Editor’s Note: Rece Davis has hosted ESPN’s College GameDay Built by The Home Depot since 2015. During the past decade, he has had a front row seat to the magic of Lee Corso, witnessing the intimate connection that fans, players and coaches have with him as well as the unbridled passion that Corso has for college football. With today’s announcement that Corso will make his final headgear pick this coming season, Davis reflects upon his friendship and experience working with Corso the past 10 years.
Lee Corso is the cornerstone of College GameDay. His humor and irreverence were revolutionary for media covering college football and set the trend for following generations. In a sport built on nostalgia and tradition, there is no pre-game moment more iconic than Corso putting on the mascot head. Saturday kickoffs just couldn’t be official until LC put on the mascot head. It is an authentic, signature moment that resulted from his remarkable sense of how to connect with people. The most common question we get on campus on Friday afternoons is, “Who is Corso going to pick?” Among his many axioms that we follow diligently, “It’s entertainment, sweetheart. Football is our vehicle.”
Lee is the quintessential entertainer but he was also a remarkable coach who established lifelong connections with his players. When GameDay went to Indiana last season, the love and emotion that poured out from his players was truly moving. It was also unsurprising. Every week, he asks about our families. He asks for specifics. He celebrates successes and moments, big and small, for all of us on the set. He’s relentless in his encouragement. That’s what a great coach, and friend, does. Lee has made it his life’s work to bring joy to others on the field and on television. He succeeded.
Personally, I’ll never be able to appropriately thank him for his acceptance and friendship. When I started hosting GameDay a decade ago, he could’ve been resistant to change. Instead, he fully embraced me as his new quarterback. Among the most cherished memories of my time working with Lee really has little to do with the show. It has been those Saturdays we just stayed to watch the game. No television to do. No fulfilling an assignment. Just watching because he LOVED it. Besides, where else would you want to be? There’s nowhere that Lee Corso loves more than being inside a stadium for a big game. He stalked that sideline as if he were still wearing the headset.
Lee’s impact on the game, television’s coverage of the sport and the embedding of College GameDay into the very DNA of college football is immeasurable.
I’ll never forget during the classic 2016 Louisville-Clemson game — Lamar Jackson versus Deshaun Watson — LC was on the field so close to the Cardinals’ coaching staff it looked as if he were sending in the plays. He never got the game out of his blood. And that is the magic of Lee Corso; pure, unbridled passion for college football and the people who play it, cover it and love it.
Lee’s impact on the game, television’s coverage of the sport and the embedding of College GameDay into the very DNA of college football is immeasurable. Lee is a wonderful friend, a trusted mentor, a true legend in television and college football, a Hall of Fame presence. The show won’t be the same without him, that’s true. But if I could borrow a phrase, “Not so fast, my friend.” Lee will always be a presence on the show. The things I learned from him will endure. When they play “Comin’ to Your City,” we will deliver the show “against perfection” because that’s what LC always exhorted us to do.
Few have succeeded “against perfection” to the level of the great Lee Corso. College GameDay and college football owe him a debt that can never be repaid. All I can say, from the bottom of my heart, is thank you. It has been a privilege to share that desk with you.
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