Report: Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit discuss 'College GameDay' relationship
College football fans who have followed the sport’s premier pregame show have noted the health of Lee Corso since the analyst and former coach had a stroke eight years ago.
As a new season begins, the Associated Press caught up with Corso, 82, and his colleagues in and around the ESPN show, including fellow analyst Kirk Herbstreit and producer Lee Fitting. In the years since the stroke, Corso has had moments where he got tongue-tied or had trouble remembering or pronouncing a name. Recently, it was new Auburn quarterback Jarrett Stidham, and he got help from Herbstreit.
“To this day there’s no question in my mind that all the great things that coach adds to the show outweigh those times when his tongue may get tied or he stumbles on his speech or he stumbles over a few words or has trouble getting something out,” said Fitting, who formerly was the producer of ‘GameDay’ and now oversees all ESPN’s college studio shows, was quoted as saying by the AP. “And the times when he does struggle to get some words out, the way in which Kirk and Rece and Desmond (Howard) and David (Pollack) help coach along, pick up that slack, makes up for it.
“It’s endearing to the viewer. It’s the family members picking another member of the family up.”
Corso, an affable coach who played at Florida State and later coached at Louisville, Indiana and Northern Illinois, was seen as a natural fit on television, and Herbstreit said he looked to Corso when he joined the show in 1996 alongside Chris Fowler. Corso last coached the Orlando Renegades of the USFL, and was hired by ESPN in 1987. He’s also known for having actor Burt Reynolds as a college roommate.
Corso signed a new multiyear contract with ESPN earlier this year, and both sides said it was an easy decision.
“This job is like stealing. I travel first class in a nice plane. I have a driver waiting for me. I go in a room and have room service. I have a meeting. Then I go to the best game of the weekend and talk football — and they pay me. You gotta be kidding me,” Corso said. “Why the hell would I leave something like this?”
The Herbstreit-Corso relationship has developed into a sort of father-son connection where they discuss marriage and raising children. Herbstreit said having the show without Corso is “terrifying” and the former coach said he has no plans to step down.
On Thursday night, a special edition of “GameDay” will air from Bloomington, Indiana, before the Hoosiers play No. 2 Ohio State. Later this season, Corso will make his 300th head-gear pick. The first came at Ohio State when he convinced Herbstreit to help him get Brutus Buckeye’s head.