Category: College Football

Just two months into 2024, it’s already been a wild year for Michigan football. The Wolverines began the year by winning the College Football Playoff National Championship — its first national title win since 1997. Then, they saw head coach Jim Harbaugh return to the NFL with the Los Angeles Chargers after guiding his alma mater to national glory. More significant was that Harbaugh took a significant chunk of the coaching staff with him.

Sherrone Moore, who earned plenty of head coaching experience during the 2023 season while Harbaugh served multiple suspensions, was quickly promoted from offensive coordinator to head coach. The promotion made sense and surprised nobody. The bigger question surrounding Moore, however, surrounded the construction of his coaching staff after the assistants followed Harbaugh to the Chargers.

With Moore’s first staff largely complete (there are still some questions about running backs coach Mike Hart’s status), let’s break down what the Michigan sideline will look like in the first season post-Harbaugh. 

Offensive staff

Kirk Campbell — Offensive coordinator/QB coach: The 37-year-old Campbell has no previous Power Five coordinator experience but was quickly promoted by Moore to be his replacement, so it’s clear the first-year coach has confidence in him to do the job. Before spending the 2023 season as Michigan’s QB coach, he was an offensive analyst in 2022 and had J.J. McCarthy in his corner last offseason. Other Michigan players have spoken highly of Campbell as well. It’s not a splashy hire, but in an offseason full of changes, there’s value in familiarity. Perhaps Moore views Campbell’s potential the same way Harbaugh once saw Moore’s.

Grant Newsome — Offensive line: Newsome played tackle for…

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LSU’s Harold Perkins had 7.5 sacks as a freshman in 2022. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

LSU wants to use Harold Perkins in the middle of the defense once again in 2024.

As the linebacker enters his third season with the Tigers, coach Brian Kelly wants Perkins to continue the transition to inside linebacker. Perkins played part of the 2023 season as an off-ball linebacker after he was a breakout star on the edge in 2022 as a freshman.

“He needs to be in the action,” LSU coach Brian Kelly told the Baton Rouge Advocate. “He needs to be the [weakside] linebacker. He needs to be in the box. He needs to be active in there. That’s where he’s going to start, and we’ve got to get him ready at that position.”

Perkins is listed at 6-foot-1, 220 pounds — much smaller than a typical edge rusher, especially in the NFL. But his size didn’t prohibit him from being one of the most disruptive players in the SEC off the corner in 2022. Perkins had 13 tackles for loss and 7.5 sacks as a freshman. He singlehandedly dominated Arkansas as a freshman with three sacks and two forced fumbles and also recorded a sack and eight tackles in a win over Alabama that season.

But despite Perkins’ pass-rush success in 2022, Kelly and his staff wanted to put him in a different role in 2023. Perkins spent the offseason working as a linebacker who could do a little bit of everything and even play some pass coverage.

Perkins’ inexperience when it came to his new position was on full display in LSU’s season-opening loss to Florida State. He hardly made an impact as Florida State announced to the country that it was worthy of the College Football Playoff.

He ultimately finished the season with 5.5 sacks and 74 tackles as he learned the nuances of his new responsibilities.

This season, Perkins will be playing for a…

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There was no perfect way for Alabama to move on after Nick Saban’s retirement; replacing the greatest college football coach of all time comes with a multitude of challenges. But after a several weeks of work that included having to retool the group amid NFL exits, first-year Crimson Tide coach Kalen DeBoer appears to have settled on his assistant coaches for the 2024 season. 

The hiring process was difficult. DeBoer had to decide how much Washington he was going to bring from a staff that had been together across multiple stops — for some, all the way back to his NAIA days at Sioux Falls — with the existing Alabama influence of staff members who were interested in helping lead the program into its post-Saban era. Those tough decisions, of course, are happening with the background of a wide-open transfer portal for Crimson Tide players who had the opportunity to leave without penalty due to the NCAA rules regarding movement in wake of a coaching change.

Just when it seemed DeBoer had finalized the staff, another wrinkle was thrown in with the Seattle Seahawks hiring away offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb and offensive line coach Scott Huff just days after National Signing Day. Grubb was one of those coaches who had been with DeBoer all the way back to his time at Sioux Falls, and over the last two seasons at Washington he had risen to become one of the most respected offensive minds in the modern game. Huff was a big loss, too, as he was part of Chris Petersen’s staff at Boise State and across two different stints at Washington. He helped lead dominant offensive lines, including the group that won the Joe Moore Award in 2023. 

So, in mid-February, DeBoer was tasked with going back through the hiring process to finalize his staff before the…

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Ziyare Addison is pulling in some impressive offers recently, including one from Rutgers football last week. But perhaps what is standing out the most about Addison is not the star rankings and the offer list. It is his character and his work ethic.

On Sunday night, Addison was honored by Sumner High School (Riverview, Florida) with the Stingray Award, given to a football player who shows hard work and discipline.

It is impressive that Addison, one of the top recruits in Florida, is also a player who sets the standard in the locker room for his hard work. Especially since he could likely slide by on his natural talent and still be a dominant player at the high school level:

Addison is an impressive offensive lineman, checking in at 6-foot-4 and 280 pounds. He was offered by two Big Ten teams (Rutgers and USC) last Wednesday. Per On3, he is ranked as the No. 244 player in the nation.

Rutgers and USC join an offer list that also includes Duke, Florida, Florida State, Louisville, Miami, Oklahoma and Ole Miss.

On Sunday, Rutgers offered three-star defensive back Kaylib Singleton.

Story originally appeared on Rutgers Wire

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USATSI

Florida is expected to promote tight ends coach Russ Callaway to co-offensive coordinator, 247Sports reports. Callaway has been on the Florida staff for the past two seasons and was hired as a defensive intern in 2022 after a brief stint as an offensive assistant with the New York Giants.

“I think ultimately, he’s a guy that obviously is going to acquire more responsibility,” Florida coach Billy Napier said earlier this month during Florida’s signing day press conference. “How we define that, you know, I think we’ll work our way through that. Ultimately, Russ is a heck of a young coach. And much like me, he’s worked on defense in the past as a young coach, he’s called plays at different levels, played quarterback, has the leadership components, has the respect of the players. So, Russ is a guy that we certainly are excited about. And you know, he definitely in the future will require more responsibility.”

Callaway, 35, had stops at Alabama, Murray State, Samford and LSU before arriving in Gainesville. He served as Samford’s offensive coordinator from 2018-19 before landing a job back in the SEC with the Tigers. 

Callaway will work alongside Florida’s current offensive coordinator Rob Sale, who is entering his second season as the OC and offensive line coach. Callaway’s promotion is part of numerous changes on Florida’s coaching staff this season, which includes moving on from secondary coach Corey Raymond and defensive line coach Sean Spencer. 

Even with all the staff changes, Florida coach Billy Napier told the Gator Tales podcast last month that he wants to continue…

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Texas will host one of the top prospects in the 2025 recruiting class this spring.

Inside Texas’ Joe Cook recently reported the Longhorns have scheduled a visit with five-star wide receiver Jaime Ffrench on April 6.

Ffrench decommitted from Alabama last month and is rated the No. 3 wide receiver in the nation for the 2025 recruiting class, according to 247Sports. The Jacksonville (FL) native hauled in 62 receptions for 1,247 yards and 14 touchdowns last season for Mandarin High School.

He revealed his top five schools last June of Alabama, Penn State, Notre Dame, Ohio State and Florida State. Ffrench received an offer from Texas on Jan. 29 and it appears Steve Sarkisian’s staff has already made a positive impression on the multi-sport athlete.

Contact/Follow us @LonghornsWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas news, notes and opinions.

Story originally appeared on Longhorns Wire

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With many of the stars of the 2023 team like J.J. McCarthy, Blake Corum, Roman Wilson and Kris Jenkins turning their attention to the NFL Scouting Combine, there are plenty of holes on the 2024 Michigan football depth chart to be filled. That job falls to new head coach Sherrone Moore, who took over quickly after the departure of Jim Harbaugh to the Los Angeles Chargers in January. Spring practice is now just weeks away, and Moore will quickly look to make his mark for the defending national champions.

In addition to working with the current team, the staff is working on 2025 and 2026 Michigan football recruiting. Michigan jumped in on elite 2026 running back Javian Osborne last week and the Wolverines appear to be on the rise for 2025 four-star linebacker Darrell Johnson, who has a relationship with new linebacker coach Brian Jean-Mary. If you want to see the latest Michigan recruiting news and updates on the staff and 2024 team, be sure to see what the proven team of insiders are saying at The Michigan Insider, the 247Sports affiliate that covers Michigan.

The team at The Michigan Insider is providing on-the-ground updates on every development in the defensive coordinator coaching search, including insights from Sam Webb, Steve Lorenz, Zach Shaw and Alejandro Zuniga. The unrivaled insider team has the latest Michigan recruiting news and the inside scoop on the Michigan coaching search.

The team at The Michigan Insider already has several recruiting updates from Moore’s first few weeks on the job, along with staff updates and an outlook for the 2024 roster. Head to The Michigan Insider now to see see the latest news.

Sherrone Moore Michigan recruiting and coaching updates

Michigan has one of the top returning tight ends in the nation in…

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Corey Dennis’ next college football job will not be at Utah.

The former Ohio State quarterbacks coach has been hired as a Mississippi football analyst. Dennis had been previously hired as an analyst under coach Kyle Whittingham at Utah.

Dennis’ name was listed on the Ole Miss football staff’s directory Friday. The program later confirmed it was the former Ohio State quarterbacks coach.

Dec 29, 2023; Arlington, Texas, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes quarterbacks coach Corey Dennis talks to his father in law, Urban Meyer, prior to the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic against the Missouri Tigers at AT&T Stadium.

Ohio State did not retain Dennis after four seasons as the Buckeyes’ quarterbacks coach when coach Ryan Day initially hired Bill O’Brien as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. In the release announcing O’Brien’s hire, Day said Dennis was expected to remain with the program in some capacity.

Three weeks after his hire, O’Brien left to become the head coach at Boston College. O’Brien was replaced by former Oregon and UCLA head coach Chip Kelly as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

The 31-year-old son-in-law of former Ohio State coach Urban Meyer, Dennis, who joined the program as an intern in 2015, replaced Mike Yurcich as quarterbacks coach in 2020 and worked with quarterbacks such as Justin Fields, C.J. Stroud and Kyle McCord.

Dennis was also instrumental in the recruitments of quarterbacks such as 2024 five-star Air Noland and 2025 four-star Tavien St. Clair.

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Corey Dennis, former OSU quarterbacks coach, hired at Ole Miss

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