ESPN shamefully makes Lee Corso fly Southwest for final 'College Gameday'

Lee Corso deserves better.

The 90-year-old "College GameDay" icon that made the most valuable non-live sports franchise for ESPN into the behemoth it is today will make his final appearance for the Texas Longhorns vs. Ohio State Buckeyes historic No. 1-No. 2 showdown.

Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit — Former Indiana coach Lee Corso picks the Ohio State Buckeyes for the win over his former Hoosiers on ESPN's College GameDay before a game in Bloomington, Ind., on August 31, 2017. | Barbara J. Perenic/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

So while the goodbyes have been heartfelt, especially from Kirk Herbstreit, 56, who owes a forever lifetime of gratitude for making him into the star he is today as the No. 1 college football analyst for ESPN (estimated to be $8 million annually), not to mention his lucrative gig for Amazon Prime's NFL "Thursday Night Football" (estimated to be about $10 annually), is alwasy living the high life, often sharing his travels around the country via a private jet with his beloved Golden Retrievers.

In a heartwarming video that has gone viral, Corso is seen sitting at the Southwest gate waiting for his flight to Columbus, Ohio presumably. A fan notices Corso and yells, "We love you coach!," and other passengers start clapping and cheering as well. It's a fantastic scene for the legendary broadcaster.

Southwest Airlines honored Lee Corso before he boarded for Columbus to do his final College GameDay.

pic.twitter.com/4ZBYgIMfQM
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) August 29, 2025

Maybe there's a reason that ESPN couldn't splurge on a private jet, or at the very least a first-class ticket for the man, the myth, the legend. But it's certainly a bad look. Heck, couldn't Herbstreit pay for a private jet to pick him up?

Herbstreit is making the rounds sharing the best Corso anecdotes to promote tomorrow's "GameDay," which will get a monster rating for the former head coach turned sports television star's swan song as Arch Manning and No. 1 ranked Texas visits the Horseshoe to take on reigning national champion No. 2 Ohio State.

On the latest episode of 'The Press Box' podcast, host @bryancurtis talks to ESPN's @KirkHerbstreit about @CollegeGameDay legend Coach Lee Corso ahead of his final headgear selection this weekend

Listen: https://t.co/wogoHucBXB pic.twitter.com/dOGGzb2sUS
— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) August 29, 2025

This is the first time in the history of college football that No. 1 has taken on No. 2 with both teams to open the season. The closest had been No. 2 Notre Dame taking on No. 1 Michigan in 1989 at The Big House, but that had been the Fighting Irish's second game.

Hopefully this will shame ESPN, or Herbstreit, to get Corso a better return flight home.

UPDATE: Apologies to the Southwest gate agent who was the one who gave an emotional speech about Lee Corso to the waiting passengers, with one of them filming it on his smartphone. And this is no knock on the airline known for its great customer service, as this gate agent demonstrated.

One use wrote, "Over probably the last 13 years, twice I’ve been on a SW flight with him and I was shocked that he was just like us hauling on that cattle call airline. He is such a kind man. Never asked for an auto, photo or whatever. Just said hi and would ask him some stupid question most likely.
But for his final game that man deserved a private jet, but knowing him he wanted to just be like everyone else and nothing special. He raised us all on Saturday morning as we stopped watching cartoons and he will be missed."

Over probably the last 13 years, twice I’ve been on a SW flight with him and I was shocked that he was just like us hauling on that cattle call airline. He is such a kind man. Never asked for an auto, photo or whatever. Just said hi and would ask him some stupid question most…
— Ewing23 (@d_goodspeed) August 29, 2025

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