Football broadcasting giant Lee Corso has been involved in the college game since his playing days in the 1950s. After a coaching career that took him to five different schools over 26 years, Corso hung up the whistle and picked up the microphone in 1987 — and that’s where the coach became a legend.
In the fall, it feels like his College Gameday colleagues on ESPN — including Rece Davis, Kirk Herbstriet, Pat McAfee and Nick Saban — are his family. But he’s had his wife, Betsy Youngblood, by his side since they married in 1957.
Together, they have four children — daughter Diane, sons Dan and Steve, and one other son who prefers to stay out of the spotlight. They also have 10 grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
As Corso heads into retirement to spend time with his off camera family, keep scrolling to meet those who know the College Gameday staple best.
Betsy Youngblood
Corso and Youngblood met while the two were registering for classes as students at Florida State University, where Corso played quarterback. Though Youngblood lives a mostly private life, Corso has no problem shouting her out on the air. When the ESPYs honored him in 2025 ahead of his retirement, Corso included in his speech, “My wife, Betsy, and I have been married for 69 years, and I just wanted to thank her for loving me through it all.”
That not only includes a long coaching and broadcast career, but health challenges like the stroke he endured in 2009 that left him with partial paralysis and resulted in a three-day stay in the ICU. Youngblood is the one who found him and rushed him to the hospital, then stayed by his side through his lengthy recovery.
Dan Corso
Dan Corso Photo by CFP/Getty Images
Lee’s son Dan is president of the Atlanta Sports Council, which works to “facilitate the development of sports in Metro Atlanta,” according to its website.
When ESPN announced that Lee’s final College Gameday on August 30, 2025, would be at Ohio State, he publicly expressed his dismay. His dad’s alma mater is hosting Alabama that same day, and sending Gameday to Tallahassee, he believes, would have been a fitting tribute to the beloved broadcaster.
“As a family of Seminoles, yes, it was disappointing,” he told the Tallahassee Democrat in June 2025. “At the same time, it will be fun to watch his last Gameday and headgear in Columbus.”
Gregory Shamus/Getty Images For Philadelphia Eagles coach Nick Sirianni, football is a family affair. The youngest of three sons, Sirianni grew up in Jamestown, New York, and was coached by his father, Fran Sirianni, while playing football in high school. He went on to play college ball at the University of Mount Union in Ohio, […]
Diane Corso
Diane and Lee Corso Courtesy of Diane Corso/Instagram
Lee and Betsy’s only daughter works as an expert and advocate for those fighting eating disorders. Her book, The Uncomfortable Truth, details her own journey in combating what she calls her “destructive habits” as she remains determined to “not let it control” her, according to the book’s synopsis.
Diane lives in Orlando with her three sons. With Lee nearby, he frequently pops up on Diane’s Instagram in pictures with his grandkids.
Steve Corso
Steve is now an executive at Revelohealth, but in college, he played for his dad at the University of Indiana. Lee choked up on air recalling one of his favorite memories as a head coach — a thrilling win in the final seconds of a game against Kentucky in 1980.
Lee described the final play in vivid detail during a 2017 episode of College Gameday at Indiana, choking up when he revealed the player who caught the winning touchdown was “my son Steve.”
