Kirk Herbstreit's Emotional Tribute To Lee Corso, College GameDay at ESPYs

At the 2025 ESPY's, ESPN and College GameDay crew devoted a portion of the awards show to honor longtime college football analyst Lee Corso, who is retiring after 40 years with ESPN. In a traditional college football sendoff, the USC Trojans spirit squads joined Corso on stage to pay tribute to his College GameDay career.

Jan 13, 2020; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Lee Corso smiles while on the ESPN set prior to the College Football Playoff national championship game with Clemson Tigers playing against the LSU Tigers at Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-Imagn Images | Matthew Emmons-Imagn Images

The 2025 ESPYs, the annual awards show celebrating the year’s top athletes, coaches, and inspiring sports moments, was a night of high honors and recognition, as well as a surprise performance for longtime College GameDay Analyst Lee Corso.

Corso was honored for 40 years of dedication to ESPN’s College GameDay – the show that allowed Corso to entertain fans by wearing the predicted winner’s mascot headgear, which soon became a staple in Corso’s persona in College GameDay broadcasts. 

The awards show presented a three-minute montage of Corso through the years of the show, highlighting his iconic appearances on college campuses around the country. 

Jan 13, 2020; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Lee Corso smiles while on the ESPN set prior to the College Football Playoff national championship game with Clemson Tigers playing against the LSU Tigers at Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-Imagn Images | Matthew Emmons-Imagn Images

His touching remarks began with a heartfelt thank you ESPN for a tribute that, in his words, perfectly captured the analyst that Corso strived to be in college football. 

“I want to thank ESPN for this tribute and opportunity to do a job that I’ve loved for 38 years. My goal on TV was to bring a smile to everybody’s face. I hope I’ve done that,” Corso said at the ESPY’s. “My wife, Betsy, and I have been married for 69 years. And I just wanted to thank her for loving me and allowing me to love her for all of those years. Thank you very much, ESPN, for this honor [and] tribute, and I appreciate everybody here.”

LEE CORSO FOREVER ❤️ @CollegeGameDay | @ESPYS pic.twitter.com/78kjwFV82Y

— ESPN (@espn) July 17, 2025

Corso was joined by his colleagues in analysts Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard and Pat Macafee. What Corso didn’t know on stage was that the College GameDay crew had organized a special surprise sendoff — a spirited performance from the USC Trojans spirit squads, complete with Tommy Trojan in full force.

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The tribute was designed to help Corso leave the ESPYs the same way he left a traditional college football Saturday – in energy, spirit, and school pride. The USC marching band performed the iconic theme for College GameDay, where Corso was able to don the Trojan headgear one last time on stage, in front of a live audience and a national broadcast on ESPN. 

Extras also joined the Trojans’ performance as fans with posters behind corso, to mirror the traditional on-site College GameDay experience where fans gather behind the stage with their best posters, but all the posters were about their love for Corso. 

Jul 16, 2025; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Lee Corso on the red carpet before the ESPYS at The Dolby Theatre. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The USC Marching Band later honored Corso in an instagram post, that reminded fans the Trojans are 17-0 when chosen by Corso on a College GameDay broadcast. 

Corso has visited the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum eight times across the 24 total times the Trojans have appeared on College GameDay.

Herbstreit delivered an emotional message to the iconic college football analyst, honoring that someone like Corso is irreplaceable and will be remembered for Corso’s contribution to College Football Saturdays. 

“Just like Charles Barkley is to the TNT show, Lee has been that for us,” Herbstreit said at the ESPY’s. “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?’”