News/Commentary

Lee Corso to make final GameDay appearance this Saturday; will receive AFCA recognition award in January.

August 26, 2025 by AFCA.com, CFPoll.com staff

Not so fast, my friend. Lee Corso has one last piece of headgear to pick. He will do Saturday in Columbus when the inimitable King of ESPN's College GameDay will be on the set before the Texas-Ohio State showdown of schools that are ranked 1 (Texas) and 2 in the Coaches' Poll. His infamous head gear picks have gone 286-144 since the first one in 1996 when he donned Brutus before a 38-7 win over Penn State.

Among the many memorable moments are the time hi car struck by lightning after picking Georgia Tech to beat Virginia Tech in Blacksburg at the start of Michael Vick's second season as QB of the Hokies. The game never got played and Corso hitched a ride to the Roanoke airport with some Virginia Tech students.

Corso just turned 90 on August 7.

It has been argued that Corso on GameDay was as much responsible as Michael Vick and Frank Beamer for turning Virginia Tech into an unlikely national powerhouse over a dozen years or so from 1995-2011 when the team won 10 or more games in 13 of 17 seasons. A later game vs Georgia Tech in 2005 set the first big record of 33,266 fans who attended the show inside the stadium hours before kick-off. No ticket was necessary, but you had to leave after the show and come back for the game - if you had a ticket. One can imaigine the tailgating scene before and after.


Hokies fans show their spirit during the broadcast of ESPN College GameDay on September 1, 2007. Corso and the crew returned to Blacksburg to commemorate the first football game since the April mass shooting earlier that year that claimed the lives of 32 students and faculty members. Fans also showed their appreciation with numerous signs thanking other universities for their support. CollegeFootballPoll.com's Dave Congrove and family were there with above photo taken by oldest son, Matthew.

The former Louisville and Indiana head coach will receive the AFCA's 2026 Amos Alonzo Stagg Award during the 2026 AFCA Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina on January 11.  The award honors those "whose services have been outstanding in the advancement of the best interests in football.”

One of the most recognized faces in college football, Corso began his career at ESPN in 1987 as a contributor before joining as a full-time analyst in 1989 on the College GameDay set.

Corso joined ESPN after 28 years as a college and professional coach. He began his coaching career in 1958 as a graduate assistant at Florida State after his playing days were over. Corso earned four varsity letters in both football and baseball for the Seminoles and earned the nickname “Sunshine Scooter” for his speed on the football field. He held the FSU school record for career interceptions with 14 for almost 20 years. 

Corso earned his first full-time coaching job as the quarterbacks coach at Maryland in 1959. After seven seasons at Maryland, Corso was the defensive backs coach at Navy from 1966-68 before being named head coach at Louisville in 1969. In his four seasons, Corso led the Cardinals to 28 victories, two Missouri Valley Conference titles and the program’s first bowl game appearance since 1958. In 1973, Corso became the head coach at Indiana and guided the Hoosiers to their first bowl victory in 75 years with a win over BYU in the 1979 Holiday Bowl. He would stay at Indiana for 10 seasons before taking the Northern Illinois head coaching job in 1984. Corso was the head coach of the Orlando Renegades of the United States Football League in 1985 before the league suspended operations in 1986.

Corso is a member of the Florida State, Louisville, and Indiana athletic Halls of Fame, along with the Florida Sports and Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame. In 2010, the National College Football Awards Association honored him with the Contributions to College Football Award. Corso is a Life Member of the AFCA, having been a member for 65 years.

The Award

The Amos Alonzo Stagg Award is given to the “individual, group or institution whose services have been outstanding in the advancement of the best interests of football.” Its purpose is “to perpetuate the example and influence of Amos Alonzo Stagg.” The award is named in honor of a man who was instrumental in founding the AFCA in the 1920s. He is considered one of the great innovators and motivating forces in the early development of the game of football. The plaque given to each recipient is a replica of the one given to Stagg at the 1939 AFCA Convention in tribute to his 50 years of service to football.

Amos Alonzo Stagg

Amos Alonzo Stagg began his coaching career at the School of Christian Workers, now Springfield (Mass.) College, after graduating from Yale University in 1888. Stagg also served as head coach at Chicago (1892-1932) and College of the Pacific (1933-1946). His 41 seasons at Chicago is one of the longest head coaching tenures in the history of the college game.

Among the innovations credited to Stagg are the tackling dummy, the huddle, the reverse play, man in motion, knit pants, numbering plays and players, and the awarding of letters. A long-time AFCA member, Stagg was the Association’s 1943 Coach of the Year. According to NCAA records, Stagg’s 57-year record as a college head coach is 314-199-35. He was 84 years old when he ended his coaching career at Pacific in 1946. He died in 1965 at the age of 103.

Past Amos Alonzo Stagg Award Winners:

1940     Donald Herring, Jr., (Princeton player) and family
1941     William H. Cowell (posthumously), New Hampshire
1946     Grantland Rice, sportswriter
1947     William A. Alexander, Georgia Tech 
1948     1) Gilmour Dobie, North Dakota State, Washington, Navy, Cornell, Boston College 
2) Glenn S. “Pop” Warner, Georgia, Cornell, Carlisle, Pittsburgh, Stanford, Temple 
3) Robert C. Zuppke, Illinois 
1949     Richard C. Harlow, Penn State, Colgate, Western Maryland, Harvard 
1950     No award given 
1951     DeOrmond “Tuss” McLaughry, Westminster, Amherst, Brown, Dartmouth 
1952     A.N. “Bo” McMillin, Indiana 
1953     Lou Little, Georgetown, Columbia
1954     Dana X. Bible, Mississippi College, LSU, Texas A&M, Nebraska, Texas
1955     Joseph J. Tomlin, founder, Pop Warner Football
1956     No award given
1957     Gen. Robert R. Neyland, Tennessee
1958     Bernie Bierman, Mississippi A&M, Tulane, Minnesota
1959     Dr. John W. Wilce, Ohio State
1960     Harvey J. Harman, Haverford, University of the South, Pennsylvania, Rutgers
1961     Ray Eliot, Illinois
1962     E.E. “Tad” Wieman, Michigan, Princeton, Maine
1963     Andrew Kerr, Stanford, Washington & Jefferson, Colgate, Lebanon Valley
1964     Don Faurot, Missouri
1965     Harry Stuhldreher, Wisconsin
1966     Bernie H. Moore, LSU
1967     Jess Neely, Southwestern, Clemson, Rice
1968     Abe Martin, TCU
1969     Charles A. “Rip” Engle, Brown, Penn State
1970     Lynn “Pappy” Waldorf, Syracuse, Oklahoma City, Kansas, Oklahoma A&M, Kansas State, Northwestern, California
1971     Bill Murray, Delaware, Duke
1972     Jack Curtice, Stanford
1973     Lloyd Jordan, Amherst, Harvard
1974     Alonzo S. “Jake” Gaither, Florida A&M
1975     Gerald B. Zornow, business executive
1976     No award given
1977     Floyd “Ben” Schwartzwalder, Muhlenberg, Syracuse
1978     Tom Hamilton, Navy, Pittsburgh
1979     H.O. “Fritz” Crisler, Minnesota, Princeton, Michigan
1980     No award given
1981     Fred Russell, sportswriter
1982     Eddie Robinson, Grambling
1983     Paul W. “Bear” Bryant, Maryland, Kentucky, Texas A&M, Alabama
1984     Charles B. “Bud” Wilkinson, Oklahoma
1985     Duffy Daugherty, Michigan State
1986     Woody Hayes, Denison, Miami (Ohio), Ohio State
1987     Field Scovell, Cotton Bowl
1988     G. Herbert McCracken, Allegheny, Lafayette
1989     David Nelson, Delaware
1990     Len Casanova, Oregon
1991     Bob Blackman, Denver, Dartmouth, Illinois, Cornell
1992     Charles McClendon, LSU
1993     Keith Jackson, ABC-TV
1994     Bob Devaney, Nebraska, Wyoming
1995     John Merritt, Jackson State, Tennessee State
1996     Chuck Neinas, College Football Association
1997     Ara Parseghian, Miami (Ohio), Northwestern, Notre Dame
1998     Bob Reade, Augustana (Ill.)
1999     Bo Schembechler, Miami (Ohio), Michigan
2000     Tom Osborne, Nebraska
2001     Vince Dooley, Georgia
2002     Joe Paterno, Penn State
2003     LaVell Edwards, Brigham Young
2004     Ron Schipper, Central (Iowa)
2005     Hayden Fry, North Texas, SMU, Iowa
2006     Grant Teaff, McMurry, Angelo State, Baylor
2007     Bill Curry, Georgia Tech, Alabama, Kentucky
2008     Bill Walsh, San Francisco 49ers, Stanford
2009     John Gagliardi, Carroll (Mont.), St. John’s (Minn.)
2010     Darrell Royal, Mississippi State, Washington, Texas
2011     Bobby Bowden, Samford, West Virginia, Florida State
2012     Fisher DeBerry, Air Force
2013     Frosty Westering, Parsons, Lea College, Pacific Lutheran
2014     R.C. Slocum, Texas A&M
2015     Ken Hatfield, Air Force, Arkansas, Clemson, Rice
2016     John Cooper, Tulsa, Arizona State, Ohio State
2017     Don Nehlen, Bowling Green, West Virginia
2018     Frank Broyles, Missouri, Arkansas
2019     Marv Levy, Buffalo Bills
2020     Dick Tomey, Arizona, Hawaii, San Jose State
2022     Mel Tjeerdsma, Austin College, Northwest Missouri State
2023     Roy Kidd, Eastern Kentucky
2024     Larry Kehres, Mount Union
2025     Bob Ford, St. Lawrence, Albany
2026     Lee Corso, Indiana, Louisville, Orlando Renegades (USFL), ESPN