There’s No Doubt Pat McAfee Is A Worthy Replacement For Lee Corso’s Eventual Departure

I’ve seen enough — you can call it. ESPN’s College GameDay will be just fine with Pat McAfee after Lee Corso permanently leaves the show.

Don’t get me wrong, I am in no hurry for ESPN’s beloved coach to leave. In fact, I’ve written just the opposite in this space. I have just seen enough of the Pat McAfee iteration of the GameDay desk to accept the show will continue fine without Corso.

It is an unplanned and unfortunate set of circumstances that have led to Corso’s absence. The former college football head coach has been largely absent from the show since falling ill during a Clemson visit. According to his co-hosts, the 87-year-old TV icon has been undergoing testing and getting rest in his Orlando home but he has not been cracking jokes and donning headgear on college campuses.

The unfortunate timing has coincided with the return of former NFL punter Pat McAfee to the set. McAfee’s previous work with the GameDay crew has made him an easy fit. McAfee and the show’s main star, Kirk Herbstreit, have an especially good chemistry. It is Herbstreit that McAfee often finds himself jousting with based on their seats being next to one another on the desk. Of course, it is that seat that is normally occupied by Corso.

This is not an unimportant factor in the show’s future. Herbstreit is one of the most in demand analysts in any sport. He is a NetJets regular as the NFL’s newest feature analyst on Amazon’s Thursday night game, the Saturday morning ESPN College GameDay panelist and the ESPN/ABC primetime college football analyst on Saturday night. ESPN spends a considerable amount of resources to keep Herbstreit visible. In short, Herbstreit isn’t going anywhere.

He and McAfee not only have good chemistry, they have been seen traveling together on those private flights. We have seen that on well produced videos that capture Herbstreit’s weekly football travels. Those videos are well edited and  produced by Herbstreit’s son, Jake, who interned this past summer with Pat McAfee’s daily show.

But chemistry with Herbstreit isn’t all that’s required to replace Corso. Lee Corso is a legend and that is some seriously large mascot headgear someone will have to fill. It will require a big personality that is not afraid to make themselves the center of attention. McAfee certainly checks those boxes. He is loud, irreverent, not afraid to stir up the crowd and be funny.

There is, though, one critical thing the Lee Corso replacement will have to do. The entire show builds up to the two or three minutes in which the weekly guest picker, normally a personality with a tie to the home team, and Lee Corso make their pick for the game to be played at the location of the show. There is nobody alive that can replicate what Corso does — the headgear pick will retire with Corso — but McAfee has quickly found his footing in this aspect of the show.

It is hard to explain exactly what is the anchor of McAfee’s pick segment – the equivalent of Corso wearing a mascot head – but it is entertaining and works. He often incites the home crowd in a famous team cheer or fight song in an effort to get them involved. He has shown the ability to pull the bait and switch, make the home crowd think you are going with their team only to pull a heel turn and pick the visitor. The ability to do that is key in a show like College GameDay. By this time in the show, the crowd is always worked up to a fever pitch, making them an unwitting participant in a surprise pick is high entertainment.

When I was kid, a legendary baseball player would announce his retirement before the season started and he would get a victory tour. During his last visit to a road city, that team would honor him and give him a gift, often the hokey and overplayed rocking chair with a bow on it. You know, because he was an old retired man now.

Corso is, at very least, deserving of a victory tour. Fan bases in towns like Columbus, Baton Rouge, Tuscaloosa, Clemson, and Athens should be able to shower him with gifts and thank you signs. It would be fitting to know his final visit to an Army-Navy game was his last real College GameDay. It is always an emotional visit for Corso, a former Navy assistant coach, I can only imagine the emotions knowing it would be his final visit.

Whenever that is — and I hope it is a time of Corso’s choosing — I have seen enough. The show will go on and Pat McAffe will be the perfect replacement.

Ryan Brown

Ryan Brown is a columnist for Barrett Sports Media, and a co-host of the popular sports audio/video show ‘The Next Round’ formerly known as JOX Roundtable, which previously aired on WJOX in Birmingham. You can find him on Twitter @RyanBrownLive and follow his show @NextRoundLive.