Corso to retire from College GameDay after Week 1 of 2025 season

ESPN has announced that Lee Corso will be retiring from College GameDay during the 2025 season. On Thursday, the network revealed when he’ll make his final appearance.

Corso will sign off from College GameDay after a remarkable 38 years on the first show of the season. He will make his farewell on Aug. 30, during Week 1 of the college football season. A location for the episode has yet to be announced.

In addition to the traditional airing of the show, ESPN notes that it will also present special programming celebrating Lee Corso in the days leading up to his final show. Corso turns 90 in August, making his run all the more impressive.

“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 press release. “I have a treasure of many friends, fond memories and some unusual experiences to take with me into retirement.”

ESPN has already provided some moving tributes to Corso over the years. During the 2023 season, Lee Corso donned his 400th headgear. He has made a weekly tradition of putting on headgear for whatever team he picks to win the marquee game of the day.

It delights fans. And when he did it for the 400th time, he brought out the waterworks from the rest of the crew on the set.

“Just like Charles Barkley is to the TNT show, Lee has been that for us,” analyst Kirk Herbstreit said. “I feel like to do good, quality studio television, not everybody can be the same. You need people who bring something a little bit different to the show. Lee was kind of that guy like Charles is to that show. As time has gone on, Lee’s getting older. I’ve always thought about, ‘what are we gonna do without Lee? How is our show gonna be a show without Lee?’”

The bottom line, of course, is that Lee Corso will be sorely missed on the show. He’s been a mainstay with college football fans for nearly four decades.

“ESPN has been exceptionally generous to me, especially these past few years. They accommodated me and supported me, as did my colleagues in the early days of College GameDay. Special thanks to Kirk Herbstreit for his friendship and encouragement. And lest I forget, the fans…truly a blessing to share this with them. ESPN gave me this wonderful opportunity and provided me the support to ensure success. I am genuinely grateful.”

So be sure to tune in on Aug. 30 as Lee Corso gets his send-off. Surely there won’t be a dry eye among those viewing.

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