ESPN Pays Tribute to Unsung College GameDay Legend Who Passed Away Before Getting Lee Corso-Like Send Off

This college football season carries a sense of tradition, marked not only by fresh storylines on the field but also by farewells to figures who helped define the sport’s culture off it. ESPN’s is already bidding goodbye to Lee Corso today, but they also took a moment for another special figure. The network remembered veteran College GameDay producer Chad Hanna, who had been with the program since its very beginning.

Hanna worked as an EVS operator for ESPN’s College GameDay and was one of the most important faces among the show’s crew. He and Lee Corso are the only two people to have been with the show since its first gameday outing in 1993. College GameDay paid tribute to Hanna with a special segment honoring his three decades of dedication.

The @CollegeGameDay team remembers ESPN EVS Operator Chad Hanna

Only 2 people have been with the program since the first road show at Notre Dame in 1993 – Hanna & Lee Corso

cc @coachcolinhanna pic.twitter.com/lulLDggJLl

— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) August 30, 2025

Hanna passed away this year, at the age of 67. ESPN had announced that Hanna was battling cancer. Until this year, and since College GameDay’s 1993 trip to Notre Dame, he was a key figure of the show’s on-field production truck. With Lee Corso putting down his mic for good after the Ohio State–Texas game, the show will be missing its most constant figures after today.

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