On November 13, 1993, a new television program emerged on the ESPN network. The first of its kind, the show was broadcasted live outside of the ESPN studio and on the road at various college towns. In a tail-gating like atmosphere, College GameDay began in South Bend, Indiana, with a monstrous matchup of college football powerhouse programs. The #2 ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs the #1 ranked Florida State University Seminoles. The show had been on ESPN since 1987, but this was the first time the show would be on the road. For the next 27 years, College Gameday would become a Saturday morning mainstay.
In the first installment of the road show Notre Dame would win the matchup 31-24 en route to an 11-1 season. Florida State would finish atop the national rankings at season end. The high profile matchup did not disappoint, and ESPN’s pre-game coverage on campus added to the intrigue and energy while also revealing ESPN was onto something big, conceptually.
In the 1994 season, College Gameday made four trips. On September 10, 1994 they returned to South Bend for a matchup with Notre Dame and the University of Michigan. They concluded the 1994 season with a trip to Birmingham, Alabama for the Iron Bowl with Auburn University and the University of Alabama. By now, people were hooked. Seven trips to campuses around the country to highlight and showcase the college game day atmosphere. Seven trips in two seasons was all it would take to set in motion one of the most successful sports programs in television history.
Beginning in 1995, ESPN College GameDay aired every Saturday morning of the NCAA Division I college football season. From the plains of the midwest, to the swamps of the southeast all the way to the moist air of the pacific northwest, College GameDay has aired all throughout the country, bringing three hours of unrivaled coverage of energy, passion, and love for the game on college campuses in all corners of the United States.
Up until 2019, with the addition of Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff no other major network carried any form of college football preview show, leaving College Gameday as the exclusive provider for college football coverage. Even without any competition, the show continued to be refined with a combination of analysis, feature stories, passionate debates, celebrity guest picks, and most of all, entertainment. All with thousands of fans just off set in an unrivaled atmosphere. The show drew the attention of millions. Just a few weeks ago the show had 1.8 million viewers over the final two hours while taping at The Masters in Augusta, Georgia. In total, College Gameday has won eight Sports Emmy Awards for Outstanding Studio Show, making it one of the best shows in sports television history.
The original cast consisted of Brad Nessler, Coach Lee Corso and Craig James. Even on the first show, Lee Corso started his tradition of picking who the winner would be by selecting some form of headwear. In the first rendition it was a hat, but would eventually become a mascot costume head. Lee Corso’s picks became one of the staples of the program and the image of him donning a mascot costume as the program ends has been synonymous with College Football for decades. As the fans of the home crowd either erupt in cheer or boos, Corso’s pick with the mascot has always created the passionate atmosphere college football is known for.
Lee Corso, Brad Nessler (eventually replaced by Reece Davis), and Kirk Herbstreit have been the backbone of the College Gameday program on stage. The current crew of Desmond Howard, David Pollack, Reece Davis, Kirk Herbstreit and Lee Corso have continued to be great keepers of the flame, the great product that keeps people coming back. A recent spotlight by ESPN reporter Tom Rinaldi showcased the many people behind the scenes who make College Gameday what it is on a weekly basis. Have a look at his short segment below.
The Ultimate Team Sport
The crew that has been covering the team sport of football weekly for 27 years demonstrates more about the power of a team than the sport itself at times. The coordination and organization of all the details behind the scenes leading up to the three hour show would be worth a documentary all in of itself. Within the last three weeks, the GameDay crew has been in Norman, Oklahoma, Tuscaloosa, Alabama and this Saturday the show will be making its first ever trip to Conway, South Carolina. At the conclusion of the show last Saturday, the crews loaded up the trucks, and began the voyage to the next stop on the journey. Everything from the touching segments of the show, the transportation of the equipment, the setting up of the stage, to the coordination of all of the other operations of this entertaining show is tirelessly crafted be a team of hundreds of workers to make the show the award winning production that it is. Everybody must know their part, everybody must sacrifice their own gain for the gain of the team. All functioning in unison to create a special experience. The College GameDay crew may be the best team in the sport.
Excellence Has A Price
To be a part of anything excellent will come with a cost. It’s not a mandate to be involved with excellent teams or productions. No one forces you into being involved with an excellent production or an excellent organization. Quite frankly, excellence is a choice that shouldn’t be taken lightly. Excellence requires a total commitment. It may require an abnormal lifestyle. It will shrink our hobbies and interests quickly. It will gobble up whitespace on the calendar and leave less “free time” than our neighbors. It will most certainly require leaving our comfort zones. But with most things with a high price tag, it comes with benefits. There is tremendous confidence gained in being a part of an excellent operation. There is something to be said for being associated with excellence in all forms, whether sports or a show about sports. The entire crew of College GameDay is a part of excellence.
Do Your Part
Our culture overvalues the spotlight. Whether through entertainment, music, sports or even basic social media platforms like Twitter or Instagram. We have really created a dangerous sensation. An obsession with whoever is in the spotlight of the camera. The reality is, you don’t have to be in the spotlight to live a purposeful and meaningful life journey. While some feel under-appreciated, unnoticed, and overlooked because of a lack of spotlight experiences, we don’t have to give in to that narrative. There is great confidence gained from doing an excellent job in pure anonymity. Attention and notoriety may give a quick dopamine hit to our brains and egos, but long term satisfaction comes with the quiet confidence of playing your part. If your role is to be the sound guy - be the sound guy. If your role is to drive the truck to the next town, drive the truck like no one has ever seen. If your role is to hang the lights and prepare the set, let the lights function to their fullest potential, because you hung them. You plugged them in. You did your part. That is a satisfaction that will last.
“And whatever you do, work at it with all your heart. Working for the Lord and not for men.”
- Colossians 3:23
Stay The Course,
JB