The Indiana Hoosiers are college football national champions. It sounds crazy to say for a football program that has had so little success in its history. In fact, Indiana had won only three bowl games before its remarkable journey through the College Football Playoff this season. The first bowl win came with Lee Corso as head coach when the Hoosiers beat BYU in the Holiday Bowl during the 1979 season.
And after Indiana took down Miami 27-21 to win the CFP National Championship game on Monday night, ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit and Chris Fowler made sure to send a message to Corso, their longtime friend. Corso retired from a legendary broadcasting career in August, when ESPN and College GameDay put together a beautiful sendoff.
“Chris and I just want to shout out Lee Corso,” Herbstreit said postgame on Monday night’s ESPN broadcast. “I talked with him earlier today. He is completely dialed in and excited about what Indiana is doing. He was picking Indiana. He knew that they could pull this off and finish their season.”
Kirk Herbstreit and Chris Fowler with a shoutout for former Indiana coach Lee Corso after the Hoosiers win the CFP National Championship. 🏈🎙️🏆❤️ #CFP #NationalChampionship pic.twitter.com/mD22lzUYUa
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 20, 2026
“And he said, ‘Hey, don’t forget. 1979, our first bowl victory as a school. 1979, beat BYU,'” Herbstreit continued. “I said, ‘Coach, we’ll never forget that. We’ll never forget that.’ So, coach, if you’re out there, buddy, we love you. Congratulations to you, and all of the Hoosiers, and all of your former teammates and players.”
“Absolutely,” Fowler responded. “Love you, LC. He was fired by that school, but still loves Indiana. That says a lot about the man.”
“I asked him, ‘You still love (Indiana(?'” Herbstreit explained. “‘Absolutely. Pulling for Indiana.'”
Corso served as the Indiana head coach from 1973 through 1982.
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.