Kirk Herbstreit’s Emotional Lee Corso Message Captures College Football’s Deepest Bond

Hundreds of replies piled onto one Orlando photo, most of them jokes about a catchphrase and a golden retriever, and a lot of them about missing Saturday mornings.

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

College GameDay analyst Kirk Herbstreit posted a photo from Orlando on Thursday night, and college football fans have not stopped replying to it since.

The ESPN analyst was in town for a sold-out Florida Citrus Sports event at the Country Club of Orlando and then Lee Corso asked to come say hello.

Herbstreit offered to send a car, but the 91-year-old college football legend refused and drove himself over through a thunderstorm.

"Needless to say I lost that battle," Herbstreit wrote.

The post has passed 600,000 views. The replies underneath it are where the story took on a life of its own.

Fans reply to Kirk Herbstreit's Lee Corso post

Several people wrote the same joke because it wrote itself. Corso spent decades telling Herbstreit he was wrong with one phrase.

"Let me guess…. You said, 'You're not driving, coach' and he said, 'Not so fast, my friend,'" wrote a fan.

Was great to see The Sunshine Scooter this evening in Orlando.
I had an appearance with the folks at the @CitrusBowl and had a great conversation with @AndyStaples
And coach wanted to come say hello when I landed-I said “of course coach, would love to see ya-can I get ya a ride… pic.twitter.com/khz3xmTVY6

— Kirk Herbstreit (@KirkHerbstreit) August 14, 2026

The most liked reply had nothing to do with Corso at all. One sarcastic fan asked, "When did you get a dog?!" That drew 287 likes.

The joke works because Herbstreit travels everywhere with his golden retrievers. Peter is the current road companion. Ben, his longtime sideline dog, died in November 2024 after a battle with cancer.

Why the replies keep coming back to Lee Corso's absence

Strip out the jokes and the same feeling shows up over and over. People miss him.

"Miss the Sunshine Scooter on Saturday mornings," one fan wrote, using the nickname the former Florida State defensive back earned in the 1950s for his speed.

One fan called him college football's cool grandpop. Another wrote that Corso will be missed this year.

That reaction is worth reflection. The Orlando resident made his last headgear pick on Aug. 30 last year, before Texas at Ohio State. He chose Brutus Buckeye, the same mascot head from his first pick in 1996.

Kirk Herbstreit gives some love to his dog, Peter, during ESPN’s College GameDay on location on the Quad at the University of Alabama before the Alabama versus Vanderbilt game. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

A full season has passed since. The replies suggest a lot of viewers have not adjusted.

Not every response was warm toward the network. One fan wrote that Corso deserved better than the way ESPN let him go and hoped to see him on this season.

Corso announced his retirement himself in April 2025. ESPN built a tribute show around him in Columbus, and Ohio State coach Ryan Day handed him a commemorative helmet on the set.

What fans said about Kirk Herbstreit and Lee Corso's friendship

The largest group of replies was aimed at Herbstreit, not Corso.

"Thanks for looking out for him the way you do. Says a lot about your character and heart," an account replied.

Another fan went further. "Someday, I hope you get to be the mentor to someone else that he was to you."

That reply lands closer to the truth than most. Corso helped Herbstreit through his nervous College GameDay audition in 1996. In his book Out of the Pocket, the former Ohio State quarterback described what came after.

Lee Corso was honored during the game between Florida State and Miami at Doak Campbell Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

"Best of all, he became my mentor, my friend, my second father," Herbstreit wrote.

Corso suffered a stroke in May 2009 and returned to the set that fall. For years, Herbstreit and the crew helped him with names and words on air.

One fan summed up why a single photo traveled this far. "Coach! This made my day, and I'm sure did the same for many. He looks great."

Herbstreit will be back with College GameDay on the road in a few weeks in Baton Rouge for LSU's game against Clemson. Corso will be in Orlando, still driving himself wherever he wants to go.