Category: College Football

Feb. 7—VERMILLION, S.D. — The University of South Dakota has opted for stability in its football program, promoting Matt Vitzthum to head coach following the departure of Travis Johansen.

USD Athletic Director Jon Schemmel announced Friday afternoon that Vitzthum will become the 32nd head coach in Coyote football history, as USD chose to stay in-house to fill the vacancy.

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Johansen departed Vermillion after one season as head coach and seven seasons overall on the Coyote staff to take the defensive coordinator position at Rutgers University, a Big Ten Conference program. His move created a sudden opening, and Schemmel moved quickly to elevate Vitzthum, noting familiarity with the program and proven success at multiple levels of college football.

Vitzthum completed his second season on the USD coaching staff in 2025 and most recently served as co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Helping with play-calling duties alongside offensive coordinator Tim Morrison, Vitzthum played a key role in guiding the Coyote offense this past season.

His impact was especially evident in the development of quarterback Aidan Bouman, who enjoyed another standout season under Vitzthum’s guidance. In 2025, Bouman threw for more than 2,000 yards for the third consecutive year and posted a career-best 26 touchdown passes, further cementing his place among the top quarterbacks in USD history.

Vitzthum originally joined the Coyotes ahead of the 2024 season as the wide receivers coach under former head coach Bob Nielson. In his first two seasons at South Dakota, the program reached at least the FCS quarterfinals both years.

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During his debut season on staff, USD advanced to the FCS semifinals for the first time in program history, marking a significant milestone for the program and reinforcing Vitzthum’s…

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Former Virginia wide receiver Jahmal Edrine was arrested Thursday and charged with one count of rape and one count of abduction following a months-long investigation by the Albemarle County Police Department. 

The investigation began Aug. 25 after a victim reported being sexually assaulted the previous day, according to police. The case was later presented to a grand jury, which returned indictments on Feb. 2. Police took Edrine into custody Thursday where he is held without bond at the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail. Both charges are felonies. Police said the investigation remains ongoing.

The University of Virginia acknowledged the arrest and confirmed Edrine is no longer enrolled at the school. In a statement to Wahoos247, chief communications officer and university spokesperson Brian Coy said the university is aware of the matter and will cooperate fully with law enforcement, but is prohibited by federal student privacy laws from commenting further.

Edrine, 22, transferred to Virginia from Purdue ahead of the 2025 season and became one of the Cavaliers’ top offensive contributors. He finished the season as the team’s second-leading receiver with 46 catches for 564 yards and one touchdown. Virginia won a program-record 11 games and lost in overtime to Duke in the ACC Championship Game.

A 6-foot-3, 221-pound native of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Edrine previously played at Florida Atlantic from 2021-22 before transferring to Purdue, where he spent the 2023 and 2024 seasons. He missed the 2023 season after suffering a season-ending injury during fall…

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In an ever-changing era in college football, Kirk Herbstreit sees the need for change. He has a three-step plan to fix what he called a “really big problem.”

Herbstreit, speaking with Front Office Sports, called for a commissioner for college football as well as collective bargaining with the players. Then, he said the Power Four conferences should break away and form their own league.

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Herbstreit compared the current landscape to the NFL, where Roger Goodell is the commissioner for every team. In college, every conference has its own commissioner, which is where the ESPN analyst said things get murky.

“We’ve got a really big problem in college football,” Herbstreit told David Rumsey at Radio Row ahead of Super Bowl LX. “Imagine if the NFL didn’t have Roger Goodell, but the AFC South had a commissioner, the NFC South had a commissioner, the AFC East had a commissioner – all the way around. And you asked them all to get on the same page, meanwhile they all have their own goals, their own agenda. That’s what we have in college football.

“What Tony Petitti in the Big Ten are looking at, he’s worried about Champaign, Illinois; West Lafayette, [Indiana]; Columbus, Ohio; Ann Arbor, [Michigan]. And then, if you think about the SEC, Greg Sankey, he’s worried about Starkville, Miss. You think he’s worrying about Evanston, Ill.? No. He’s worried about his constituents – his presidents, his ADs, his coaches, his players. And he should be. But we don’t have anybody governing the sport from a national perspective. Until we do, we’re kind of spinning our wheels.”

This story will be updated.

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The LA Bowl has been played for the last time as organizers announced Thursday that Washington’s win over Boise State in December was the final iteration of the five-year-old postseason event. That brings the total number of bowl games expected to finish out the upcoming 2026 season to 40, which could decrease further in the coming years for some of the small events with further College Football Playoff expansion potentially on its way in the future.

“After five great years, the LA Bowl at Sofi Stadium will no longer be moving forward. It has been an honor for our staff and volunteers to bring college football to one of the world’s greatest venues,” a statement from LA Bowl organizers said. “We want to thank the athletes and football programs who participated and, most importantly, the college football fans who joined us over these past five seasons.”

The LA Bowl had been played in Inglewood, California, since 2021 and featured teams from the Pac-12 and Mountain West. The game never had a repeat matchup and Boise State was the only team that played in the event twice.

Mountain West extends partnership with CBS Sports: League announces new football media rights package

Shehan Jeyarajah

Bowl…

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Kyle Whittingham has already impressed this offseason as the Michigan Football head coach, bringing in what should be crucial transfers such as defensive end John Henry Daley, defensive back Smith Snowden and two-way player Salesi Moa.

But what will Whittingham and company’s first recruiting class look like? Here are five names in the 2027 class that they should prioritize moving forward.

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Four-star WR Dakota Guerrant

The Harper Woods, Michigan native is among the top high school players in the Mitten State. At 6-foot-1, 195 pounds, Guerrant has the build and athleticism to become a potential weapon on the perimeter for this Bryce Underwood-led offense.

Beyond the Wolverines’ need for adding elite receiving options, it is crucial that Whittingham — and presumably with significant help from Midwest recruiting guru Tony Alford — retain top in-state players. Whittingham has spent the last several decades building recruiting bases out west, and carrying some of that pedigree into his new home territory could make this staff invaluable on the recruiting circuit.

Five-star edge Chris Whitehead

Back in October, On3’s ($) EJ Holland reported that Michigan had been “investing heavily” in the Virginia prospect. Of course, things have changed since then, but that interest should not dissipate under Whittingham.

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Whitehead — out of Chesterfield, Virginia — already has elite length at 6-foot-5. Once he fills out that 230-pound frame, he could be a high-end option in a variety of defensive fronts. Whittingham’s Utah teams seemingly always had tough, stout play in the trenches, and furthering that in Ann Arbor will be important for him. A player like Whitehead would fit in great at Michigan.

Four-star DL George Toia

Toia, from Trophy Club, Texas, is a top-100 prospect who listed the Wolverines…

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When Solomon Thomas wanted to reveal his college commitment in 2014, a hat didn’t feel quite right. Known for his wide frame around Coppell High School in Texas, Thomas was never really a hat person. 

Thomas ranked as the No. 41 player in the class and was heavily pursued by Stanford and Arkansas. After seeing close friends and competitors announce their decisions during celebratory National Signing Day events, he decided to do the same as he committed to the Cardinal. 

His mom had a little fern tree that seemed to perfectly play into the unofficial mascot for Stanford football. Flanked by his parents, Thomas pulled out the tree and a pair of glasses with tape in the middle to commit to “Nerd Nation.” The signing day gimmick went viral as Thomas inked his football letter of intent alongside eight of his closest friends with offers from Yale to Grand View. 

“It was a really cool moment,” said Thomas, now a defensive lineman with the Dallas Cowboys. “Afterwards, being in the gym with all the guys who I played football with at Coppell who were such close friends with me, we were so proud of each other taking that next step.” 

For decades, National Signing Day was one of the premier events in college football. Each February, hundreds of players would ink their signatures on a National Letter of Intent and coaching staffs around the country would breathe a sigh of relief. 

The stories from days past have become legendary. There’s the case of the late Alex Collins, whose mother refused to sign his NLI to Arkansas because she wanted him to go to Miami. Landon Collins committed to Alabama, only for his mom to say he made a mistake and should have picked LSU. Then, there’s Jimmy Clausen committing to Notre Dame after stepping out of a…

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The 2027 recruiting class is starting to heat up, as Rutgers has already landed 2027 Tight End Sydney Padilla from West Orange High School. The Scarlet Knights have put their best foot forward in their attempt to land several other athletes as well, hoping to round out the class with high-end talent that fills areas of need.

Most players in the class of 2027 aren’t close to picking which school they would want to go to. While a lot of them have gone on unofficial visits to schools, Rutgers first official visit weekend for the class likely won’t be until the last weekend of May, as it has been in years past.

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So far, Rutgers has extended 77 scholarship offers, according to 247sports. A few of the athletes they have offered have already committed elsewhere, but a large majority remain uncommitted.

247sports ranks athletes’ supposed interest in Rutgers and their chances of committing on a cool-to-warm scale. Since it is very early in the recruitment cycle, many athletes are still cool on Rutgers, but two are currently listed as warm. Esa Wittingburg, a 6-foot-3, 230-pound EDGE from East Orange High School, and Terrance Smith, a 6-foot-6, 260-pound four-star interior offensive lineman, are the two who are currently listed as warm according to 247sports. Wittingburg received his offer when Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano visited his school during an in-school visit.

The Knights’ coaching staff seems very interested in two four-star quarterback recruits from Illinois, Israel Abrams and Jake Nawrot. Coordinators rarely recruit in person; however, Rutgers OC Kirk Ciarrocca felt the need to fly out and visit both of these players. They have also recently extended an offer to quarterback Kevin Verpeale, a three-star Florida native who is currently committed to Pittsburgh.

In addition to the quarterbacks,…

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The alleged victim count in a sexual abuse lawsuit against ex-NC State trainer Robert Murphy Jr. more than doubled when 17 former Wolfpack male athletes joined as plaintiffs. An amended complaint filed last week includes a total of 31 plaintiffs, which attorney Kerry Sutton said comprises athletes from eight different sports teams. Three former athletes filed individual lawsuits in 2022 and 2023, and the case grew in September when 11 alleged victims filed a fourth suit.

The lawsuit alleges that Murphy over multiple years engaged in acts of misconduct involving improper touching of the genitals during massages and intrusive observation while collecting urine samples during drug tests.

Murphy, who worked at NC State from 2012-22 and was promoted to director of sports medicine in 2018, is one of nine defendants named in the lawsuit. The others are school officials, including former athletic director Debbie Yow, who are accused of negligence. The plaintiffs claim that Yow and other administrators were aware of Murphy’s behavior but did not investigate nor prevent him from working with male athletes.

“The health and safety of students and student-athletes is paramount to NC State Athletics and the university,” a university spokesperson said Monday to ESPN. “Sexual misconduct of any kind is unacceptable, prohibited by NC State’s policies, and in direct opposition to the mission, culture and standards of the university. NC State is reviewing the lawsuit and determining appropriate next steps.”

NC State placed Murphy on administrative leave and fired him in 2022, the same…

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