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College football fans will always view Lee Corso as the legend that he is.
After spending 15 seasons as a head coach at Louisville, Indiana, and Northern Illinois, he eventually pivoted to broadcasting before establishing himself as one of the most entertaining parts of College GameDay; there’s nothing like tuning in on a Saturday and watching Corso throw on the head of the mascot of the team he thinks will win that week’s biggest game.
He may be getting up there in years (to the point where people have repeatedly jumped the gun on his death), and while he’s obviously still impacted by the stroke he suffered in 2009, it’s still an absolute treat to tune in to see him do what he does best (the fact that the respect everyone he works with has for him basically radiates through the screen only makes it better).
Corso is usually a pretty happy-go-lucky guy, but that was certainly not the case with a radio interview he conducted back in 2005, which may be the only time I can recall Coach losing his cool on the air.
Lee Corso was not happy about being asked if he’s ever posed for a nude photo during an interview
There’s a solid chance you’re wondering why anyone would ask Lee Corso if he’s ever been the subject of a naked photo in the first place, but the question didn’t come totally out of left field.
To give you a little bit of context, Corso was actually roommates with legendary actor Burt Reynolds when they were both attending Florida State University back in the day (the duo sits alongside Jim Nantz and Fred Couples and Al Gore and Tommy Lee Jones on the relatively short list of “Famous People Who Were College Roommates And Ended Up Extremely Succesful In Different Fields”).
In the 1970s, Reynolds opted to branch out a bit by agreeing to appear in a somewhat infamous photoshoot for Cosmopolitan magazine where he posed in his birthday suit while lying atop a bearskin rug, which should be all of the information you need to understand why the question was floated in the first place.
Back in February 2005, Corso joined Dallas sports radio hosts Bob Sturm and Dan McDowell on their show The Ticket.
What started as a fairly innocent conversation about the coach, college football, and other pretty standard topics took a turn when Corso recounted the story of Reynolds posing for Cosmo, which led to McDowell making a joke about Corso doing the same (you can listen to the segment in question here).
Corso: He was the first guy basically to post nude in Cosmopolitan, and one thing led to another… and he became the leading movie star in the world.”
McDowell: And not a lot of people know this, but Lee Corso was actually the second person to pose nude, correct?
It’s not exactly the funniest joke in the world, but it was clearly a light-hearted comment that probably got a light chuckle from 99.9% of the people who heard it.
Corso, on the other hand, was apparently in the .01%, as he was dead silent.
McDowell (who was seemingly embarrassed by the lack of response) tried to rectify the situation by saying, “Or did I read that wrong?,” which sparked a very stern rebuke from the man who appeared to feel the joke was made at his expense, as he said:
“I won’t even give you—next question. I think that was very sarcastic and I don’t appreciate it. And I’m not kidding…
Why would you say that? It’s not funny at all. The people out there that don’t know me would say, ‘What kind of jerk is this guy?'”
McDowell tried to argue most people listening in the first place would be familiar with his sense of humor, but Corso wasn’t buying it, as he retorted, “They probably think you’re a jerk. You are a jerk.”
I honestly love that move from Corso. Do I think he was necessarily in the right? No, but when you’re arguing with someone, it’s very hard to come back from being called a “jerk.” Sure, the person that deploys it is usually admitting they’ve lost, but I can’t help but respect it.
McDowell continued to push back but Corso only doubled down on his stance while ripping him for “[taking] a shot at me because you inferred the fact that I posed naked…That’s against what I would do.” While his co-host attempted to steer the conversation back on track, it was clear Corso (who stated “I don’t appreciate people taking shots and joking at my expense”) was officially over it.
It didn’t take long for the interview to wrap up after that point, and it ended with Corso dropping an incredibly petty “Thank you very much. My pleasure” before hanging up.
As a big Corso Guy, I have to say this wasn’t the best look for Lee. At that point, he was already an incredibly beloved figure, and it’s hard to imagine anyone would’ve had a change of heart even if we learned he had, in fact, followed in the footsteps of his former roommate (which he certainly did not).
Based on his reputation, I’d assume he’d always be game to joke around a little bit; his reaction to an innocuous comment was so over the top that it almost feel like Lee was committing to a bit he forgot to end.
I’m a fan of Corso and always will be. I love what he does for my Saturday mornings, and even though it seems like he might have the worst sense of humor in the world, I stand by my man and will always enjoy moments like this.