If you are a college football fan, you know the name Lee Corso. You probably don’t know him because of his 25-year college coaching career or his outstanding accomplishments as a player at Florida State. You likely know him as an analyst and on-air personality on ESPN’s College GameDay. He appeared on the show for 38 years and became known for his humor and game day predictions.

Each week, GameDay fans eagerly waited for Corso to don the mascot headgear of his pick for the game of the week. He entertained fans and kept the rest of the GameDay crew on their toes with his famous catchphrase, “Not so fast, my friend.”  While the other GameDay hosts were deep in the weeds debating game strategy, Corso would jump in with his humor and wit to bring some levity and entertainment. Many credit him with the show’s enormous popularity. He became a beloved figure in college sports and was honored with a moving tribute on his final GameDay appearance on August 30, 2025. He was an entertainer right up to the very end, putting on Ohio State’s Brutus the Buckeye head as he had done almost 30 years ago.

I knew about Lee Corso long before he sat next to Kirk Herbstreit on the ESPN set. I was 10 years old when Corso started coaching at Indiana in 1973. Corso coached the Indiana Hoosiers for 10 seasons. We Hoosiers liked to pretend that Indiana didn’t have a football team during this period. Corso won a total of three games in his first two seasons. It wasn’t much better for the remaining eight seasons. In contrast, under Bobby Knight’s chair throwing reign at Indiana, the Hoosier basketball team won two national championships during this same period.

Bobby Knight had a 74% winning percentage at Indiana and won three national championships. He is one of the most successful coaches in NCAA history. Lee Corso had a 38% career winning percentage at Indiana and never came close to winning a national title. When you combine his coaching career at Indiana, Louisville, and Northern Illinois, he had a dismal 46% winning percentage.

Knight’s legacy is complicated. He was a basketball genius. He knew how to win, and he won a lot. He also understood the importance of academics. The graduation rate for his players was far higher than other major college basketball programs. But that was not his entire story. He kicked, headbutted, and even choked players. He will always be remembered for throwing a chair across the floor during a game against rival Purdue University. So, while Knight will be remembered as a great coach, his legacy will always be tainted by his bad behavior.

Compare this to Lee Corso. Sure, his coaching career was average at best. But he found his gift and passion later in life. Coaching created the opportunity for him to do what he loved—entertain and inspire people. While his game stats as a coach might not reflect success, by every other measure, he was a winner. 

Corso considered himself to be not only an entertainer, but also a mentor and teacher. He never missed an opportunity to share a bit of wisdom. When he gave the commencement address at Florida State in 2012, he said to the graduates, “But how do you treat the secretary, the guy who parks your car, or the little lady that pours water into the plants? How do you treat those people? That’s the true test of character.” 

If you want to know what kind of man Lee Corso was, ask his broadcast partner Kirk Herbstreit. Herbstreit joined the GameDay cast with Corso and Chris Fowler in 1996. Herbstreit was a scared, young 25-year-old former Ohio State quarterback with little to no broadcasting experience. Corso took Herbstreit under his wing and mentored him throughout their on-air partnership. In paying tribute to Corso, Herbstreit said, “It’s been an incredible honor and a privilege to be with you, to be your partner for all these years. There will never be another Lee Corso. Thank you for everything you’ve done for me, for this show, for this sport. You’re one of one.” In an earlier interview before Corso’s retirement, Herbstreit said this about Corso, “From the very first day I met him in my audition when I was terrified at 25 years old until right now, he makes everybody feel special. His eyes, his words. He cares. He could have a broken arm, or in his case he’s been dealing with a lot of health issues, he’s always positive. He’s always upbeat. He’s always a guy who is grateful for what he has. Watching him be that way has made me that way.”

As I watched the GameDay tribute on August 30, I couldn’t help but think about my own legacy. What will I be remembered for? Or a better question might be what do I want to be remembered for? Thinking about your legacy is a good opportunity to check in with yourself and think about what is important to you. How are you living your life? What are your values? What impact do you want to have on the world? Are you living a life that reflects those things? Management consultant Peter Drucker offers a good rule of thumb. He says, “Tell me what you value and I might believe you, but show me your calendar and your bank statement, and I’ll show you what you really value.” 

Legacy doesn’t have to be limited to just one thing. Corso will be remembered as a mentor, a teacher, an entertainer, an influencer, a loyal friend, and a dedicated father and husband to name a few. He will not be remembered as a great coach. But I would venture to say that he will happily take the wins in the other columns of life over the win/loss game percentage. Bobby Knight leaves a much different legacy. He will be remembered for his wins and national championships. I suspect that Knight, like Corso, was okay with that legacy. That is the thing about legacies. They are unique to each individual. Corso’s legacy is not necessarily better than Knight’s. It is just different. 

As lawyers, we have so many opportunities for legacy. You might want to be like Bobby Knight and focus on how many cases you win or how many recognitions and awards you receive for your work. Or maybe you want to be remembered like Corso as a mentor, loyal friend, or dedicated parent or spouse. You might want to be remembered for representing survivors of domestic violence, immigrants and refugees seeking safety, people with disabilities, veterans in need of benefits, elderly individuals facing abuse or exploitation, prisoners seeking justice, homeless individuals struggling for shelter, or low-income families working to keep a roof over their heads.

Only you know what is important to you. It is easy to be influenced by what others think you should prioritize in your life. Family members, friends, and colleagues all may have opinions about what your legacy should be. It can be difficult to drown out the noise of other people’s expectations. And it can be hard to know what you want your legacy to be. I suspect that most people have never stopped and thought deeply about this question.

Rabbi Steve Leder’s book For You When I Am Gone offers 12 questions that are designed to help a person write what Leder calls an “ethical will.” This is a document that you leave to your loved ones that offers your ideals, wisdom, values and blessings. It is a document that shares the essence of who you are and what you have learned in life. These same 12 questions can help you figure out what you want your legacy to be. Here are the questions:

1. What do you regret?
   
2. When was a time you led with your heart?
   
3. What makes you happy?
   
4. What was your biggest failure?
   
5. What got you through your greatest challenge?
   
6. What is a good person?
   
7. What is love?
   
8. Have you ever cut someone out of your life?
   
9. How do you want to be remembered?
   
10. What is good advice?
    
11. What will your epitaph say?
    
12. What would be your final blessing that you would give to your loved ones? 

I did this exercise and found it quite helpful. I discovered that my values and desires relate more to relationships than accomplishments. I learned that the things I want for myself, like peace and health, are the things that I want for the people I love. It showed me that I value authenticity more than affirmation. And while I want to be remembered as a kind and compassionate person, I had the epiphany that I want my epitaph to read “World’s Greatest Fisherman.” 

Ultimately, the legacies of Lee Corso and Bobby Knight offer contrasting examples of what it means to be remembered. While Knight’s legacy is defined by a winning percentage and championships, forever shadowed by his volatile behavior, Corso’s is marked by the relationships he built and the kindness he showed others. His professional stats may have been average, but his impact on people was extraordinary. The exploration of one’s own legacy is a deeply personal one. By asking ourselves what we truly value, we will hopefully begin to live a life that reflects those things. With that in mind, I am going to be spending a lot more time honing my fishing skills in pursuit of my true legacy.