Lee Corso
Encyclopedia
Leland "Lee" Corso is a sports broadcaster and football
analyst for ESPN. He has been featured on ESPN
's College GameDay program since its inception and he appeared annually as a commentator in EA Sports
' NCAA Football
through NCAA Football 11
. In the off season, Corso serves as Director of Business Development for Dixon Ticonderoga
, a Florida based pencil manufacturing company. Corso played college football
at Florida State University
. He served as the head football coach at the University of Louisville
(1969–1972), Indiana University (1973–1982), and Northern Illinois University
(1984), compiling a career college football record of 73–85–6. Corso was also the head coach of the United States Football League
's Orlando Renegades
in 1985.
, and attended Miami Jackson Senior High
where he played quarterback. He played college football at Florida State University
, where he was a roommate of football player and actor Burt Reynolds
and former University of Miami
baseball coach Ron Fraser
. As a defensive player, he set the school record for most career interceptions (14), a record that stood for more than two decades until it was broken by Monk Bonasorte
. He was also a member of the Alpha Tau Omega
fraternity
. Corso was the starting quarterback for the South in the 1956 Blue-Gray Game, though his squad lost to the Len Dawson
-led North team, 14–0. Corso was also an important baseball player for FSU.
in 1957 and a master's degree in administration and supervision in 1958, Corso became the quarterbacks coach at Maryland
under his former FSU coach Tommy Nugent. In 1962, Corso followed Nugent's guidance to recruit an academically and athletically qualified black player and convinced Darryl Hill to transfer from the Naval Academy
, making him the first African-American football player in the Atlantic Coast Conference
. In 1966, Lee took a job as the defensive backs coach at Navy. In 1969, he was given the head coaching position at Louisville
where he coached his ESPN colleague Tom Jackson
. After taking Louisville to only its second-ever bowl game in 1972, he was hired by Indiana
. Corso's record was 41–68–2 over his ten years at Indiana.
Corso was the 16th head college football
coach for the Northern Illinois University Huskies
. In his lone season as Northern Illinois's head coach, his record was 4–6–1.
After a brief stint at Northern Illinois, Corso made his professional football coaching debut for Orlando Renegades
of the USFL
in 1985. The team, as well as the league folded following the season.
, Chris Fowler
and Kirk Herbstreit
as they cover the major college football games from August until January. Corso's catchphrase, "Not so fast, my friend!", with pencil always in hand, is usually directed at Kirk Herbstreit, in disagreement with Herbstreit's predictions. Corso is also known for ending every weekly show with his mascot headgear prediction, when he chooses who he thinks will win the game at GameDays site by donning the headpiece of the school's mascot. Corso also says "sweetheart" to almost everyone.
Corso makes a brief cameo in a 2006 Nike
commercial featuring the fictional Briscoe High School football team, portrayed by football icons such as Michael Vick
, LaDainian Tomlinson
, Brian Urlacher
, Troy Polamalu
, by coaches Don Shula
, Jimmy Johnson
, and Urban Meyer
, and by fellow FSU great Deion Sanders
. Corso takes his hawk mascot head off while the game's deciding play unfolds in slow-motion.
Corso appeared annually in EA Sports
NCAA Football
titles along with Herbstreit and play-by-play man Brad Nessler
until NCAA Football 11 where he does not do play-by-play. The 2006 edition of the game begins with Corso making his mascot headgear prediction. If the team Corso chooses does not have a mascot, he wears the helmet instead like on College GameDay.
completely out of soybeans. Corso serves as honorary chairman of Coaches Curing Kids' Cancer, a charity that raises money for pediatric cancer research through youth sports teams. Corso was honored with the NCFAA's Contributions to College Football Award during the Home Depot College Football Awards show at the Atlantic Dance Hall at Walt Disney World on December 9, 2010 for his 57 year association with college football as a player, head coach and analyst.
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
analyst for ESPN. He has been featured on ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
's College GameDay program since its inception and he appeared annually as a commentator in EA Sports
EA Sports
EA Sports is a brand of Electronic Arts that creates and develops sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they tried to mimic real-life sports networks by calling themselves "EA Sports Network" with pictures or endorsements of real commentators such as John...
' NCAA Football
NCAA Football series
NCAA Football is a football video game series in which you play as any current Division I FBS college team. This game is developed by EA Sports. Because of NCAA rules, current college players are not permitted to be used as the cover athletes...
through NCAA Football 11
NCAA Football 11
NCAA Football 11 is a college football video game created by EA Sports and developed by EA Tiburon. It was released on July 13, 2010 for the PlayStation 2 PlayStation 3, Xbox 360...
. In the off season, Corso serves as Director of Business Development for Dixon Ticonderoga
Dixon Ticonderoga
The Dixon Ticonderoga Company is an office and art supplies maker from the USA, with headquarters in Heathrow, Florida, which offers a number of brands. One of the most well-known is Ticonderoga - the yellow No. 2 pencil, known for its distinctive green and yellow ferrule...
, a Florida based pencil manufacturing company. Corso played college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
at Florida State University
Florida State University
The Florida State University is a space-grant and sea-grant public university located in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a comprehensive doctoral research university with medical programs and significant research activity as determined by the Carnegie Foundation...
. He served as the head football coach at the University of Louisville
University of Louisville
The University of Louisville is a public university in Louisville, Kentucky. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of the first universities chartered west of the Allegheny Mountains. The university is mandated by the Kentucky General...
(1969–1972), Indiana University (1973–1982), and Northern Illinois University
Northern Illinois University
Northern Illinois University is a state university and research institution located in DeKalb, Illinois, with satellite centers in Hoffman Estates, Naperville, Rockford, and Oregon. It was originally founded as Northern Illinois State Normal School on May 22, 1895 by Illinois Governor John P...
(1984), compiling a career college football record of 73–85–6. Corso was also the head coach of the United States Football League
United States Football League
The United States Football League was an American football league which was in active operation from 1983 to 1987. It played a spring/summer schedule in its first three seasons and a traditional autumn/winter schedule was set to commence before league operations ceased.The USFL was conceived in...
's Orlando Renegades
Orlando Renegades
The Orlando Renegades were a professional American football team that played in the United States Football League in the mid-1980s.-In Washington:-1983 season:...
in 1985.
Early life and playing career
Corso was born in Miami, FloridaMiami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
, and attended Miami Jackson Senior High
Miami Jackson High School
Miami Jackson High School, also known as Andrew Jackson High School or Jackson High School, is a high school located at 1751 NW 36th St in the Allapattah neighborhood of Miami, Florida, United States. Its athletic team name is the Generals....
where he played quarterback. He played college football at Florida State University
Florida State Seminoles football
The Florida State Seminoles football team represents Florida State University in college football. The Florida State Seminoles compete in NCAA Division I-FBS and are members of the Atlantic Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference...
, where he was a roommate of football player and actor Burt Reynolds
Burt Reynolds
Burton Leon "Burt" Reynolds, Jr. is an American actor. Some of his memorable roles include Bo 'Bandit' Darville in Smokey and the Bandit, Lewis Medlock in Deliverance, Bobby "Gator" McCluskey in White Lightning and sequel Gator, Paul Crewe and Coach Nate Scarborough in The Longest Yard and its...
and former University of Miami
University of Miami
The University of Miami is a private, non-sectarian university founded in 1925 with its main campus in Coral Gables, Florida, a medical campus in Miami city proper at Civic Center, and an oceanographic research facility on Virginia Key., the university currently enrolls 15,629 students in 12...
baseball coach Ron Fraser
Ron Fraser
Ronald 'Ron' Fraser was the college baseball coach at the University of Miami from 1963 to 1992.Nicknamed the "Wizard of College Baseball," he was one of the most successful coaches in NCAA baseball history, and was also responsible for bringing college baseball to a new level of public awareness...
. As a defensive player, he set the school record for most career interceptions (14), a record that stood for more than two decades until it was broken by Monk Bonasorte
Monk Bonasorte
Francis Joseph "Monk" Bonasorte is a former All-American college football player for Florida State University who worked in various semi-pro sports leagues before returning to Florida State to head the school's Varsity Club....
. He was also a member of the Alpha Tau Omega
Alpha Tau Omega
Alpha Tau Omega is a secret American leadership and social fraternity.The Fraternity has more than 250 active and inactive chapters, more than 200,000 initiates, and over 7,000 active undergraduate members. The 200,000th member was initiated in early 2009...
fraternity
Fraternities and sororities
Fraternities and sororities are fraternal social organizations for undergraduate students. In Latin, the term refers mainly to such organizations at colleges and universities in the United States, although it is also applied to analogous European groups also known as corporations...
. Corso was the starting quarterback for the South in the 1956 Blue-Gray Game, though his squad lost to the Len Dawson
Len Dawson
Leonard Ray "Len" "Lenny" Dawson is a former American collegiate and Professional Football quarterback who attended Purdue University and went on to play for three professional teams, most notably the Dallas Texans/Kansas City Chiefs...
-led North team, 14–0. Corso was also an important baseball player for FSU.
Coaching career
Upon graduating from Florida State with a bachelor's degree in physical educationPhysical education
Physical education or gymnastics is a course taken during primary and secondary education that encourages psychomotor learning in a play or movement exploration setting....
in 1957 and a master's degree in administration and supervision in 1958, Corso became the quarterbacks coach at Maryland
Maryland Terrapins football
The Maryland Terrapins football team represents the University of Maryland in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Football Bowl Subdivision competition. The Terrapins compete within the Atlantic Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference...
under his former FSU coach Tommy Nugent. In 1962, Corso followed Nugent's guidance to recruit an academically and athletically qualified black player and convinced Darryl Hill to transfer from the Naval Academy
Naval Academy
-Institutions:* The United States Naval Academy* The Indian Naval Academy of India* The Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy of Bulgaria* The Imperial Japanese Naval Academy* The École Navale of France* The Britannia Royal Naval College of the United Kingdom...
, making him the first African-American football player in the Atlantic Coast Conference
Atlantic Coast Conference
The Atlantic Coast Conference is a collegiate athletic league in the United States. Founded in 1953 in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC sanctions competition in twenty-five sports in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association for its twelve member universities...
. In 1966, Lee took a job as the defensive backs coach at Navy. In 1969, he was given the head coaching position at Louisville
Louisville Cardinals football
The Louisville Cardinals football team represents the University of Louisville in college football as a member of the Big East Conference. Howard Schnellenberger started the program's rise to relevancy after winning the Miami Hurricanes' first national championship...
where he coached his ESPN colleague Tom Jackson
Tom Jackson (American football)
Thomas Louie "Tom" Jackson, also referred to as "TJ" or "Tommy", is an NFL analyst for ESPN and a former Pro Bowl linebacker for the Denver Broncos.-College:...
. After taking Louisville to only its second-ever bowl game in 1972, he was hired by Indiana
Indiana Hoosiers football
The Indiana Hoosiers football program represents Indiana University Bloomington in NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision college football and in the Big Ten Conference.-Bowl games:...
. Corso's record was 41–68–2 over his ten years at Indiana.
Corso was the 16th head college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
coach for the Northern Illinois University Huskies
Northern Illinois University
Northern Illinois University is a state university and research institution located in DeKalb, Illinois, with satellite centers in Hoffman Estates, Naperville, Rockford, and Oregon. It was originally founded as Northern Illinois State Normal School on May 22, 1895 by Illinois Governor John P...
. In his lone season as Northern Illinois's head coach, his record was 4–6–1.
After a brief stint at Northern Illinois, Corso made his professional football coaching debut for Orlando Renegades
Orlando Renegades
The Orlando Renegades were a professional American football team that played in the United States Football League in the mid-1980s.-In Washington:-1983 season:...
of the USFL
United States Football League
The United States Football League was an American football league which was in active operation from 1983 to 1987. It played a spring/summer schedule in its first three seasons and a traditional autumn/winter schedule was set to commence before league operations ceased.The USFL was conceived in...
in 1985. The team, as well as the league folded following the season.
Broadcasting career
In 1987, Lee was hired by ESPN as an analyst for the College GameDay program. He often plays the role of comic foil to co-hosts Desmond HowardDesmond Howard
Desmond Kevin Howard is a former NFL wide receiver, punt returner, and kickoff returner.He played football for the University of Michigan from 1989–1991 and won the Heisman Trophy in 1991...
, Chris Fowler
Chris Fowler
Chris Fowler is a sports broadcaster for ESPN known best for his work on College GameDay for college football. Since 1989, Fowler has been the primary studio host for college football. Until 2006, he was also the lead studio host for men's college basketball on ESPN...
and Kirk Herbstreit
Kirk Herbstreit
Kirk Herbstreit is an Emmy Award-winning analyst for ESPN's College GameDay, a television program covering college football and a provider of color commentary during college football games on ESPN and ABC. He appears annually as a commentator in EA Sports' NCAA Football. He was a quarterback on...
as they cover the major college football games from August until January. Corso's catchphrase, "Not so fast, my friend!", with pencil always in hand, is usually directed at Kirk Herbstreit, in disagreement with Herbstreit's predictions. Corso is also known for ending every weekly show with his mascot headgear prediction, when he chooses who he thinks will win the game at GameDays site by donning the headpiece of the school's mascot. Corso also says "sweetheart" to almost everyone.
Corso makes a brief cameo in a 2006 Nike
Nike, Inc.
Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...
commercial featuring the fictional Briscoe High School football team, portrayed by football icons such as Michael Vick
Michael Vick
Michael Dwayne Vick is an American football quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League...
, LaDainian Tomlinson
LaDainian Tomlinson
LaDainian Tramayne Tomlinson is an American football running back for the New York Jets of the National Football League. He was drafted by the San Diego Chargers fifth overall in the 2001 NFL Draft. He played college football at Texas Christian.Tomlinson, often referred to by his initials, L...
, Brian Urlacher
Brian Urlacher
Brian Keith Urlacher is an American football player for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League . He attended the University of New Mexico, where he was one of the school's most decorated athletes. In addition to setting multiple university records, Urlacher earned consideration for the...
, Troy Polamalu
Troy Polamalu
Troy Aumua Polamalu is an American football strong safety for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League. He was drafted in the first round of the 2003 NFL Draft by the Steelers. He played college football at the University of Southern California.-High school:Troy Polamalu graduated...
, by coaches Don Shula
Don Shula
Donald Francis "Don" Shula is a former American football cornerback and coach.He is best known as coach of the Miami Dolphins, the team he led to two Super Bowl victories, and to the National Football League's only perfect season. Shula was named 1993 Sportsman of the Year by Sports Illustrated....
, Jimmy Johnson
Jimmy Johnson (American football coach)
James William "Jimmy" Johnson is an American former NCAA and National Football League head coach. As of 2010, he is currently an analyst for Fox NFL Sunday, the Fox network's NFL pregame show. He was the first football coach whose teams won both an NCAA Division 1A National Championship and a...
, and Urban Meyer
Urban Meyer
Urban Frank Meyer, III is an American football coach and former player. He is head football coach at Ohio State University, having been hired for the position in November 2011...
, and by fellow FSU great Deion Sanders
Deion Sanders
Deion Luwynn Sanders , nicknamed "Prime Time" and "Neon Deion", is a former National Football League cornerback and Major League Baseball outfielder who currently works as an NFL Network analyst...
. Corso takes his hawk mascot head off while the game's deciding play unfolds in slow-motion.
Corso appeared annually in EA Sports
EA Sports
EA Sports is a brand of Electronic Arts that creates and develops sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they tried to mimic real-life sports networks by calling themselves "EA Sports Network" with pictures or endorsements of real commentators such as John...
NCAA Football
NCAA Football series
NCAA Football is a football video game series in which you play as any current Division I FBS college team. This game is developed by EA Sports. Because of NCAA rules, current college players are not permitted to be used as the cover athletes...
titles along with Herbstreit and play-by-play man Brad Nessler
Brad Nessler
Bradley "Brad" Nessler is an American sportscaster, who currently calls college basketball and college football games for ESPN with occasional appearances on ESPN on ABC. He will also call Thursday Night Football on NFL Network beginning in 2011, and appears annually as a commentator in EA Sports'...
until NCAA Football 11 where he does not do play-by-play. The 2006 edition of the game begins with Corso making his mascot headgear prediction. If the team Corso chooses does not have a mascot, he wears the helmet instead like on College GameDay.
Other work and charity
In 2001, Corso spearheaded an effort to create a crayonCrayon
A crayon is a stick of colored wax, charcoal, chalk, or other materials used for writing, coloring, drawing, and other methods of illustration. A crayon made of oiled chalk is called an oil pastel; when made of pigment with a dry binder, it is simply a pastel; both are popular media for color...
completely out of soybeans. Corso serves as honorary chairman of Coaches Curing Kids' Cancer, a charity that raises money for pediatric cancer research through youth sports teams. Corso was honored with the NCFAA's Contributions to College Football Award during the Home Depot College Football Awards show at the Atlantic Dance Hall at Walt Disney World on December 9, 2010 for his 57 year association with college football as a player, head coach and analyst.