A Grip on Sports: Lee Corso’s retirement announcement leaves a big hole in college football’s Saturday traditions

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Fridays are usually for TV. What’s on in the world of sports this weekend. What’s missing. But today that’s not the case. Today is about a TV legend saying goodbye – even if it won’t happen until late August.

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• My sister is pushing toward 80. Loves sports, especially college football. Held season tickets to her alma mater UCLA’s games in the Rose Bowl for decades. But the Bruins weren’t her main Saturday obsession in the fall.

That role was filled by Lee Corso.

Corso has been the heart and soul of ESPN’s College Football GameDay since it debuted in 1987. He’s been the rock that anchors the network’s get-ready-for-Saturday’s-games program that ends at 9 a.m. on the West Coast.

Linda would rise early on Saturdays, make breakfast, pour some coffee and turn her TV to ESPN. The feature stories would entice her to tears. The banter would make her laugh. The betting lines would fly right over her head, sort of like the Washington State flag she always delighted in finding.

All of it would play in the background as she waited for Corso’s main moment in the spotlight.

She had one goal. She wanted to see what mascot head – or similar – the former Louisville and Indiana coach would pull out from under the table, put on his dome and show to the crowd. It is how he made his pick for the game the show was highlighting.

As the cheers or boos or laughs faded, she would click off the TV and begin her day. Just like hundreds of thousands of folks from Miami to San Diego, from Portland, Maine, to Portland, Oregon. College football’s Saturday was underway.

Like so many of us, the old ball coach held her attention and her heart. As she aged, he did too. And as the show evolved, from Chris Davis to Rece Davis, from Craig James to Kirk Herbstreit, Corso endured. As did Linda.

Corso’s father-son relationship with Herbstreit really touched her heart. The way, as Corso slowed, their on-air connection sped up. Deepened. How Herbstreit helped Corso through the pauses and the missed cues. It warmed her heart. And made her even more of a Herbstreit fan, even if he did play at Ohio State.

The past few years have been tough. But, as Linda told me once, she cherished Corso’s diminishing on-set appearances even more. Forgave any faux pas. Just loved seeing him. That love ends August 30.

Corso, 89, and the network announced Thursday the opening weekend of the 2025 season would be his last. It’s way too early (for Linda) – and a little late (for a lot of folks).

Yes, it is possible for two things to be true at once. It was tough to watch Corso’s appearances last season. Each recent passing season, really. There were only the occasional glimpses of the traits that made him a broadcasting legend. His quick wit, energy and infectious love of the game were not gone, just hidden by the toll aging takes on us all.

But it was also worth watching – for the same reasons. And one more. Respect.

ESPN showed it to Corso (and to basketball icon Dick Vitale as well), something TV executives have never been particularly adept at pulling off. It’s worth praising, allowing someone who has become not just an institution of their sport but also a family friend to decide when they wanted to exit stage left.

Corso earned it. And not just by earning ESPN a bunch of money, but he did that as well. He earned it by always being true to who he is, a former coach with a smile, a laugh and a deep knowledge of the game.

Wait, did you think when I wrote “a deep knowledge of the game” I meant football? Well, sure. But also the other game. The TV game.

Corso understood his lovable, Great-Uncle Lee role he played on Saturday mornings. His importance to everyone who gathered to watch, either in person or in their living rooms. His connection to folks from nine to 93. Played to it. Embraced it. Loved it.

Now there is only one way for Davis and Herbstreit and that Michigan guy to end the on-air August retirement party. They all need to reach behind the on-set desk and put on a hidden Lee Corso head.

The crowd would go wild. And it would be the right choice.

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WSU: Corso and the gang finally made it to Pullman on Oct. 20, 2018 for a Pac-12 game vs. Oregon. It was, by many accounts, including from Davis a couple years ago, the best location the show ever visited. And, of course, Corso was there. Put on the Cougar head. Made the crowd go wild. And was right, something he’s been about two-thirds of the time. … Greg Woods has a story that illustrates the truism recruiting never stops. And also contrasts that with the knowledge the Cougar contingent in the transfer portal continues to grow. … Former WSU and Gonzaga Prep standout Armani Marsh is still playing football. Doing it professionally. In the UFL. With the Houston Roughnecks. … Elsewhere in the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, if there is one word to describe the spring transfer period, it may just be panic. … That seems to be something that also happened with the rule makers as they tried to fix the epidemic of fake injuries. … Jon Wilner rips into Colorado coach Deion Sanders for one thing in a Mercury News column. But praises him for another. And takes a Sanders’ idea a couple steps farther. … John Canzano empties his notebook. … So does Christian Caple concerning Washington. … The Oregon State tight end room is stacked. … Oregon is rebuilding its offensive line around one great player. … No one on the West Coast is getting hit harder in the portal this spring than California. … Utah has added a kicker. … UCLA’s quarterback addition could end up being either a fairy tale – or a cautionary one. … The Arizona State defensive line is drawing praise. … Arizona has finished 14 spring practices. …Fresno State is losing to the portal a quarterback who was battling for the starting spot. … The area around San Diego State’s home field is changing. Maybe that will help the Aztecs’ season-ticket sales. … Colorado State lost its first player to the spring portal. … In basketball news, Kyle Smith is proposing something that will never come to pass in the ACC. But maybe it should. … California’s leading scorer, who transferred in from Stanford before the season began, is back in the portal. … Utah has added another transfer. … Arizona’s roster rebuild is still in progress. … Just how did Boise State entice a former UCLA starter to head north? … Colorado State made another portal addition.

Gonzaga: Drew Timme and Washington State’s Isaac Jones earned All-G-League honors this week. Timme made the second team and Jones the third. Theo Lawson has all the details in this story.

EWU: The Eagles’ Red-White Game starts tonight at 6 p.m. at Roos Field. Dan Thompson has a preview of the event that marks the end of spring practice, focusing on the youthful nature of the Eastern roster. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, Portland State has added a player from the portal. … Montana State women’s basketball coach Trisha Binford has signed a new contract. … Another Bobcat football player entered the portal. … Sacramento State has generated some excitement in California’s capital city.

Idaho: The Vandals’ receiving corps has changed over the offseason but, as Peter Harriman tells us, one thing hasn’t. Emmerson Cortez-Menjivar is still fast and still the best deep threat. …Former Idaho quarterback Gevani McCoy is back in the portal already.

Preps: It was a busy Thursday and Cheryl Nichols has the roundup.

Indians: Dave Nichols has the coverage of Spokane’s 4-3, 10-inning defeat at Hillsboro.

Reign: Portland is next up for Seattle and there is few better rivalries in the NWSL.

Mariners: I spent quite a bit of time Thursday morning watching the M’s bullpen squander what looked to be a safe lead. It made me a bit angry. But what happened in the top of the ninth and 10th innings soothed those emotions as Seattle, with a bit of help from the Reds’ miscues, rallied for an 11-7 road win. … The M’s are above .500 but still have some issues. … Jorge Polanco’s health is another one.

Seahawks: Offensive questions abound, sure. But so do ones on defense. … The draft keeps getting closer. So does the day we tire of draft stories.

Kraken: We can pass along a couple of stories focused on the franchise’s near-future.

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• Walter Cronkite. Larry King. Regis Philbin. Corso. Over the years TV personalities have grown to become not just household names but, in a way, household members. Corso was one of them. As they’ve aged, we have too. Which is part of why, even though we know it’s time, it’s so hard to see their run end. We want what we can’t have, an eternity of what we experience, what they share with us. Tears. Laughter. Time. Until later …