mattynokes said:

Seems odd to me to fire Stefanski, but keep Berry. I get it, there has to be a scapegoat for truck stop Jimmy, but they've been in Cleveland the same amount of time. Fire 'em all and start fresh or keep them for another year. Otherwise, I think it sends the message that a better HC could have won more with the same roster(s).

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Keeping Berry yet firing Stefanski is so inadequate. I don't understand how Berry keeps his job. If you take him at his word, he was responsible for the Watson trade & contract, which is amongst the worst GM decisions in NFL history. Clearly the Watson trade & contract helped sink the Browns the past couple of years by removing 3 first round picks from the team, as well as putting a lousy/injured QB on the roster who got paid way too much. The Watson decisions alone should have already gotten Berry fired - perhaps the lack of firing of Berry is an indication that Haslam was ultimately pulling the strings on that move.

Nevertheless, Berry has done a very poor job of drafting offensive players - his hit rate on draft picks for offense is incredibly low. Fannin looks good, but let's hope he doesn't develop injury problems. Getting injured in Year 1 is never a good sign for the future. You can say Judkins was a good pick talent-wise, but IMO it wasn't a good pick, because although he's a legit NFL RB, the Browns couldn't block for him. Plus, RB in the NFL is a meat grinder, plug & play position that's heavily dependent on the ability of the OL to not suck, so it's more important to have a good OL. Then he drafted Gabriel (who projects as a career backup) in the 3rd round when they didn't have a good starter. The Browns have drafted one OL in the first round in the last 10 years, while the league has drafted 25% first-round OL in the past couple of drafts.

The lack of a running game, awful OL, and super shitty WR corps also made it next to impossible for the QB to be successful. It would literally have taken a league MVP-level performance from the QB to have made the playoffs this season, and obviously they didn't have that kind of play from the QB position. I don't know what kind of offense Stefanski could have coached out of these guys when the line was constantly failing. I don't even like picking defensive ROY Schwesinger in the 2nd round, because again LB is a meat-grinder position that doesn't have longevity and it's plug & play dependent on how well the team around them is doing - he also ended up injured at the end of the season. So Berry's "good" draft included low-value positions RB and LB in the second-round, positions they should have just filled through free agency and/or mid-round picks, while standing pat with the worst OL and WR corps in the league, and drafting a career backup QB in the 3rd round. While talent-wise last year's draft was solid, it didn't fit the real needs of the team.

New Colorado AD Fernando Lovo aims to make Buffs 'global brand'​

Deion Sanders has a big fan in his new boss.

Colorado athletic director Fernando Lovo might not know his way around Boulder just yet -- or even his way around his new office building -- but he certainly realizes the importance of Sanders, who has put the Buffaloes back on the football map even if he has had only one winning season in three years.

"With Coach Prime's national notoriety and who he is as a person, first and foremost, and his ability to reach a lot farther than maybe some other coaches might be able to because of who he is, I think is a real advantage for us. We want to be a global brand. It's on us as administrators to provide him with the resources he needs. But in terms of who he is as a person and the reach that he has, it's a really special dynamic to have, and I'm excited to leverage that."New Colorado AD Fernando Lovo

"We want to be a global brand. It's on us as administrators to provide him with the resources he needs. But in terms of who he is as a person and the reach that he has, it's a really special dynamic to have, and I'm excited to leverage that."

Lovo inherits a sports department that is looking at a projected $27 million deficit by the end of the school year. That's due in part to the $20.5 million revenue share with athletes. Lovo is brainstorming for innovative solutions to help raise funds without making cuts....
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Lovo also worked in athletic administration at Texas, Ohio State and Houston. He got his start in college sports in the football program at Florida, his alma mater, where he once was a student equipment manager.

"I can't wait to stand in Folsom Field and see Ralphie run for the first time," Lovo said. "It's one of the great traditions in all of college sports, and it's just unbelievable. Can't wait to see it.

"Traditions, they matter here. But so do expectations."

Just sayin': Yeah, good luck with your "brainstorming". Lovo, if you ever get tired of watching Ralphie run I know how you could come up with some money...


(Just kidding, I like Ralphie too. Now if you were at Texas, Bevo would be another matter.)

Wonder how much of a raise they gave him to stay to get QB powered into the ground and really never progress as a passer

Sources: Ole Miss, QB Trinidad Chambliss reach deal for '26​

Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss has agreed to a new deal that would have him return to the Rebels in 2026, if the NCAA approves his pending waiver for a sixth season of eligibility, sources told ESPN on Monday.
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It's still unclear whether Chambliss will be eligible to play for the Rebels in 2026. Ole Miss filed a waiver petition for him to receive a sixth year of eligibility Nov. 16, and a decision will ultimately be made by the NCAA Committee on Student-Athlete Reinstatement. There were indications last month that the NCAA needed more information for the waiver to be granted. There's no definitive timeline on when a decision will be made.
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Ole Miss QB Chambliss faces complex process to get 6th year​

The waiver itself -- like many NCAA eligibility issues -- is complex. But the gist is that Chambliss is asking for a medical redshirt for the 2022 season when he was at Ferris State. (He took a traditional redshirt season during his true freshman year there in 2021.)

Chambliss did not play any games in 2022. He is seeking the medical redshirt for that season as he dealt with persistent respiratory issues that ultimately led to surgery to remove his tonsils.

The initial feedback from the NCAA's case manager, delivered to Ole Miss on Dec. 8, indicated that the panel was not inclined to issue the waiver. It invited the school to submit additional information, as the committee wanted more contemporaneous medical documentation from 2022.

Did Sayin announce that he's not transferring yet? Oh.....that's not normal? To announce that you're NOT leaving? Huh.

This is from the recruiting thread

Donaldson was brought in to be a power back, but after the ever-brilliant OSU strength and conditioning staff had him drop 20 pounds during the offseason, his biggest strength (quite literally) was negated.

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If this wasn’t because he was sick or he was like 280 then wtf is the S&C team doing

Wait ..how did USC not know about the Irish's deal with the CFP when every conference signed off on it and even my stupid ass knew about it?

Trojans are pussies. They are looking for some way back to relevance and kicked ND off the schedule. ND immediately found a tougher opponent.

pnuts34 said:

Living in Cincinnati and having a buddy that takes me to the occasional UC game, I can tell you that this kid is very mid. And he hit the lotto by getting Texas tech to give him $5mil, because i doubt he would get drafted any higher than the 5th round at best. I mean he didn’t even pass for 100yds against Nebraska

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Just another reason I cannot take CFB seriously anymore. It's just a dumb "sport" now.

Ohio State cannot afford another bargain bin transfer portal class​

The Buckeyes whiffed in the portal in 2025, and they need to make up for it in 2026.

In its quest to repeat as national champions, Ohio State added 11 players via the transfer portal prior to the 2025 season. Of that group, only three made any sort of impact on the field for the Buckeyes, and two (so far) are now back in the transfer portal again.

Really only two of last year’s additions can be considered any sort of a success, those being tight end Max Klare and offensive lineman Phillip Daniels.

Klare finished the season as Ohio State’s third-leading receiver, totaling 448 yards on 43 receptions with a pair of touchdowns. The Purdue transfer’s numbers suffered a bit as a result of quarterback Julian Sayin’s struggles seeing the middle of the field down the stretch, as Klare should’ve had an early game-tying touchdown against Miami — among the many other times the talented pass-catching tight end was open but not targeted.

Daniels was brought in as a depth piece along the offensive line with the hopes that he would develop into a starting-caliber player down the road, but was forced into the starting right tackle role in year one in Columbus. Daniels performed admirably given the situation, lacking from a consistency standpoint but ultimately holding his own when not matched up against the Rueben Bain Jr.’s of the world.

The aforementioned third player to make any bit of impact of this Buckeyes’ transfer class is C.J. Donaldson, who began the year as Ohio State’s starting running back but lost the job to true freshman Bo Jackson. Donaldson was brought in to be a power back, but after the ever-brilliant OSU strength and conditioning staff had him drop 20 pounds during the offseason, his biggest strength (quite literally) was negated.

The rest of the 2025 transfer class for Ohio State was nothing short of a disaster.

Chief among that group was Ethan Onianwa, who came to Columbus as one of the top transfer tackles in the country but was immediately one of the worst offensive linemen on the roster. A complete miss from a player evaluation standpoint, the Buckeyes attempted moving Onianwa to guard before giving up on him entirely, finishing the year having played less than 100 total snaps.

Onianwa was far from the only whiff for Mark Pantoni and the Ohio State player evaluation staff.

Beau Atkinson was another huge miss. Coming over from UNC having posted 7.5 sacks for the Tar Heels in 2024, Atkinson looked completely overmatched on the field for the Buckeyes. Playing a little more than 200 total snaps on the season, the edge rusher finished the year as the second-worst graded defensive player on the roster, per PFF, with his lone sack coming in garbage time against Ohio.

Ohio State also brought in Jackson Courville at kicker, but never actually let him attempt a single field goal in a real game.
The Buckeyes instead trotted out Jayden Fielding, who having not once in his career shown he was capable of making important kicks, proceeded to help lose them the Big Ten title game against Indiana with a 27-yard shank.

Courville, meanwhile, has never in his career missed a field goal under 30 yards, and he is now back in the transfer portal.

There were a handful of other lower-tier additions, including offensive lineman Justin Terry from West Virginia and quarterback Eli Brickhandler from UConn, both of which were basically emergency backups at their respective positions.

There were also the FCS up-transfers, including defensive end Logan George and linebacker Ty Howard. George played 19 total snaps and was injured most of the season, having since re-entered the transfer portal. Howard never saw the field as likely the seventh or eighth linebacker on the depth chart.
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Just sayin' I guess it's no secret that the 2 biggest portal signees for 2025 (i. e. Ethan Onianwa and Beau Atkinson) were major disappointments this season. However, Beau Atkinson has another year of eligibility left; so. if he sticks around. (who knows?) he potentially could have a "banner year" in 2026.

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@BigWoof31

I love how Lou has been relentless on his attack on ND and their fans.