Jason Sudeikis Trading Richmond for South Bend: ‘Ted Lasso’ Star Named ESPN ‘College GameDay’ Guest Picker

Jason Sudeikis is stepping back into a sports-related spotlight following the recent conclusion of the fourth season of Ted Lasso, but that is about where the similarities end for the beloved television coach and the real-life college football stage.

The 51-year-old Emmy-winning actor has been officially selected to serve as ESPN’s College GameDay celebrity guest picker for Saturday’s high-stakes showdown between Notre Dame and Miami. While Sudeikis is globally recognized for playing the relentlessly optimistic, folksy American football coach turned English soccer manager in the hit Apple TV+ series, his upcoming appearance on the premier college football pregame show hits much closer to home—taprooting directly into deep family history and childhood memories.

For Sudeikis, stepping onto the Notre Dame campus in South Bend, Indiana, carries profound personal significance. Both his grandfather and an uncle graduated from the storied university, forging a generational allegiance that shaped the actor’s early sporting passions.

The connection was warmly acknowledged by the university’s athletic department ahead of the weekend. "With deep family roots right here at Notre Dame, having him on campus feels like home," the Fighting Irish team’s official athletics X account posted on Thursday, setting the stage for a celebratory homecoming.

Sudeikis expanded on those lifelong ties during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, telling host and fellow College GameDay fixture Pat McAfee that Notre Dame football was foundational to his upbringing after serving as the very first live college game he ever attended.

"It’s big in my family," the Saturday Night Live alumnus told McAfee. "Growing up, my folks are from Chicago—my mom from the South Side. Her father, my grandfather, was a graduate from Notre Dame."

He continued, sharing a specific historical memory that cemented his fandom: "The very first Notre Dame football game that I went to was October 15, 1988—the Catholics vs. Convicts game, as it was known way back then."

"I’m going to get to relive my childhood on Saturday at this game," Sudeikis added with palpable enthusiasm.

Beyond his fictional exploits on the pitch in Ted Lasso, Sudeikis is widely known in the sports world as a passionate, active fan across multiple collegiate and professional leagues. He is a frequent fixture courtside at New York Liberty WNBA games and is a vocal supporter of Kansas men’s basketball as well as Iowa women’s basketball, frequently blending his love for athletics with his public persona.

On Saturday, that lifelong sports fandom will translate into professional analysis of a different sort when he joins the regular cast of analysts on ESPN’s traveling pregame show. Sudeikis will sit alongside the professional sports broadcasters to make his official game predictions ahead of the marquee matchup between the Fighting Irish and the Hurricanes.

The stakes for the game could hardly be higher. Miami currently enters the weekend holding the No. 1 ranking in the country, but an upset victory by the 11th-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish could radically upend the national championship picture and shake up the college football playoff standings for the remainder of the season.

The high-profile guest-picker gig arrives on the heels of a major television milestone for Sudeikis. Last month marked the conclusion of the surprise fourth season of Ted Lasso, a development that thrilled the show’s massive global fanbase. When the critically acclaimed series debuted on Apple TV+ in 2020, Sudeikis and the creative team initially anticipated that the heartwarming comedy would wrap up its narrative arc cleanly with its third season. Instead, the team surprised viewers by bringing the series back for a fourth installment, which premiered in August and concluded its run last month.

In the most recent chapter of the series, Sudeikis’s titular character returns to England to take on a fresh athletic challenge, coaching a second-division women’s soccer team and exploring new dimensions of leadership, community, and personal growth.

While the future beyond the fourth season remains unconfirmed by the network, Sudeikis has made it clear that he is genuinely open to continuing the journey for a fifth and sixth season if the pieces fall into place. Discussing the massive collaborative effort required to produce the show, Sudeikis noted during an interview last month on Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso that making a television series "takes a village." He added that he "would assume" Apple would maintain a strong interest in keeping the acclaimed comedy series on the air.

For now, however, the multitalented entertainer is temporarily shelving the fictional playbook of AFC Richmond to immerse himself in the authentic pageantry of college football, returning to the traditions of his Chicago roots and preparing to deliver his picks on one of the biggest stages in collegiate sports.