What will College GameDay look like next season? Sure, Pat McAfee will be there with his screaming proclamations and lively play calls. Kirk Herbstreit will also be there, giving us those invaluable deep insights. But one thing will be missing in those college game days from now on, and that will be the iconic head mascots donned by the legendary announcer Lee Corso.

The 89-year-old iconic announcer has now announced retirement from the broadcasting world, and college football isn’t the same now. Tributes have been pouring in from every major coach, player, and broadcaster for the 40-year-long stint the man had in the broadcasting world. In addition, Corso has received messages from Nick Saban’s daughter Kristen Saban and Pat McAfee.

Kristen Saban recently posted a story of the iconic clips of the announcer and wrote, “Enjoy your retirement.” The video shows Corso’s iconic prediction about Alabama’s win over the Georgia Bulldogs and the statement that also brewed a hell of a lot of controversy later on. The announcer predicted Bama’s win over the Dawgs in the 2008 season while donning Big Al’s headgear and proclaiming to a dog (signaling Georgia fans) sitting beside him, “That dog is ugly… that’s an ugly dog.” Bama won that game by 41-30 over the Dawgs, who were heavily favored in Athens to win that game. Then came McAfee’s tribute.

Pat McAfee shared a screenshot of Corso’s illustrious career stats. The legendary broadcaster has notched up over the past 4 decades; he has been the announcer and analyst. The screenshot originally posted by ESPN on their story reads: 430 headgear picks of all time, 286-144 all-time record of correct predictions, 69 different teams picked all time, a perfect season in 99 with an 11-0 record, and Ohio State being topped in Corso’s top picks of all time (45). McAfee then also provided the background of what ‘Coach Corso’ was like when he sat on the podium.

“Whenever you watch him at either the production meetings on Friday, or on these campuses moving about, he’s still got it, you know, still refuses assistance whenever you’re talking about steps and everything… It’s been a little different for Coach Corso than it was maybe 10 years ago, 20 years ago, 15 years ago, you name it, but he was an energy, just had an aura around him at all times.“

Corso has surely given us some of the most iconic moments to remember with his iconic headgear showings. And who could forget his signature line, “Not so fast, my friend?” Sure, his performance on the podium got affected after he suffered from a stroke in 2009 and was partially paralyzed because of it. Still, the announcer kept us entertained, too, in his late 80s. Not everyone can do that, right?

Corso’s final game day appearance announced

Corso, though, has announced retirement from the broadcasting world but still has one game in his tank to offer. The former Indiana and Louisville head coach will perform his iconic headgear move one last time in the first week of the college football GameDay in August. The announcer shared the message in a statement released by ESPN.

“My family and I will be forever indebted for the opportunity to be part of ESPN and College GameDay for nearly 40 years. I have a treasure of many friends, fond memories, and some unusual experiences to take with me into retirement.” Corso will turn 90 on August 7th and started his 4-decade stint with ESPN. The announcer’s game has still not been announced, but it is expected that the legend will announce it in the Alabama vs. Florida State game since the Seminoles are his alma mater.