Category: College Football

High-level success in college football starts with high-caliber players, and first-year Colorado coach Deion Sanders is already winning in that all-important category. Sanders delivered for the Buffaloes in his first recruiting cycle despite a short turnaround, hauling in the nation’s fifth-best transfer class and No. 21 overall class, according to 247Sports. 

Seven of those players hail from the talent-rich state of Florida — somewhere Sanders, who went to Florida State from North Fort Myers High School, is quite familiar with. Colorado is a long way from the Sunshine State, and Sanders explained his approach to recruiting the state with Patrick Peterson and Bryant McFadden on the All Things Covered podcast. 

“I’m trying to introduce these young men to the other side of the country that they never thought about,” said Sanders. “When you get out there, they say ‘You got mountains with snow on it and it’s not even cold?’ Because when it’s really snowing, it can’t be so cold. It’s really not that cold. Like, 30 [degrees] in Boulder is like hoodie weather.

“Once I get these Florida guys over that hump and they see it,” he continued, “and the summers are unbelievable in Boulder.”

Sanders’ sales pitch to high school and transfer prospects generates from a mindset that he developed from his own time as a coveted recruit. 

“Guys from the South like us, we didn’t have the financial means to travel. We never traveled. So the furthest we went was Georgia. We aren’t seasoned on the other side of the country. We never fathomed it. It wasn’t our thing. We always thought it was too cold. I didn’t own a jacket in high school. I remember going to visit the University of Georgia with no socks, no jacket.”

Sanders’ success on the recruiting trail…

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The Oklahoma Sooners are early in their recruitment of four-star wide receiver Aaryn Hampton. After offering back on February 2, the Sooners found their way into his top seven released on February 8.

Emmett Jones had been recruiting Hampton from his time at Texas Tech, and that’s likely the reason the Sooners have quickly joined the race.

The Sooners will have some ground to make up, but as we’ve seen in some recent recruitments, don’t count Brent Venables and his staff out until a prospect’s name is signed on that national letter of intent.

As a prospect, Hampton displays incredible athleticism and breakaway speed. He’s a big-play threat every time he’s on the field because of his incredible agility and vision once the ball is in his hands. He’s a two-way player, starring in multiple defensive back roles, at wide receiver, and even returns kick with great effectiveness.

He’s a player that can play both in the slot and on the outside because of his quickness, agility, and speed.

The Sooners will have to catch up to the Crimson Tide to become a serious contender in the recruitment. They’ve already made significant headway in such a short time that they’ll be in it till the end.

Aeryn Hampton’s Recruiting Profile

Projections

On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine favors the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Rivals FutureCasts currently favor Alabama.

Crystal ball predictions are split between Alabama (2), Texas (1), and Nebraska (1). The most recent predictions came from Steve Wiltfong and Horns247 writer Mike Roach in January.

Film

Hudl

Rating

Stars

Overall

State

Position

ESPN

4

128

20

12

Rivals

4

33

3

4

247Sports

4

149

21

17

247 Composite

4

77

12

7

On3 Recruiting

4

152

27

20

On3 Consensus

4

59

7

11

 

Vitals

Hometown

Daingerfield, Texas

Projected Position

Wide Receiver

Height

5-10

Weight

175

 

Recruitment

Notable Offers

Per 247Sports

Story…

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USATSI

Utah offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig is the top candidate for the same job at Notre Dame, according to ESPN. Ludwig, 58, is a well-traveled college assistant who spent the past four seasons guiding the Utes’ offense amid one of the best eras of program history. He would replace Tommy Rees, who left Notre Dame last week to become Alabama’s offensive coordinator. 

Ludwig’s unit at Utah ranked No. 17 in total offense during the 2022 season as the Utes won the Pac-12 Championship for a second consecutive season. Running the football has been the Utes’ calling card during his tenure on staff, but Ludwig has also shown some quarterback development chops by molding Cam Rising into one of the Pac-12’s best. Developing a quarterback will be among the most critical tasks for the Fighting Irish’s new coordinator as the program looks to build on a 9-4 record from coach Marcus Freeman’s debut campaign.

Because Freeman’s background is on the defensive side of the ball, Notre Dame’s new offensive coordinator should have autonomy to run the offense as he sees fit. Freeman also interviewed Kansas State offensive coordinator Collin Klein for the position, but Klein is remaining with the Wildcats after helping guide the program to the 2022 Big 12 championship. 

Prior to arriving at Utah, Ludwig spent four seasons as Vanderbilt’s offensive coordinator under Derek Mason. He’s also been the OC at Fresno State, Oregon, Cal, San Diego State and Wisconsin, and worked an earlier stint in the same role for the Utes.

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The Big 12 announced Thursday that the league had reached an agreement with Oklahoma and Texas for those schools to depart for the Southeastern Conference one year before the expiration of the their grant of rights expired with the league.

Here’s a breakdown of the highlights of the announcement and what it means:

When will Oklahoma and Texas enter the SEC?

The official date of the two schools joining their new league is July 1, 2024, a year earlier than the league’s grant of rights contract with the schools and television deal called for.

How much will it cost Oklahoma and Texas?

The schools will forgo a combined $100 million in distributable revenue that will go largely to the eight Big 12 schools remaining from before the Sooners and Longhorns departed. Big 12 members that join this summer – Brigham Young, Central Florida, Cincinnati, and Houston – won’t be a part of that revenue influx. The Big 12 announcement said Oklahoma and Texas would be able to partially offset that amount with future revenues.

Texas defensive lineman Byron Murphy II (90) brings down Oklahoma quarterback Davis Beville (11) during their 2022 game at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas,

Does this affect the recently released 2023 Big 12 football schedule?

No. That schedule remains the same. Oklahoma will play three of the four new teams in the league, hosting Central Florida and traveling to Cincinnati and Brigham Young. The Sooners do not play longtime conference rivals Baylor, Kansas State and Texas Tech in their final season. Texas travels to Houston and hosts BYU in its two games against the new arrivals. The Longhorns won’t face either West Virginia or Oklahoma State.

GOOD FOR ALL: Why Oklahoma, Texas leaving Big 12 early makes sense

PORTAL SUCCESSS: Florida State, LSU lead list of top transfer classes

HEAD OF CLASS: Ranking 10 best recruiting…

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Texas and Oklahoma have reached an early exit agreement with the Big 12 that will see the powers depart for the SEC following the 2023-24 athletic season. The Big 12 and both programs announced Thursday night that the Longhorns and Sooners will pay early withdrawal fees of a combined $100 million to join the SEC in 2024, a full season earlier than originally planned.

The Big 12’s two most prominent programs made waves in July 2021 when they accepted invitations to join the SEC, setting off the latest round of conference realignment. At the time, Texas and Oklahoma planned to move to the SEC beginning July 1, 2025, once the Big 12’s active grant of rights agreement expired, opening the door for UT and OU to depart the conference free and clear. 

However, once the Big 12 backfilled its membership by adding BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF — all joining the league for the 2023 season — momentum began to shift toward the Longhorns and Sooners leaving for the SEC earlier than scheduled. Texas and Oklahoma not only preferred to avoid playing the new Big 12 members, they wanted to join the SEC for Year 1 of its new TV deal with ESPN. The Big 12 eyed the substantial exit fee to supplement the new six-year media rights deal it negotiated with Fox and ESPN in October 2022.

The eight legacy Big 12 teams agreed to share a portion of their media rights distributions from the Big 12’s existing deals with Fox and ESPN to make possible the four-team expansion. Each program decided to forgo $16 million total ($8 million annually in 2023-24 and 2024-25) in future monies, sources previously told CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd.

The negotiated $100 million early exit fee the Big 12 will receive from Texas and Oklahoma for not being part of the league’s media…

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Terry Bussey is a 5-foot-11, 180-pound athlete, a four-star athlete from the class of 2024. Bussey is from Timpson, Texas, where he plays for Timpson High School. The Timpson Bears finished the 2022 season 14-1 with a loss to Refugio in the Texas UIL 2A state semifinals.

Bussey currently has no Crystal Ball projections but Texas A&M is a 50% favorite to land him per On3.

Film Analysis: Bussey is an enigma. He can play just about anywhere on the football field. Quarterback, running back, wide receiver, cornerback, or safety. It does not matter. He can play well no matter where you need him.

FILM

Ratings

247

4

84

9

12

Rivals

4

240

25

31

ESPN

4

149

15

26

On3 Recruiting

4

23

2

5

247 Composite

4

90

8

17

 

Vitals

Hometown

Timpson, Texas

Projected Position

ATH

Height

5-11

Weight

180

Class

2024

 

Recruitment

Offer List

Recruiting Projection

Twitter

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Story originally appeared on LSU Tigers Wire

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Florida State has rewarded Mike Norvell with a contract extension that makes him one of the highest-paid coaches in the ACC. The new deal, which comes on the heels of a 10-win campaign in 2022, keeps Norvell in Tallahassee through the 2029 season and pays him an average of $8.05 million per season. 

Norvell’s new contract nearly doubles his previous $4.5 million annual salary, and trails only Clemson coach Dabo Swinney among ACC coaches. The average value ranks top 10 nationally. 

“Coach Norvell has re-established a culture that the entire Seminole Family can appreciate,” said FSU athletic director Michael Alford in a statement. “We are proud of the way Coach Norvell, his staff and his team represent Florida State University on and off the field.

“Under Coach Norvell’s leadership we have experienced the highest grade-point average in program history multiple times, an unprecedented impact in our community and drastic improvement on the football field through him establishing a foundation of unwavering standards in all areas. I’m happy that we are going to continue climbing with Coach Norvell for years to come.”

The Seminoles reached double-digit wins for the first time since 2016 during a breakout 10-3 campaign in 2022. Florida State finished No. 11 in the final AP Top 25 and clinched a Cheez-It Bowl victory over Oklahoma with a thrilling 35-32 come-from-behind performance. 

Norvell brings stability to FSU

Florida State was a program adrift in the closing moments of the Jimbo Fisher era. From Fisher’s last season through 2021, the Seminoles put together a lackluster 26-33 record after finishing above .500 every year since Bobby Bowden’s first season in 1976. Norvell went just 8-13 in his first two seasons, which were plagued by poor…

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The Badgers offered Hank Weber, a three-star defensive lineman from Brentwood, Tennessee on Monday. The 6-foot-4, 230 pound athlete still has one more year of high school football at Brentwood Academy before he’d make the jump to the college level as a part of the class of 2024.

Weber has now received 12 Division 1 offers, including Michigan State and Purdue within the Big Ten. With new head coach Luke Fickell and defensive coordinator Mike Tressel joining the team this offseason, the Badgers have become an even more attractive location for recruits.

So far for the class of 2024, Wisconsin has yet to reel in a commitment from a defensive player. They have however secured four-star quarterback Mabrey Mettauer (The Woodlands, Texas), four-star tight end Grant Stec (Algonquin, Illinois) and three-star tight end Robert Booker (Waunakee, Wisconsin).

Story originally appeared on Badgers Wire

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