Lee Corso was absent from ESPN’s College GameDay on Saturday due to an unspecified illness, according to host Rece Davis at the start of the broadcast.
Corso did not attend Saturday’s show at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kan., due to “doctor’s orders,” according to analyst Kirk Herbstreit. Corso missed last week’s broadcast at Clemson due to the same illness, according to Davis.
Davis stated, “Lee Corso is not with us this week.” “As those of you who follow us every week are aware, (Corso) didn’t feel well last week at Clemson. He’s feeling much better now, and I spoke with him yesterday. We still have another week to recover, but we hope to have ‘LC’ back in the chair with us soon.”
Analysts Desmond Howard, Pat McAfee, and David Pollack joined Davis and Herbstreit at the main desk for Saturday’s broadcast. Pollack “rotates in” after the opening segment to give Corso breaks throughout the three-hour show.
“I think it’s very strange for everybody watching, and those of us on the set, of course, not to have Lee here,” said Herbstreit, who has worked alongside Corso on “GameDay” over a period of 25 years. “But you (Davis) spoke with him, I had a chance to speak with him, I’m sure Desmond did as well, he does sound better.
But I think by doctor’s orders, he wasn’t expected to be able to travel this week. But the news is good with the tests he’s been receiving (that) next week he’ll be with us, wherever GameDay is, LC will be back here with us where he belongs.”
Corso, 87, has been a fixture on College GameDay since its inception in the early 1990s, and his on-set antics and show-ending “headgear” picks have made him an icon in the college football world. He had a stroke in 2009, but despite difficulty speaking at times, he has continued to work.
Corso did not travel with GameDay in 2020 due to COVID restrictions, instead appearing remotely from a specially constructed set at his Florida home. He also appeared remotely on the first 2022 episode of GameDay, which originated from the ESPN studios in Bristol, Conn., but has traveled with the show every week since.
Corso visited Clemson last week but did not appear on the show. He was “under the weather” at the time, according to ESPN.
Lee Corso woke up feeling under the weather, but is feeling much better now.
Thinking of you, Coach ❤️ pic.twitter.com/kc2mOxAVJU
— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) October 1, 2022
