2025-26 College Football Thread

[Déjà Bru]

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

Remember, his son Steve is supposed to be the HC in waiting.

This is an interesting statement. Is this generally known or just your speculation? And if generally "known", is it the official plan or just a consensus of opinion?

I can see Belichick bringing in his son as defensive coordinator — nepotism is not an issue! — and Steve does have an impressive résumé, but is he actually acknowledged as heir apparent?

One wrench in the works could be, he gets a better offer elsewhere, particularly from the NFL. He may find more welcome mats spread for him there than his dad has. Even just one more than Dad.

[Cobra Mgr]

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

This is an interesting statement. Is this generally known or just your speculation? And if generally "known", is it the official plan or just a consensus of opinion?

I can see Belichick bringing in his son as defensive coordinator — nepotism is not an issue! — and Steve does have an impressive résumé, but is he actually acknowledged as heir apparent?

One wrench in the works could be, he gets a better offer elsewhere, particularly from the NFL. He may find more welcome mats spread for him there than his dad has. Even just one more than Dad.

It is not official. There is no language in the contracts. But it was rumored from the start. And think about it.........if you have a 75 yr old HC, how are you going to offset the recruit & his family's concern that he & his staff won't be around the full 4-5 years he is in college? By telling them you already have his potential replacement on campus.

And speaking of recruiting...........banning NFL scouts from your practices sends a bad message to blue chips. They want to know you are doing everything in your power to get them to the next level. Belichek needs to check his paranoia on this issue. When he establishes himself as a top dog coach @ this level, then he can go Kim Jong Un on his program.

[Déjà Bru]

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

And speaking of recruiting...........banning NFL scouts from your practices sends a bad message to blue chips. They want to know you are doing everything in your power to get them to the next level. Belichek needs to check his paranoia on this issue. When he establishes himself as a top dog coach @ this level, then he can go Kim Jong Un on his program.

Leftover bitterness? Note that he banned only New England Patriots . . . but, wait a minute. There is this:

Two NFL scouts who work for other teams told ESPN that North Carolina, under Belichick's leadership, offers limited access to all NFL personnel. Clubs are allowed to speak only with Jourdain, and UNC's college relations website says that "scouts will have zero access to coaches or other personnel people," according to the scouts.

My guess is that Belichick does not want NFL scouts to be turning the heads of his young players. Rather, to be concentrated on UNC football. It does seem rather autocratic in this day and age (in a non-political venue, that is. )

[Cobra Mgr]

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

Leftover bitterness? Note that he banned only New England Patriots . . . but, wait a minute. There is this:



My guess is that Belichick does not want NFL scouts to be turning the heads of his young players. Rather, to be concentrated on UNC football. It does seem rather autocratic in this day and age (in a non-political venue, that is. )

Exactly why he wants it. But it will make him pay in the long run. Head football coaches are so paranoid about free will. You can't control people. You can only lead people.

[Déjà Bru]

Here is an eyebrow-raiser. From The Athletic:

Big 12 suspends officiating crew for allowing punt after TD in Missouri win vs. Kansas

By Scott Dochterman



The Big 12 has suspended an officiating crew for allowing Missouri to punt after scoring a touchdown rather than attempting a traditional kickoff in the Tigers’ 42-31 win against Kansas on Saturday.

Missouri scored a touchdown with 10:53 left in the first quarter but was assessed a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty, which backed up the Tigers to their 20-yard line on the ensuing kickoff. Missouri’s Connor Weselman punted the ball rather than kicking off from a tee.

For punting on the kickoff, officials should have assessed Missouri a 5-yard penalty for an illegal kick, which would have given Kansas the ball at its 43-yard line rather than its 38.

According to a Big 12 statement, the play violated Rule 2, Section 16, Article 6 of NCAA Football rules, which reads: “A kickoff is a free kick that starts each half and follows each try or successful field goal attempt (Exception: In extra periods). It must be a place kick or a drop kick.”

The Big 12 officiating crew, which was assigned to the cross-conference matchup, was reprimanded and removed from its upcoming scheduled game on Friday.

“We believe we have one of the best officiating programs in college football,” Big 12 chief football and competition officer Scott Draper said in a statement. “When the Conference’s high standard for officiating is not met, the Big 12 will take action.”

How did the crew chief not know this?

[Cobra Mgr]

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

Here is an eyebrow-raiser. From The Athletic:



How did the crew chief not know this?

Ever read the rule book for any major team sport? There is so much minutiae I'm surprised there aren't more goof ups. But I would think place kicking on a kickoff was common knowledge. The fact that the whole crew was suspended leads me to believe the crime was not an individual blanking but the entire group not getting together.

Wish more crews got publicly disciplined for clear screw ups

[Déjà Bru]

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

Wish more crews got publicly disciplined for clear screw ups

That depends, perhaps, on the presence or absence of a strong union. I found a link to this one, but that doesn't seem to be applicable to NCAA and I never heard of it before.

This article is from ten years ago, but I imagine the situation is still the same, "college officials . . . are independent contractors, would face legal difficulties to unionize." So I guess matters are still the same today.

But the gist was, "College football officiating, at least at times, has been dreadful during the 2015 season. From poor on-field calls to even worse replay reviews, changes need to be made and these experts know exactly what to do." So while it is eyebrow-raising that the incident occurred to begin with, it is also eyebrow-raising in that we are wishing that more disciplinary measures were taken in college football officiating. From your apparent exasperation, it is evident that things have not improved all that much.

[Cobra Mgr]

This is different...........ACC ref quits over how league command center handled a replay last week. If ESPN's recounting is correct he has a right to be pissed.

[Cobra Mgr]

Never trust the kicker.

[Déjà Bru]

I don't want to dump on this guy — I have no reason to do so — but I must empathize with him. Can you imagine the pressure that he is under, with his pedigree and the resulting elevated expectations? This alone could account for his "shaky performance".

Arch Manning says he must play better after boos from Texas fans

Now, this for perspective: The fans were booing even though Texas beat UTEP, 27-10!

[Amazin69]

So…that was quick. LaNorris Sellers gets kayoed (on a hit that generated a "targeting" call), doesn't return, and the 'Cocks go limp. 31-7, Vanderbilt.

Yes, Alabama survived losing to the Commodores and still made the playoff last season, but that was in Nashville. And I'm fairly certain the Tide had the good sense to have a credible back-up QB on the roster, not to mention an actual offensive line.

Luke Doty ain't no Randy Ashford, I'm just saying.

(Also, what's Beamer's plan for next year? Grab somebody out of the portal? That's fairly flimsy, IMO.)

[Déjà Bru]

Along the lines of outsized expectations, here is another example:

LSU moves to 3-0 with less than 'appealing' win over Florida

A win is no longer simply a win to today's media and fans. It must be accomplished spectacularly, or people are disappointed and bored.

I like LSU coach Brian Kelly's responses to this nonsense in his post-game interview:

Afterward, Kelly said the game was "one of the SEC classics" and foreshadowed his mindset by praising punter Grant Chadwick, who averaged 50.4 yards per kick and pinned the Gators (1-2, 0-1) inside the 20 four times.

"Sorry that that doesn't sound appealing to you folks, but I really don't care," Kelly said. "We're trying to win football games."

The first question he got was about his offense, and Kelly didn't wait for it to finish before going on the offensive.

"Stop. Really?" Kelly said. "Is that the first question? We won the game 20-10. Try another question. What do you want me to tell you? I just laid it out for you. We played the game to win the game."

. . .

"These are ridiculous questions, and I'm getting tired of it. That football team just worked their tail off to get an SEC win. And you want to know what's wrong? You're spoiled. ... This is ridiculous for a group of seasoned reporters. That kind of question is so out of line."

My bold.

[Cobra Mgr]

Virginia Tech fires HC Brent Pry When I looked at the score & it was ODU 31- VT 0, I knew he wouldn't last til Monday.

UCLA fires DeShaun Foster. Again, no surprise. I have no idea what the Bruin "brain" trust is thinking.

[Cobra Mgr]

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

Along the lines of outsized expectations, here is another example:

LSU moves to 3-0 with less than 'appealing' win over Florida

A win is no longer simply a win to today's media and fans. It must be accomplished spectacularly, or people are disappointed and bored.

I like LSU coach Brian Kelly's responses to this nonsense in his post-game interview:


My bold.

Brian Kelly is not known as a diplomat. As much as he wants to pretend to be a down to earth guy, I think everybody that watches knows he's a phony.

In this regard, while I do love it when media is put in their place, asking questions about the offense is a fair inquiry. LSU had one TD drive. The 2 FG's came on drives of 12 & 14 yds. The other TD was an INT return. W/5 INT's they only managed 20 points. They scored 17 vs a very much now suspect Clemson team and managed only 23 @ home vs lowly regarded Louisiana Tech. Just 5 offensive TD's this year.

Kelly is trying to deflect from his team's real problems on the offensive side of the ball.

[Cobra Mgr]

Some notes on the season so far.......

........This really looks like a year where anybody can win the national title. No one has impressed me at this point......This ain't your middle brother's SEC. Georgia should have lost to Tennessee (Josh Heupel's conservative play calling at the end lost the game for the Vols), and yet, they look like the only solid candidate from the conference. (This is why guaranteeing a certain amount of multiple playoff bids for the SEC & Big T1e8n is asinine. You can't guarantee that every year, those 2 will have half of the nation's top 12/16 teams.) I have not been impressed w/Penn or Ohio State. Miami is the only title candidate that has come close to looking like that on the field to me.

In fairness, w/the transfers the way they are now, it is harder for teams to come out firing on all cylinders on opening day. But that is true for the lower programs as well as for the blue bloods. And I'm not seeing the 30 point blowouts in the 1st half like I'm used to when they are playing Directional State. But I'm afraid we will still get situations like Bama getting into the playoff just because they are Bama.........

......dook paid Darian Mensah a reported $2M to leave Tulane. He was a decent 30 of 51 for 313 yds, 3td's & a pick. But the Blue Devils lost to the Green Wave 34-27. Must have been very satisfactory for Tulane fans.......

.......Vandy's next 2 are vs Ut St & Ga St. They could very well be 5-0 heading into October. Then it is Bama, LSU, Mizzo, Auburn, Kentucky & Tennessee. They could be 5-6 heading into bowl season........

.......Still wrapping my head around the fact Boston College @ Stanford was an ACC conference game. A 6 and a half hour flight. Or a 3,125 mile drive that would take you 46 hrs & across 12 states. Insanity...........

......GaT's spot in the ACC title game is theirs to lose. There is no Miami, no FSU, no Louisville. Toughest roadblock looks to be in Raleigh vs NCSt.......

......The Pac 2 lost by a combined score of 104-24.............

.....I hate when the press gives out awards prematurely. But who is the Heisman frontrunner now? It was Manning, Klubnick & Nussmeier were the faves coming in & neither is making plans for NYC in December now. Those guys have disappointed, but I hear of no one breaking out either.......

[monkeyman576]

As a Washington State Cougar fan I am rooting for Oklahoma and John Mateer to win it if the Cougars can't(which they can't).

Watching the reimagined Pac-12 will be fun though and hopefully we can eventually get to major conference status.

[Amazin69]

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

.....I hate when the press gives out awards prematurely. But who is the Heisman frontrunner now? It was Manning, Klubnick & Nussmeier were the faves coming in & neither is making plans for NYC in December now. Those guys have disappointed, but I hear of no one breaking out either.......

You forgot Sellers!

Now, you can forget Sellers…

[Cobra Mgr]

SEC Shorts Probably the best one they've done so far this year.

[Déjà Bru]

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

SEC Shorts Probably the best one they've done so far this year.

These SEC Shorts are top quality with great acting. Top LOLs in this one:

• Girlfriend/wife's face when the detective skips out on a birthday party to go to work.
  
• Dead body: South Carolina (nice stare when the sheet is removed). "Not so cocky now, huh?"
  
• King Vanderbilt appears, doing his strut dance, cane and all. In a police lineup. (The police join in.)
  
• Hysterical Tennessee fan needs a replay from better days on a borrowed phone to calm him down. Works immediately; apparently a short attention span.
• Guy in a Georgia Tech (blooper?) t-shirt, running through a backyard, eluding the SEC cops. What's he carrying? Part of a goalpost.
  
• To the closet blogger, good cop: "Put the keyboard down, son." Bad cop: "Arch Manning a fivestar. You make me sick."
  
• "Oh, I hate the night games. That's when the real voodkoo kicks up. They try and destroy evidence and you just hope you can get there before it's too late." They do, bagging Florida player #1 (blooper, QB DJ Lagway wears #2) throwing five footballs to LSU player #9 (#10, S Dashawn Spears, would have been better).
  
• Notre Dame: "Officer, that's her. She's right there. Get her!" She being Texas A&M: "Can I get a copy of those (police) notes verbatim for my dream journal?" Cop: "No jury in the world is going to convict a team that hasn't beat a ranked team on the road in 10 years. What's wrong with you, Rudy?"

A bit over the top and harsh, though: Tyler Buchner ducking the camera, petrified, hiding behind a tree. Especially in light of this:

Why NBC Should Be Ashamed of Notre Dame-Texas A&M Broadcast - "NBC's coverage of Tyler Buchner was pathetic."

[Cobra Mgr]

SEC Roll Call - Week 3