Lee Corso gets real about life after retiring from ESPN's 'College GameDay'

"Not so fast, my friend."

The phrase was always a rejoinder from Lee Corso against conventional wisdom during his successful decades on College GameDay. The much-beloved ESPN analyst retired after the Week 1 CGD show at the age of 90, and has been enjoying the retired life for about three months. But a local news broadcaster who caught up with Corso found him once again going against conventional wisdom-- this time, against the idea that retirement is all sunshine and roses.

The unsuspecting broadcaster asked Corso what the season has been like, and the former coach and analyst then opened up on the retired life.

Corso Talks Retirement

Lousy. I hate it. I can't watch College GameDay. I just can't get used to it. I'm not working any more. I used to fly all over. It sucks.
Lee Corso

Corso's Broadcasting Career

Corso last coached in the ill-fated USFL in 1985. He was hired by ESPN in 1987 and began working on College GameDay. In Corso's early years, CGD wasn't the mass-produced extravaganza that it later became. It was basically a studio show with broadcasters discussing the weekend's biggest college football action.

But in 1993, the show went on the road to Notre Dame and a phenomenon was born. By 1995, the show had abandoned the studio set and went on the road every week. it was during the give and take with fans and celebrities, with the donning of his legendary mascot heads to pick the weekend's biggest game, that Corso became a broadcasting star.

Corso suffered a stroke in 2009 and the show welcomed him back and supported him through his retirement. But at age 90, surely Corso had seen and heard just about everything.

Corso's Coaching Career

Before his broadcasting days, Corso was a program-building coach. An effervescent presence even in his playing days at Florida State, Corso spent just over a decade as an assistant coach, coaching at Florida State, Maryland and Navy before obtaining a head coaching job.

As a head coach, Corso usually coached underdog teams with limited talent. Nevertheless, he built up both Indiana and Louisville's programs, leading each to top 25 seasons during his runs as head coach. Corso's career record of 73-85-6 is probably not an accurate testimony to his high reputation as something of a coaching Don Quixote, always searching for a bigger villain to battle.

Corso and Herb — Corso and broadcasting prodigy Kirk Herbstreit on the set of Corso's final College GameDay appearance. | Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images