Beano Cook has passed away at age 81. Cook had regular appearances on ESPN’s college football coverage.
Few knew as much about college football as Cook which earned him the title of “Cardinal of College Football.”
In 1986 Cook began serving as a lead analyst on ESPN college football. In recent years, Cook co-hosted, along with colleague Ivan Maisel, a weekly college football podcast on ESPN.com.
“Beano loved college football, and he had the encyclopedic memory to prove it,” said Maisel. “More than that, he loved people. He collected friends like some people collect stamps. People would say they don’t make them like Beano, because of his ability to be so quotable. But Beano was one-of-a-kind in his friendship. I think all of us who valued that quality in him are very, very sad.”
Cook acknowledged his health issues last month saying that “health issues hit me at the worst time – start of college football season.”
