Kirk Herbstreit Announces Major Update on Lee Corso Amid College Football Season

The 40th season of College GameDay lands in Austin on Saturday for No. 1 Ohio State at No. 4 Texas, with a 9 a.m. ET start on ESPN. One chair at the desk has been empty, figuratively, for a year now. Retired "College GameDay" analyst Lee Corso made his last headgear pick in Columbus on Aug. 30, 2025, then walked away at 90 years old. His longtime partner on the show, ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit, just described how the retired coach is doing, and his answer separated Corso's body from his mind.

Kirk Herbstreit met Lee Corso at the Orlando airport

ESPN College GameDay hosts Kirk Herbstreit, Lee Corso — Kirk Herbstreit talks to Lee Corso on the set of ESPN College GameDay prior to the college football game between the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Texas Longhorns at Ohio Stadium on Aug. 30, 2025. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

The two caught up a few weeks before the 2026 season started. Herbstreit had an appearance booked in Orlando, an event Corso worked for 25 years, and Corso lives nearby.

"I was doing an appearance down in Orlando maybe two or three weeks ago, and he used to do this appearance for 25 years," Herbstreit said. "It's down right in his neck of the woods. He found out I was going to be down there and he asked if we could connect."

Corso didn't wait at the venue. He drove through a thunderstorm to meet Herbstreit at the airport instead.

"By the time I landed, there he is," Herbstreit said. "We hugged, embraced. He was emotional because we haven't seen each other in a while. When he cried, it made me cry. Because he's my guy. We were able to hang out for probably 20 or 30 minutes and just kind of get caught up."

What Kirk Herbstreit said about Lee Corso's health at 91

ESPN College GameDay analyst Kirk Herbstreit speaks to fans in the Miami Beach Convention Center before the College Football National Championship. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Herbstreit split the assessment in two. He said the Cicero, Illinois native has "a lot of physical ailments that he's been dealing with, but his mind is incredible."

"We'd all be lucky to have such cognitive thinking at 91," Herbstreit said. "His eyes are sharp. He's dialed in. He's just going through some stuff that makes it tough on him."

Corso turned 91 on Aug. 7 and still tracks rosters.

"But he knows about teams. He knows about players. He's got opinions. I just sat there and listened and loved hearing him talk about that. He's great. I told him that everybody loves him, everybody misses him. He feels that love, so it's always good to see him," Herbstreit said.

Corso has faced worse. A stroke in May 2009 left him partially paralyzed and unable to speak for a month, but he was back on the set that September and worked 16 more seasons.

Lee Corso's appearances since retiring from College GameDay

Lee Corso, former Florida State quarterback who recently retired from College GameDay, poses for photos with fans at the FSU game against Miami on Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

The goodbye in Columbus set records. Corso picked Ohio State over Texas, pulled on the Brutus Buckeye head for the 431st and final time and closed his career at 287-144 on headgear selections. That episode averaged 3.5 million viewers across ESPN and ESPNU, the most-watched College GameDay ever. It peaked at 5.1 million during the final quarter-hour.

Sightings have been rare since. The Sunshine Scooter went back to Tallahassee on Oct. 4, 2025, when Miami visited Florida State and the Seminoles honored him at Doak Campbell Stadium. That trip doubled as a reunion of Nugent's Boys, the players who suited up for Tom Nugent in the 1950s.

He stayed home in January when Indiana played Miami for the national championship at Hard Rock Stadium. Corso coached the Hoosiers from 1973 to 1982 and delivered their first bowl win in the 1979 Holiday Bowl, but he watched their title from his Florida house with his wife.

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