Staying connected in 2026 usually means a quick text. But for former ESPN analyst David Pollack, keeping in touch with College GameDay legend Lee Corso requires a trip back to 1995. When asked about their relationship, Pollack dropped a hilarious yet endearing reality check about the 90-year-old icon. 

“Coach ain’t got no cell phone,” David Pollack said on The Sage Steele Show when asked how often they stay in touch. “Coach has a landline. So you’re going to get him every so often.”

The world may be changing, and college football has turned into NIL deals and transfer portal chaos. But Lee Corso remains old-school to the core. He’s the one who brought to life the traveling show, the celebrity guest pickers, and the exciting headgear moments that started with him in 1996.

It went on to become decades of Lee Corso’s signature line, “Not so fast, my friend.” By the time he retired, he had already made over 430 headgear picks. So when he stepped down after Week 1 of the 2025 season in Columbus, the site of the first headgear pick, it was the end of an era. And David Pollack knows it.

David Pollack’s comment came wrapped in perspective, as he’s seen both sides of this sport. The high of being one of the best defensive players in the country at Georgia, the grind of building a media career at ESPN, and then getting laid off via a phone call. It began as a casual check-in call with ESPN executive Lee Fitting, which later turned out to be the end of the road.

“About 45 seconds in, I was like, ‘Oh, wait, I know what’s about to happen. This is gonna be bad,'” he recounted on Josh Pate’s College Football Show. “And then he told me, and you wonder why.”

And with that, his 13-year run with ESPN was over in 2023, as Pat McAfee stepped in as a replacement. Now, here’s another reason why David Pollack has immense respect for Lee Corso. One of the first people to reach out after he got fired was the 90-year-old legend with no cell phone. In a world full of instant communication, it was the guy with a landline who made sure to check in. That’s why his impact is still huge even to this day. 

“When he retired, I called him every so often,” he told Sage Steele. “But man, just one of one. Very rarely do you get to retire and you be one of one and contribute so much to the sport. Everybody will tell you that Gameday exists because of him. And that’s humbling when you’re up there with him. You’re like, dude, this dude started this. This is the reason this is watched.”

David Pollack, who’s been going through some personal struggles, took Corso’s old-school authenticity to heart. Losing his seat at the GameDay desk simply pushed him to build his own platform, See Ball Get Ball. Unbound by network hype, he remains a deeply respected voice. And clearly, he hasn’t lost his willingness to rattle the cage.

David Pollack is still delivering his unfiltered takes

That same unfiltered tone showed up again on April 28 when David Pollack turned his attention to Penn State heading into 2026. While plenty around the sport are viewing the Nittany Lions as potential CFP contenders under new head coach Matt Campbell, he isn’t buying into that hype. 

“I’ll go pretender,” he said on On3’s Crain & Cone. “I don’t think they’re a contender. I’m glad that Matt Campbell could bring over so many Iowa State guys, but you’re also going to have to learn a whole new league. A lot of people just have to learn you, you’ve got to learn the whole league and everybody you’re playing.”

Penn State looks solid with a good roster and a manageable September schedule. But David Pollack’s skepticism came from the October timeline. A Friday night trip to Northwestern. A home showdown with a loaded USC team bringing back QB Jayden Maiava. Then a road test at Michigan, now under Kyle Whittingham, with a more experienced Bryce Underwood.

“I think it’s a difficult ask for them,” Pollack added. “I think the roster is good, I think Matt Campbell did the best job he could, late to the party, late to the game, but I don’t put them on the contender list to make the College Football Playoff.”

David Pollack’s take might sound harsh, but it’s consistent with everything he’s shown after his ESPN gig. He’s here to call it as he sees it. Just like he did with Corso, with no cell phone.