ESPN’s Rece Davis Offers Touching Tribute for Lee Corso After Retirement News

It’s the end of an era in college football.

On Thursday, ESPN announced that Lee Corso, beloved longtime commentator on the network’s flagship College GameDay, was set to hang up his mascot heads after four decades behind the desk.

Corso will celebrate his final broadcast with the GameDay crew in August of 2025 to open the season.

"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 statement. "I have a treasure of many friends, fond memories and some unusual experiences to take with me into retirement."

Many of those friends took time to celebrate Corso upon hearing news of his retirement, including Rece Davis, who has served as the host of GameDay since 2015.

“Lee Corso is not only the cornerstone of College GameDay, he was really a trailblazer for the way the sport was covered,” Davis began. “What Lee did really set the trend for the generations that have followed and continued to follow in covering college football.”

Davis noted that Corso has essentially become synonymous with the sport which he dedicated so much of his life to sharing.

“Kickoff aren’t really official until L.C. has made his pick,” Davis said. “When you walk around campus on Friday before College GameDay, that’s the No. 1 question—‘Who’s Corso going to pick?’ It’s because of something he’s taught us from the very beginning: ‘It’s entertainment sweetheart. Football is our vehicle.’ And man did he use that vehicle brilliantly.”

Davis’s heartfelt note to his colleague can be be watched in full below. Keep some tissues close by.