Category: College Football

Four-star recruit Javian Osborne is returning to Texas in June. This time, it will be for an official visit. The Talented running back was in Austin in January, and it appears that trip made a good first impression. Now, the Longhorns will be looking to close the deal and add more talent to the offense.

Osborne is described as an athlete who’s quick to accelerate and can cut through any defense by 247Sports. Those traits would help him succeed against some of the best defense in the country in SEC. He is ranked as the sixth running back in his class and the 77th best player in the 2026 class.

If Osborne were to join the Longhorns, he would be part of a talented 2026 class. They have already secured commitments from four-star quarterback Dia Bell and wide receiver Chris Stewart. A trio of Bell, Stewart, and Osborne would be able to put points on the board in a hurry.

While the Longhorns have the advantage of being in the state, they have faced competition. The Michigan Wolverines have shown a lot of interest in Osborne. He has already gotten visits from head coach Sherrone Moore, offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey, and general manager Sean Magee.

Over the next few weeks, Osborne will be a player to watch. It seems that, at the moment, the top schools are Texas and Michigan. Either school would be lucky to have him but in Texas Osborne could serious damage for one of the top programs in the SEC.

This article originally appeared on Longhorns Wire: Running back recruit Javian Osborne to visit Texas Longhorns

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It’s an early Thursday morning and Michael Lombardi is focused on breaking down tight end tape. 

He knows what his boss, Bill Belichick, wants at the position but it is still an arduous challenge. The former NFL general manager has been breaking down tape for more than 40 years but there are considerably more prospects to evaluate at the high school level than what NFL personnel folks like Lombardi dealt with for NFL Draft preparation. That’s a blessing and a curse. 

Later that day, he’ll appear on the popular Pat McAfee Show on ESPN. Lombardi is billed as a “Progrum Paisan” on McAfee’s eponymous show and it’s been a successful partnership for both sides. Lombardi has used McAfee’s large pulpit to dispute false reports about Belichick, talk about their efforts to build UNC football and tap into his NFL expertise to discuss hot button league-wide topics. 

Publicly, Lombardi has long been Belichick’s biggest defender, using his experience working with the eight-time Super Bowl winner at multiple spots to give a peek behind the scenes on the success and motivations behind the NFL’s greatest coach. After last working in the NFL with Belichick and the New England Patriots in 2016, Lombardi leaned into building a media career, writing books, working with VSiN and The Ringer and frequently appearing on Ringer founder Bill Simmons’ podcast. 

Lombardi hadn’t worked in college football in 40 years when Belichick made him his first hire in December after shocking the football world and becoming the University of North Carolina head football coach. His official title is general manager, a fitting one given his NFL experience, but he wears a number of hats as a Belichick-run UNC program gets up and running in the face of industry skepticism…

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Jim Knowles’ blockbuster contract at Penn State set a high-water mark for assistant coach salaries, and now Auburn defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin is next to see his salary go up substantially. According to a new contract signed Feb. 5 (per the Montgomery Advertiser), Durkin will earn $2.5 million in base salary in 2025, more than double his 2024 salary of $1.2 million. There’s also a $200,000 escalator, bringing the value of the three-year deal to just under $8 million in base pay. 

That significant bump in pay would have tied him for most among assistants last year. LSU defensive coordinator Blake Baker was the highest-paid coordinator at $2.5 million for 2024, according to USA Today’s assistant coach salary database. Knowles’ contract at Penn State averages $3.1 million over three years with more than $4 million possible thanks to impressive bonuses. 

Durkin, a longtime assistant with an SEC footprint, joined Auburn’s staff last season after serving in a similar role for Texas A&M during the 2022 and 2023 seasons. Results were OK. Among SEC teams, Auburn ranked eighth in points per game and sixth in yards per play allowed, but defense wasn’t typically the problem in the tight, typically lower-scoring games it lost last season as part of a 5-7 effort. And with high-profile defensive coordinator jobs open during this cycle, Durkin has benefited. 

Jim Knowles contract: New Penn State defensive coordinator can eclipse $4 million with lucrative bonuses

Dennis Dodd …

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The Iowa Hawkeyes have their 2025 football schedule and it is highlighted by some heavy hitters in the Big Ten, especially some of the home games that they will be hosting inside Kinnick Stadium.

The Hawkeyes start Big Ten play on the road when they take on the Rutgers Scarlet Knights in Piscataway, New Jersey on Saturday, Sep. 20 before returning home for more conference action.

The first Big Ten conference home game that Iowa is set to host in 2025 is against the Indiana Hoosiers on Saturday, Sep. 27. Already a big game as it starts off conference play and gives Iowa an immediate test early in the season, it just became bigger.

The matchup has been announced that it will also be Homecoming for the Iowa Hawkeyes when the Hoosiers come to town.

The Indiana Hoosiers were one of the darlings of college football last season as they rattled off an 11-2 overall record and notched a College Football Playoff appearance in head coach Curt Cignetti’s first year at the helm.

An early season test, this game could draw big TV networks and will almost certainly be a sold-out Kinnick Stadium that is fully charged up. The kickoff time has yet to be announced.

Contact/Follow us @HawkeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Iowa news, notes and opinions.

Follow Riley on X: @rileydonald7

This article originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire: Iowa football to host Indiana Hoosiers for Homecoming game

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The Belichick family contingent in Chapel Hill is growing. Brian Belichick, the youngest son of first-year North Carolina coach Bill Belichick, is expected to join his father’s staff as the safeties coach, according to CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz.

Brian most recently spent five seasons as the New England Patriots’ safeties coach. He got his start in New England working as a scouting assistant before making the switch to an on-field coach for his father. He stayed with Jerod Mayo, his father’s replacement for one season in New England, but was not retained by new Patriots coach Mike Vrabel. 

Belichick joins his father Bill and older brother, Steve, who spent last season as the defensive coordinator at Washington under Jedd Fisch before being named to the same position at UNC. All three had previously worked together with the Patriots. 

“This opportunity, it’s awesome,” Brian told reporters last month about his father’s transition to college football. “UNC’s a great school, football program, exciting fanbase nationally, down there — not that I have a lot of background on it. People are excited, and that’s great.”

There’s a family flavor in Chapel Hill. 

Not only are there now three Belichicks on UNC’s staff, but there are also two Lombardis. Michael Lombardi, the former Cleveland Browns general manager, was Belichick’s first hire (GM). His son, Matt, has been hired as an offensive assistant and is expected to work with the quarterbacks.

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Former Miami University running back Deland McCullough thanked Marcus Freeman and the Notre Dame football coaching staff and community for embracing him and his family for the past three years, in a tweet Saturday.

McCullough is expected to be introduced as the new running backs coach of the Las Vegas Raiders. New head coach Pete Carroll hired Chip Kelly as offensive coordinator.

Last February, McCullough added associate head coach to his title as Notre Dame’s running backs coach. McCullough’s 4,368 rushing yards rank second in MU history behind Travis Prentice.

Notre Dame running backs coach Deland McCullough during Notre Dame Fall Camp on Wednesday, July 26, 2023, at Irish Athletics Center in South Bend, Indiana.

McCullough was the Kansas City Chiefs’ running backs coach from 2018 to 2020.

McCullough played for the Bengals for parts of two seasons and briefly played for the Philadelphia Eagles, the CFL’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the XFL’s Chicago Enforcers.

McCullough was the head football coach at Harmony Community School and an offensive and special teams intern and RBs coach for the RedHawks in 2010 and 2011 before leaving for the Indiana Hoosiers.

In 2018, Deland’s search for his biological parents was the subject of an “E:60” episode in which he discovered that his father was Sherman Smith, then MU’s running backs coach and McCullough’s mentor.

McCullough’s son, Deland II, joined Notre Dame’s football staff last April as a recruiting analyst.

Freeman, University of Cincinnati’s defensive coordinator from 2017 to 2020, became Notre Dame’s defensive coordinator in January 2021, and head coach later the same year when Brian Kelly became LSU’s head coach.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Deland McCullough: Ex-Miami University RB leaves Notre Dame for Vegas

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A few years ago at a fundraising event in Hawai’i, Patrick Mahomes saddled up next to Texas Tech’s athletics director and pitched an idea.

The NFL superstar didn’t just want to help his alma mater, he wanted his name to be forever associated with Texas Tech.

“He wanted his alma mater with Adidas – and at the same time he had the vision for growth of his ‘Gladiator’ logo, his brand,” Hocutt said.

Texas Tech was in talks at the time with Under Armour to extend their apparel and equipment contract, but Mahomes, who had recently signed with Adidas, had a different pitch: why not sign with Adidas and include his own brand in the contract?

The informal conversation soon led to action, and in 2024, Texas Tech jumped to Adidas and signed a 10-year agreement. In that agreement, Mahomes’ branded “Gladiator” logo appeared on jerseys for one home football game against Colorado.

“Seeing my own logo on the Texas Tech uniform I put so much blood, sweat and tears in is one of the most meaningful off-field accomplishments of my career,” Mahomes said in October.

The announcement was a hit with the Red Raiders’ players and fans, but it wasn’t the first formal deal to involve some combination of the university, Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. Texas Tech has seemingly hitched its wagon to Mahomes over the last four years, going as far to sign a multi-million dollar marketing deal with the NFL franchise that includes game-day advertisements for Texas Tech at Arrowhead Stadium and across the Chiefs’ in-house broadcasts and social media.

“Anytime you turn on a Chiefs game, you’re going to see something with Texas Tech on their boards,” Red Raiders coach Joey McGuire said.

It’s difficult to avoid the power “TT” logo at Arrowhead Stadium. It appears…

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