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Georgia entered Saturday’s showdown with Tennessee as the No. 3 team in the country, which says something about how these evaluations are made.

It’s true, of course, that the Bulldogs looked listless at times against miserable competition like Kent State and Missouri. And it’s true, too, that after a dominant Week 1 win over Oregon, there’s been little on the Dawgs’ schedule to get excited about. And no one can dispute that Tennessee had been impressive in a narrow win over Alabama and dominant victories against LSU and Kentucky.

None of this was wrong.

Yet, how could anyone doubt these Bulldogs?

The defending champs delivered their reminder in Saturday’s 27-13 win over the Volunteers, and barring an unlikely meltdown in the season’s final three games, they’ve essentially punched their playoff ticket.

For so many of the rest of college football’s top contenders, Saturday was nightmare material.

Alabama lost in overtime to LSU, giving Brian Kelly a signature win and upending the SEC West hierarchy. Bryce Young struggled, the Alabama defense had no answers for Jayden Daniels and the Crimson Tide became the third top-10 team to lose Saturday.

Ohio State slumbered through a miserable day in Evanston, as Northwestern held C.J. Stroud to just 76 passing yards. The Buckeyes prevailed 21-7, but it was the “Star Wars” prequels — part of the canon, but no one wants to watch it ever again.

Clemson‘s top-four ranking will be short-lived. DJ Uiagalelei was benched for the second straight game, only Cade Klubnik entered in relief just long enough to throw an INT deep in the Tigers’ own territory to set up an easy Irish TD. Notre Dame marched to a dominant 35-14 win that may well have been a death blow to Clemson’s playoff hopes.

Michigan rebounded to an easy win over Rutgers, but the Wolverines trailed at the half. TCU trailed entering the fourth quarter. Illinois‘ magical season came to an end against Michigan State. Kansas State, Oklahoma State and Syracuse — all riding a wave of enthusiasm just weeks ago — all lost, too.

According to ESPN Stats & Information research, six teams had 40-to-1 or shorter odds to win the national title entering Saturday. Three of them lost.

And then there was Georgia, defending champs, simply taking care of business.

A year ago, the narrative Georgia endured was one of doubt — doubt because of history, doubt because of its former walk-on QB, doubt because we demanded proof every week, and no team can deliver that.

This year, however, Georgia is powered not by the doubters, but by its own rabid confidence. This team is like the Kobe Bryant-era Los Angeles Lakers. Why get too excited over a road trip to Sacramento? Conserve your energy, bide your time.

After the season-opening win over Oregon, Georgia didn’t need its A-game. Heck, Stetson Bennett might as well have relaxed on a lawn chair, dangling his feet in a kiddie pool for the first half in each of Georgia’s past seven wins. These games simply didn’t matter beyond ensuring that Georgia finished with more points than the other team — a job that’s become exhaustingly easy.

Just look at how Saturday’s win unfolded. There were moments of pure brilliance, of course, like Bennett’s throw in the back of the end zone, hitting Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint. And indeed, the matchup problems Georgia presents with Brock Bowers and Darnell Washington are utterly unfair, but that duo accounted for just 34 yards against Tennessee.

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0:39

Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint elevates to make an outstanding snag and gets both feet in bounds to give the Bulldogs a 21-3 lead.

Bennett completed just 17 passes (and one run that offered an answer to a few hundred prank callers). There were no 100-yard receivers, no 100-yard rushers, no pick-sixes or long kick returns. Between rain-soaked hedges, Georgia was simply better at all the little things, and it forced Tennessee to play by that same blueprint, a plan foreign to the high-flying Vols. Tennessee climbed to the No. 1 ranking by outflanking all comers, by seeing how the magic trick was done, then plowing through the smoke and crashing through the mirrors. But Georgia offered none of that. The Dawgs just lined up, mano-a-mano, and won.

Nothing Georgia did Saturday was remarkable in a micro sense, but to view the win from a macro level was utterly breathtaking. This is what championships are built upon — not fireworks and drama, but 11 guys doing the right thing at the same time, one play after another, again and again. This is what Georgia does better than anyone else can.

Georgia is 9-0 and has two wins over top-eight opponents by a combined score of 76-16, not because of a treasure trove of highlights and otherworldly performances, but because they’re just repeatedly, relentlessly better.

Tide, Tigers dealt daggers

Alabama is the fulcrum on which all good playoff resumes are built, but this year, the Tide’s chances of punching their own playoff ticket now look all but over.

Dabo Swinney assured the world he had his QB even after benching DJ Uiagalelei against Syracuse and, turns out, he was right. Cade Klubnik‘s interception deep in his own territory doomed the Tigers to a brutal 35-14 loss to Notre Dame, which may well cost Clemson a playoff berth, too.

For the Tide, it’s their third loss in their past 10 games, its worst stretch since losing three of 10 in 2013 and 2014. But back then, those three losses were surrounded largely by dominance. The 2013 campaign ended with back-to-back losses, but the nine games that preceded them were all wins by 13 or more, and the 2014 season included a trip to the first College Football Playoff.

Now? Alabama could easily have four losses to its name already, if not for an injury to Texas QB Quinn Ewers and — well, whatever the heck you want to say about Texas A&M. Since winning the 2020 national championship, Alabama has had 10 games that either ended with a loss or a one-possession win.

So what’s gone wrong? Certainly, the receivers have not played well this season. The defense, too, has struggled at times, and had no answers for Daniels’ mobility on Saturday. And then, of course, there’s offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien, who spent Saturday looking like a dad really trying to relate to his teenage kids as he talked to them about the birds and bees.

Whatever the reasons, the bigger takeaway is this: Alabama used to beat teams getting off the bus. Now, that air of invincibility is gone, and that 2020 dominance feels like an awfully long time ago.

The same is true for Clemson, which ruffled feathers with its No. 4 ranking in the committee’s initial top 25 after close wins against Wake Forest, Florida State and Syracuse. But wins are wins, and the Tigers continued to pile them up, in spite of all the red flags. The luck came to a screeching halt Saturday, as Notre Dame utterly annihilated the Tigers’ O-line, frustrated Clemson’s QBs into two brutal INTs and scored on a botched punt.

It’s not enough for Notre Dame to doom the ACC to a slow death by refusing to join full time. Now the Irish have all but knocked the ACC out of playoff contention. Notre Dame has now won 28 straight games against the ACC in the regular season, including beating both of 2022’s likely division champs this season. Jack Swarbrick also stole Jim Phillips’ lunch money just for fun.

Clemson’s path to 11-1 is still fairly straightforward — home against Louisville, Miami and South Carolina to close out the regular season — but there’s a real question of whether turning over the offense to Klubnik with an eye toward 2023 makes sense. Clearly the young QB needs reps, but it seems equally clear he doesn’t make Clemson immediately better.

Alabama and Clemson have combined to win five of the eight national championships in the playoff era. There’s never been a season in which neither team made the playoff. After Saturday, 2022 is shaping up as a new era.

TCU gives us the drama we deserve

It’s a shame the College Football Playoff committee doesn’t see the beauty of TCU‘s modus operandi in 2022. The Horned Frogs entered Saturday ranked No. 7 in the committee’s initial top 25, a slap in the face for a team that had yet to lose, that had four wins on the road, that had toppled four straight ranked foes.

The argument, it seemed, was that TCU doesn’t win impressively enough, but “impressive” is a subjective term, and frankly, we can’t imagine why anyone would prefer a blowout to what has become the Horned Frogs’ weekly three-hour drama.

The narrative played out just as it always does on Saturday. TCU jumped out to an early lead over Texas Tech. The Red Raiders charged back and took a 17-14 lead into the fourth quarter. Then TCU pounced. The Horned Frogs are predators, and they enjoy toying with their prey.

Against Texas Tech, TCU scored 21 points in the fourth quarter. Sonny Dykes’ crew has now outscored opponents 55-14 in the final frame of its past four games.

The committee believes these late-game heroics are a sign of weakness. But perhaps TCU is just too cool for the committee. The Horned Frogs are the team that arrives to a party fashionably late, sporting a tuxedo T-shirt, a belt buckle the size of a Ford Focus and carrying a bottle of Hennessy it’s not intending to share.

Who needs blowouts? The college football season gives us far too many of those. TCU gives the people want they want — drama, intrigue, purple. It’s as if Prince were a college football team.

And sure, the dominance of other teams might impress the committee, but dominance is a tricky thing to maintain. Just look at Ohio State‘s Saturday trip to Evanston, Illinois. The usually dominant Buckeyes went to halftime tied at 7 with lowly Northwestern, pulled into the depths of misery by a team that knows that terrain far better. C.J. Stroud‘s Heisman Trophy campaign hit its biggest roadblock of the season against an opponent that surrendered 33 points to Iowa last week. Stroud averaged less than 3 yards per pass in Saturday’s 21-7 win. Now that is a real reason for committee skepticism.

But TCU? Those close games aren’t a reason for doubt. They’re a mark of certainty. TCU is consistent, and there’s genuine value in that. The Horned Frogs are like an episode of “Law and Order: SVU.” The early scenes might be tough to watch, the bad guys will have the upper hand and Ice-T will seem confused about what’s happening — but in the end, the audience knows the good guys always find a way to win.

So, what’s not to like about that? The committee wants blowouts, wants boredom. Well, not everyone gets the luxury of playing in the same division as Rutgers and Indiana.

We’ll take drama every time, and TCU — those guys know how to deliver the goods.

Noles win big

A year ago, Florida State‘s final-drive comeback to beat Miami likely sealed head coach Manny Diaz’s fate. He was fired at year’s end, despite the Hurricanes winning five of their final six games. That loss was too much to ignore.

And the move paid off, because this year’s loss to Florida State is definitely one Miami fans will want to ignore.

Jordan Travis threw three touchdowns in Florida State’s 45-3 win over the rival Canes, the largest road win by either team in the history of this series.

Trey Benson, who was entirely overlooked by Mario Cristobal when the two were together at Oregon, got a good taste of revenge, carrying 15 times for 128 yards and two touchdowns.

The win was so dominant that John Ruiz’s next Miami stadium proposal will actually be just a circus tent in the Everglades, while the Seminoles now have a genuine shot to run the table and finish the regular season with nine wins.

Heisman Five

The three leading Heisman contenders all had a brutal Week 10. Bryce Young, C.J. Stroud and Hendon Hooker combined to complete just 53% of their passes, averaged 5.4 yards per throw and had just one passing TD with two picks. Their Heisman campaigns certainly aren’t over, but after performances like that, we’re dropping all three from the list for this week, at least. So, who should be in the mix if we forget about the top contenders?

1. North Carolina QB Drake Maye

The redshirt freshman threw for 293, ran for 74 and accounted for three touchdowns in North Carolina’s 31-28 win over Virginia. Maye has been borderline flawless this season and has led UNC to come-from-behind wins against Georgia State, Duke, Pitt and the Cavaliers.

2. Oregon QB Bo Nix

Four more touchdowns for Nix in Saturday’s 49-10 win over Colorado, and he’s now accounted for 35 touchdowns on the season. That’s one more than he had in 2020 and 2021 combined at Auburn.

3. USC QB Caleb Williams

Williams has accounted for 14 touchdowns in his past three games after Saturday’s 41-35 win over Cal, with a date against woeful Colorado up next. But the final two games on USC’s slate — at UCLA and home against Notre Dame — are what will likely make or break Williams’ Heisman chances.

4. UCLA QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson

DTR had his fifth career game with multiple rushing and passing touchdowns in Saturday’s 50-36 win over Arizona State. He’s just the ninth Power 5 QB of the playoff era with five such games, joining the likes of Jalen Hurts, Lamar Jackson, Marcus Mariota and Patrick Mahomes.

5. Minnesota RB Mohamed Ibrahim

He missed Minnesota’s Week 5 game against Purdue (and the Gophers’ offense disappeared) but he’s still well over 1,000 yards on the season after Saturday’s performance which included 32 carries, 128 yards and two touchdowns. Ibrahim has now eclipsed 100 rushing yards in 17 straight games dating back to Minnesota’s bowl win over Auburn at the end of the 2019 campaign. Since at least 2004, no other running back has had a longer streak.

Going for two

Florida 41, Texas A&M 24

Point 1: Texas A&M was down more than a dozen players for this one, in large part due to the flu.

In fairness, there was no room in the budget for flu shots what with everyone checking their couch cushions to afford Jimbo Fisher’s buyout.

Point 2: Anthony Richardson accounted for four touchdowns — two passing, two rushing — and turned in his best game of the season, and Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper is already wondering if he can just go ahead and draft Richardson now.

Liberty 21, Arkansas 19

Point 1: Liberty is a failed 2-point try away from being undefeated with wins over two Power 5 teams and BYU right now. The Flames’ remaining schedule is a road trip to UConn and home against Virginia Tech and New Mexico State. There’s a good chance this team will finish 11-1 in the regular season. It’s honestly a bit heartbreaking to consider how close we might’ve been to Liberty holding a parade through Lynchburg and claiming a national championship based on some rather murky language in an obscure passage in the Book of Revelation.

Point 2: Unless Houston Nutt has any pending litigation at Auburn, doesn’t it seem like Hugh Freeze makes a ton of sense there?

Temple 54, USF 28

Point 1: Temple running back Edward Saydee entered Saturday with just 290 rushing yards on the season. But against USF, Saydee carried 24 times for 265 yards and three touchdowns in the 54-28 win.

Point 2: It’s fair to wonder if this was the last straw for USF’s Jeff Scott. The Bulls are 1-8 on the year and haven’t won a conference game. The 54 points allowed to Temple are 24 more than the Owls had scored in a game this season. Under Scott, USF is 4-26, and with SMU, a road trip to Tulsa and the finale against No. 25 UCF remaining, it’s unlikely things will get much better.

Kansas 37, Oklahoma State 16

Point 1: Kansas is going bowling. Well, sure, we assume the Kansas football team spends much of December bowling anyway — probably using those lanes with the gutter barriers because no one can endure more failure after a typical Jayhawks season. But this year, Kansas is actually going to a football bowl game, thanks to Saturday’s win over Oklahoma State. It will be Kansas’ first bowl game since 2008. In the interim, every FBS team except UMass and James Madison have played in a bowl.

Point 2: Saturday also marked Kansas’ first win over an AP top-25 opponent since 2010, when the Jayhawks knocked off No. 15 Georgia Tech. According to ESPN Stats and Information, the longest current losing streak against ranked opponents now belongs to Rutgers.

SMU 77, Houston 63

Point 1: There were 140 total points scored in this game. That is more than nine different teams had for the entire season entering Saturday. In Iowa, the broadcast of this game was censored as obscene content and replaced with images of Kirk Ferentz enjoying a warm glass of milk.

Point 2: Clayton Tune threw for 527 yards, ran for 111 and had eight touchdowns. And he lost. Tanner Mordecai, on the other hand, accounted for 10 touchdowns in the win — Ten! — and the combined effort of 16 passing touchdowns is the most ever in a game in FBS, FCS, Division II or Division III history, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.

Texas 34, Kansas State 27

Point 1: Bijan Robinson is a bad, bad man, and perhaps the most overlooked superstar in college football. He finished Saturday with 30 carries for 209 yards, and now has more than 1,100 rushing yards on the season. If Texas can win out, there’s a non-zero chance Robinson can fight his way into the Heisman conversation.

Point 2: Kansas State has to be the most difficult team to pin down this season. Lose to Tulane, beat Oklahoma. Get edged by TCU late, destroy Oklahoma State, then lose to Texas. It’s hard to blame Adrian Martinez for any of it. He threw for 329, ran for 52 and accounted for three touchdowns Saturday. Still, he clearly brought too much Nebraska with him to Kansas State. The Cornhusker curse cannot be erased by a simple trip through the transfer portal.

Michigan 52, Rutgers 17

Point 1: Rutgers led 17-14 at the half. Never forget that. On the other hand, in its past four games, Michigan has outscored its opponents 100-3 in the second half.

Point 2: Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards each ran for 109 yards, and Michigan’s ground game continues to dominate. The Wolverines are one of just three teams to rush for 150 yards or more in each of their first nine games this season, along with Oregon State and Air Force.

The most college football thing to happen in Week 10

For years, we’d foolishly assumed that the “Tech” in Louisiana Tech insinuated some type of boring technical education, like mechanical engineering or learning how to fix computers by unplugging them and then plugging them back in. But no. All this time, La Tech has been working on a far greater marvel of human achievement.

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0:23

Louisiana Tech Bulldog’s mascot Tech XXII drives around the end zone in a remote controlled Bugatti.

Did any of the previous 21 Tech mascots have their own cars? Does it make any sense that the dog is driving a Bugatti rather than, say, a perfect scale model of the General Lee from “Dukes of Hazzard”? And what does Uga think about all of this?

On second thought, don’t bother asking any of those questions. Something this perfect does not need a backstory.

Oh, and Louisiana Tech beat Middle Tennessee 40-24, so honestly any team that doesn’t have a live mascot in a remote-control car is probably just throwing away wins.

The other most college football thing to happen in Week 10

Hey, kid. Do your impression of what’s happened to Virginia‘s offense this season.

Under-the-radar game of the week

Marshall won a game in which it didn’t score a touchdown, had just 89 passing yards, and turned the ball over twice. Iowa is so jealous right now.

On the other hand, Marshall’s defense forced four turnovers, held Old Dominion to just 209 yards of offense, and stuffed the Monarchs on 14 of 16 third- or fourth-down tries.

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0:27

Old Dominion quarterback Hayden Wolff coughs up the football and Marshall’s TyQaze Leggs jumps on it.

The Thundering Herd beat Old Dominion, 12-0, in the fourth game this season without a touchdown being scored. The first two, of course, included Iowa. The third came last week between Miami and Virginia. So, congrats, Marshall. We’re sure you’re excited to add your name to that illustrious crew.

Under-the-radar play of the week

After back-to-back losses in ACC play, the league’s defending champ finally got back in the win column with a 19-9 victory over Syracuse.

That’s not to say all went well for Pitt, however.

See, this is why the analytics said to go for it.

Nothing could be finer …

There haven’t been many easy ones for North Carolina this season, but the Tar Heels escaped Virginia 31-28 on Saturday to give Mack Brown his first win in Charlottesville in his career. Drake Maye threw for 293 yards, ran for 74 more and accounted for three touchdowns to further bolster his Heisman credentials. UNC is now 8-1 and looks all but assured of winning the ACC Coastal.

But the party doesn’t end in Chapel Hill.

On Friday, Duke toppled Boston College 38-31 to move to 6-3, meaning all four of the North Carolina schools in the ACC — including NC State and Wake Forest, too — are bowl eligible for the first time ever.

None of this makes up for the fact that vinegar-based barbecue sauce is like wringing out a gym sock onto your pulled pork, but it’s still deserving of a serious Ric Flair “Woooooooo!” to celebrate.

UConn gets chesty

We don’t want to alarm anyone, but UConn is one win away from bowl eligibility. It’s fine. The odds are still not in its favor, but if you’ve been considering building that bomb shelter in your backyard, now might be a good time to plunk down the deposit.

The Huskies picked up win No. 5 on Friday by beating UMass, which comes just one week after toppling Boston College, and that had UConn’s social media team feeling its oats.

This is new territory for UConn, so we’ll forgive the mashup of John Irving and George R.R. Martin, but what’s utterly unforgivable is this total erasure of Holy Cross. The Crusaders are 9-0, and until UConn beats them, there will be no official title of Kings of the North bestowed upon anyone.

Big bets and bad beats

The safest bet in sports paid out again Saturday. Whenever two service academies get together, it’s limbo time — go low, lower and even lower on the game totals. The total for Saturday’s matchup between Army and Air Force was just 40.5 — a number Army had eclipsed by itself in each of its past two games, and a total Air Force had hit alone four times this season. But we know how this story ends. Army’s offense managed just 145 yards total, and the two teams combined to run the ball — and run out the clock — 85 times. Final: Air Force 13, Army 7. The win ensured the Falcons the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy for the first time since 2016, and since 2005, the under in any game featuring two service academies is 43-9-1, including the past 10 straight (and 15 of the past 16).

Michigan State pulled off the shocker against No. 16 Illinois, despite managing just 294 total yards — 147 fewer than the Illini — and going 3-of-11 on third down. The Spartans were 16-point underdogs in the game and the money line on a Michigan State win paid out at +550. We’re hoping Spartans boosters had plenty of cash on their guys in this one, since a win like this undoubtedly means a hefty extension is coming for Mel Tucker.

Entering Week 10, Ohio State had the shortest odds to win the national championship at +190, according to Caesars Sportsbook. But after Georgia’s domination of Tennessee, the Bulldogs are now the clear betting favorite at +150. Ohio State is the second-shortest odds now at +200.

The game total for SMU-Houston closed at 65.5. The Mustangs and Cougars hit that with 5:34 left in the second quarter, then doubled the total with 5:13 left to play in the game.

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Stanford hires former Nike CEO Donahoe as AD

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August 2, 2025

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Stanford hires former Nike CEO Donahoe as AD

  • Seth Wickersham

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    Seth Wickersham

    ESPN Senior Writer

    • Senior Writer for ESPN.com and ESPN The Magazine
    • Joined ESPN The Magazine after graduating from the University of Missouri.
    • Although he primarily covers the NFL, his assignments also have taken him to the Athens Olympics, the World Series, the NCAA tournament and the NHL and NBA playoffs.

Jul 31, 2025, 11:10 PM ET

Stanford has hired former Nike CEO John Donahoe as the school’s new athletic director, the university announced Thursday.

Donahoe, 65, will arrive in the collegiate athletic director space with a vast swath of business experience, as Stanford officials viewed him as a “unicorn candidate” because of both his business ties and history at the school. Stanford coveted a nontraditional candidate for the role, and Donahoe’s hire delivers a seasoned CEO with stints at Nike, Bain & Company and eBay. He also served as the board chair of PayPal.

He also brings strong Stanford ties as a 1986 MBA graduate. He has had two stints on the Stanford business school’s advisory board, including currently serving in that role.

“My north star for 40 years has been servant leadership, and it is a tremendous honor to be able to come back to serve a university I love and to lead Stanford Athletics through a pivotal and tumultuous time in collegiate sports,” Donahoe said in a statement. “Stanford has enormous strengths and enormous potential in a changing environment, including being the model for achieving both academic and athletic excellence at the highest levels. I can’t wait to work in partnership with the Stanford team to build momentum for Stanford Athletics and ensure the best possible experiences for our student-athletes.”

Donahoe replaces Bernard Muir, who announced in February that he was stepping down after serving in that role since 2012. Alden Mitchell has been the school’s interim athletic director.

The hire is a head-turning one for Stanford, bringing in someone with Donahoe’s high-level business experience. And it comes at a time when the athletic department has struggled in its highest-profile sports, as football is amid four consecutive 3-9 seasons and the men’s basketball team hasn’t reached the NCAA tournament since 2014.

In hiring Donahoe, Stanford is aiming for someone who can find an innovative way to support general manager Andrew Luck and the football program while also figuring out a sustainable model for the future of Stanford’s Olympic sports.

“Stanford occupies a unique place in the national athletics landscape,” university president Jonathan Levin said in a statement. “We needed a distinctive leader — someone with the vision, judgment, and strategic acumen for a new era of college athletics, and with a deep appreciation for Stanford’s model of scholar-athlete excellence. John embodies these characteristics. We’re grateful he has agreed to lead Stanford Athletics through this critical period in college sports.”

Stanford’s Olympic sports remain the best in the country, as Stanford athletes or former athletes accounted for 39 medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics. If Stanford were a country, it would have tied with Canada for the 11th-most medals. Stanford has also won 26 of the possible 31 director’s cups for overall athletic success in college, including a 25-year streak from 1995 to 2019.

School officials approached Donahoe in recent weeks about the position, with both Levin and former women’s basketball coach Tara VanDerveer among the chief recruiters. Donahoe has a long-standing relationship with both, as he maintained strong ties to the school throughout his career.

Sources said Luck will report to Donahoe. Luck spent time with him in the interview process and is excited to work with him, sources said. It’s also a change from the prior structure, as upon Luck’s hiring he had been slated to report to Levin.

“I am absolutely thrilled John Donahoe is joining as our next athletic director,” Luck said in a statement. “He brings unparalleled experience and elite leadership to our athletic department in a time of opportunity and change. I could not be more excited to partner with and learn from him.”

Stanford is set to begin a football season in which it is picked to finish last in the 17-team ACC. Former NFL coach Frank Reich is the interim coach, and both sides have made clear this is a definitive interim situation and that he won’t return after the 2025 season.

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Iowa State extends Campbell, bumps pay to $5M

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Iowa State extends Campbell, bumps pay to M

  • Max OlsonAug 1, 2025, 04:59 PM ET

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    • Covers the Big 12
    • Joined ESPN in 2012
    • Graduate of the University of Nebraska

Iowa State and coach Matt Campbell have finalized a contract extension through 2032 after the winningest coach in program history led the Cyclones to their first-ever 11-win season in 2024.

Campbell will earn $5 million per year in total compensation, according to a copy of the contract obtained by ESPN on Friday. The three-time Big 12 Coach of the Year honoree took a discount on the deal, sources told ESPN, to ensure that his staff salary pool increased and to allow Iowa State to allocate an additional $1 million to revenue-sharing funds for its football roster.

Campbell earned $4 million in 2024 while leading the Cyclones to a Big 12 championship game appearance, an 11-3 record and a No. 15 finish in the AP poll. He’s entering his 10th season in Ames and has won a school record of 64 games during his tenure.

Colorado coach Deion Sanders will be the Big 12’s highest-paid head coach this year at $10 million after landing a five-year, $54 million contract extension in March. Campbell’s new salary will not rank among the top five in the conference, but he prioritized maximizing Iowa State’s ability to invest in its football roster following a historic season.

Campbell, 45, told ESPN in July at Big 12 media days that “probably our top 20 guys took a pay cut to come back to Iowa State” for 2025, relative to what they could’ve earned in NIL compensation by entering the transfer portal.

The head coach’s deal includes performance incentives based on the Cyclones’ regular-season record, starting at $250,000 for seven wins and climbing to $1.5 million for a 12-0 season. He’ll earn at least $100,000 for a Big 12 title game appearance and up to $500,000 for a Big 12 championship. The deal also permits him to distribute up to $100,000 of his performance incentive earnings each year to his football staff.

If Campbell accepts another Power 4 head coaching job before the end of his contract, his buyout would be $2 million. He would not owe liquidated damages if he departs for an NFL coaching opportunity. Campbell interviewed with the Chicago Bears in January during the organization’s head coaching search.

Campbell surpassed Dan McCarney as the program’s winningest head coach last season and has led the Cyclones to bowl games in seven of the past eight seasons, including a Fiesta Bowl victory and a top-10 finish in 2020.

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What you missed from college football recruiting this summer

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August 2, 2025

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What you missed from college football recruiting this summer

  • Eli LedermanAug 2, 2025, 07:33 AM ET

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      Eli Lederman covers college football and recruiting for ESPN.com. He joined ESPN in 2024 after covering the University of Oklahoma for Sellout Crowd and the Tulsa World.

The busiest 60 days of the annual recruiting calendar are officially behind us. And while another four months still remain before the December early signing period, college football’s top programs have already wrapped up the majority of their business in the 2026 cycle.

Per ESPN Research, a total of 155 prospects in the 2026 ESPN 300 made commitments in an avalanche of summer recruiting business from June 1 to July 31. In the wake of that, only 16 uncommitteds remain in the ESPN 300 as of Saturday morning. Within that group are just nine top-100 recruits, with five-star defensive end Jake Kreul, No. 2 running back Savion Hiter and No. 2 defensive tackle Deuce Geralds among those expected to come off the board in August.

More settled by this point of the cycle than any other in recent memory, college football’s 2026 class is unfolding against the backdrop of yet another moment of change in the sport. The House settlement and earliest ebbs of college athletics’ revenue sharing era have already shaped the 2026 cycle, and their effects will continue to ripple across the class until February’s national signing day.

As the recruiting trail prepares to take a (relative) back seat to fall camp practices, here’s a look at how the cycle played out this summer and what could come next for the class of 2026:

Revenue sharing and a new era in recruiting

The House settlement, which now permits schools to pay their athletes directly, among other sweeping changes, officially took effect July 1.

But according to personnel staffers, agents, recruits and parents surveyed by ESPN this month on the condition of anonymity, byproducts of college football’s new reality and the initial revenue sharing cap of $20.5 million across all sports have been steering the 2026 cycle for months. “In the past, collectives would always say we’re only going to offer what we know we can pay you,” a player agent told ESPN. “Now programs know what the budget will be, and harder numbers were discussed earlier than usual. The ability for programs to get those numbers out there early was huge.” As schools prepared roster budgets and braced for post-settlement oversight this spring, a number of Power 4 programs began front-loading their 2025 rosters in the lead-up to July 1.

In some cases, that meant negotiating updated, pre-settlement contracts with transfers and current players, deals that will not count against the post-July 1 revenue share cap. In others, sources told ESPN that programs and collectives found workarounds on the recruiting trail, doling out upfront payments as high as $25,000 per month to committed recruits in the 2026 class, primarily through advantageous high school NIL laws that exist in states such as California, Oregon and Washington.

Those front-loading efforts helped several programs jump out to fast starts in the 2026 cycle. Per sources, the impending arrival of revenue sharing also played a significant role in speeding up the 2026 class this spring. With programs in position to present firmer financial figures, a flurry of elite prospects committed to schools on verbal agreements before July 1.

“People rushed to get deals done pre-House,” a Power 4 personnel staffer told ESPN. “You know there’s only so much money available, and schools let kids know that. The first one to say yes gets it.”

Friday loomed especially large in the short-lived history of the House settlement.

Per the settlement, Aug. 1 was the first official date rising seniors could formally receive written revenue share contracts from programs and NIL collectives, the latter of which will now operate under looser regulation from the newly founded College Sports Commission, per a memo sent to athletic directors on Thursday. Put another way, Aug. 1 was the first day committed prospects and their families could officially learn whether terms they had agreed to earlier this year were legit.

“We’re going to see how serious these schools are,” said the parent of an ESPN 300 quarterback. “I think we might see some kids decommit and find new schools this fall.”

Across the industry, sources believe programs will, for the most part, deliver on the verbal agreements. Multiple agents and personnel staffers told ESPN that a number of programs have also generally ignored the Aug. 1 stipulation across the spring and summer, presenting frameworks of agreements to prospective recruits or flouting the rule entirely. Another question hovering over the months ahead: How much will these agreements do to contain the annual shuffle of flips, decommitments and late-cycle drama in the 2026 class?

“These deals should keep things more in check,” another Power 4 personnel staffer said. “But I’m not naive to think some won’t flip. There’s some snakes out there.”

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No. 1 overall prospect Lamar Brown commits to LSU

No. 1 overall prospect Lamar Brown stays home and commits to play for the LSU Tigers.

Where do things stand with the 2026 five-star class?

Oregon offensive tackle commit Immanuel Iheanacho, No. 13 in the 2026 ESPN 300, initially planned to announce his commitment Aug. 5. But, like many of the 2026 five-stars who entered late spring still uncommitted, Iheanacho felt the heat of an accelerated market in June.

“There were a couple of schools I was looking at that asked me to commit early, really wanting to get me in their class,” Iheanacho told ESPN. “Oregon didn’t rush me at all.”

Even so, Iheanacho eventually shifted his commitment timeline forward more than a month. ESPN’s second-ranked offensive line prospect picked the Ducks over Auburn, LSU and Penn State on July 3, landing as one of 11 five-star recruits to commit between June 14 and July 20.

As of Saturday morning, only one of the record 23 five-star prospects in ESPN’s class rankings for 2026 remains uncommitted. LSU secured a class cornerstone and the highest-ranked pledge of the Brian Kelly era in No. 1 overall recruit Lamar Brown on July 10. Meanwhile, Florida (McCoy) and Texas A&M (Arrington) each landed a top-15 defender, Ojo landed a historic deal with Texas Tech, and Texas closed July with the most five-star pledges — four — in the country.

With Kreul, the skilled pass rusher from Florida’s IMG Academy nearing a decision from among Ole Miss, Oklahoma and Texas, ESPN’s 2026 five-star class could be closed out before Week 0.

No matter how it plays out from here, the cycle’s five-stars are already historically settled. As of Saturday morning, 95.6% of the five-star class is committed among 14 schools across the Power 4 conferences. Per ESPN Research, it’s by far the highest Aug. 1 five-star pledge rate in any cycle since at least 2020. Just over a decade ago, only six of the 20 five-stars (30%) in the 2015 cycle were committed on Aug. 1, 2014; nearly half the class committed after New Year’s Day.

Highest rate of five-star pledges by Aug. 1 since the start of the 2020 cycle

  • 2026: 95.6%

  • 2024: 76.1%

  • 2025: 72.7%

  • 2021: 66.6%

  • 2020: 58.8%

A number of factors — the early signing period, NIL, transfer portal, new rules around recruiting windows and on-campus visits — explain why elite recruiting continues to inch further and further from the traditional February signing day. Amid the fallout of the House settlement, the latest five-star class seemingly received another nudge this summer.

What’s left for the 2026 QB market after summer moves?

The last major quarterback domino in the 2026 class fell July 18 when four-star Landon Duckworth (No. 178 overall) committed to South Carolina. More than four months from the early signing period, the quarterback market in 2026 is effectively closed.

After Ryder Lyons (BYU), Bowe Bentley (Oklahoma) and Jaden O’Neal (Florida State) found homes in June, Duckworth was the last uncommitted ESPN 300 quarterback. Further down the class, several major programs across the Big Ten and SEC dipped into the flip market or outside the top 300 to secure their 2026 quarterback pledge(s) this summer.

Notable quarterback moves since June 1:

Oregon ended its monthslong chase for a quarterback pledge June 25 with former Boise State commit Beaver. One of the cycle’s top summer risers after a standout Elite 11 finals showing, Beaver landed with Ducks coach Dan Lanning and offensive coordinator Will Stein over interest Alabama, Auburn, LSU and Ole Miss in whirlwind, 13-day rerecruitment.

Alabama has five-star freshman Keelon Russell. But still repairing the program’s quarterback pipeline under coach Kalen DeBoer, the Crimson Tide added two pledges this summer between Thomalla — an Iowa State flip — and Kaawa. Across the state, Auburn and coach Hugh Freeze made their move June 26 flipping Falzone from Penn State before Ohio State (Fahey) and Kentucky (Ponatoski), another pair of quarterback-needy programs, landed pledges in July.

For now, the quarterback class is settled and only so many major programs are still searching in 2026.

Among the 68 Power 4 programs and Notre Dame, only 10 reached August without at least one pledge among the 106 quarterback prospects rated by ESPN: Colorado, Georgia Tech, LSU, Iowa, Iowa State, Maryland, Stanford, UCLA, Virginia Tech and West Virginia.

Who might still be looking within that group?

Colorado (Julian Lewis), Maryland (Malik Washington) and UCLA (Madden Iamaleava) each signed a top-300 quarterback in the 2025 class. With all three programs in the midst of roster rebuilds, none is likely to make a serious push at the position this fall.

With Garrett Nussmeier out of eligibility in 2025, and after the LSU lost No. 1 overall recruit Bryce Underwood to Michigan last fall, the Tigers remain a program to watch in the coming months.

What did ESPN’s top five classes do this summer?

The Trojans got the bulk of their work done on the trail this spring and began June with the most ESPN 300 pledges of any program nationally. That remains the case as USC has bolstered its top-ranked incoming class with five more ESPN 300 pledges over the past eight weeks, adding defenders Talanoa Ili (No. 54 overall), Luke Wafle (No. 104) and Peyton Dyer (No. 269), a July 4 pledge from No. 3 wide receiver Ethan “Boobie” Feaster (No. 25) and the commitment of highly regarded four-star offensive guard Breck Kolojay (No. 198) on Friday.

Can USC hold on to secure its first No. 1 class since 2013? Time will tell. Sources told ESPN that the Trojans’ biggest moves in the cycle are likely finished while the program continues to target the tight end and safety positions, but there’s still time for plenty more to unfold this fall.

The Bulldogs went for volume and quality this summer, collecting 19 commitments including 12 from inside the ESPN 300. Georgia continued to build around five-star quarterback Jared Curtis with five-star tight end Kaiden Prothro, top-50 offensive tackle Ekene Ogboko, running back Jae Lamar and pass catchers Brayden Fogle and Craig Dandridge. On the other side of the ball, defensive backs Justice Fitzpatrick, Chase Calicut and Caden Harris, and defensive tackle Pierre Dean Jr. rank among the newest arrivals in an increasingly deep Bulldogs defensive class.

Georgia’s summer wasn’t without a few major misses. Losing out to Texas on No. 1 outside linebacker Tyler Atkinson — a priority in-state target — stung. Top running back Derrek Cooper’s subsequent pledge to the Longhorns marked another blow, as did wide receiver Vance Spafford‘s decision to flip to Miami in late June. But the Bulldogs are loaded up once again on top during this cycle and will hit the fall in line to secure the program’s 10th straight top-three signing class for 2026.

The Aggies landed a key local recruiting win over Texas on June 17 with a commitment from No. 5 running back K.J. Edwards, the state’s No. 6 prospect in 2026. But Texas A&M’s summer of recruiting was defined on defense, where coach Mike Elko is building another monster class.

Five-star athlete Brandon Arrington, who will play defensive back in college, became the program’s top-ranked 2026 pledge on June 19. Behind him, the Aggies have added top-150 defenders Bryce Perry-Wright, Camren Hamiel and Tristian Givens, and top 300 linebacker Daquives Beck since June 1 to a defensive class that features nine ESPN 300 pledges.

Even after narrowly missing on top defenders Lamar Brown (LSU) and Anthony Jones (Oregon) in July, Texas A&M holds one of the nation’s deepest classes and appears poised to contend later this year for its first top-five class since the Aggies went No. 1 in 2022.

It was a five-star bonanza for coach Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns this summer.

It began with a late-June pledge from Oregon decommit Richard Wesley, ESPN’s No. 3 defensive end. From there, Texas went on to secure its latest pair of recruiting wins over Georgia last month, swooping in to land Atkinson on July 15 before earning Derrek Cooper’s commitment five days later. With No. 1 quarterback Dia Bell already in the fold, the Longhorns have as many five-star pledges in 2026 as the program signed across 11 classes from 2011 to 2021.

Top-50 offensive lineman John Turntine III marked a key addition July 4, and the Longhorns got deeper on defense with commitments from cornerback Samari Matthews and former Georgia defensive tackle pledge James Johnson. But the five-star moves have been the story for Texas this summer, and Sarkisian & Co. might not be done yet with the Longhorns heavily in the mix for Jake Kreul, the last remaining five-star in the 2026 class.

After a productive spring, the Irish landed five ESPN 300 pledges after June 1, plugging the few remaining holes in the program’s 2026 class with a series of elite high school prospects.

Notre Dame landed its top two defensive back commitments within hours of each other on June 20 with pledges from cornerback Khary Adams and Joey O’Brien. On June 26, the Irish secured their highest-ranked tight end commit since the 2021 class in four-star Ian Premer. And in early July, Notre Dame bolstered its wide receiver class with an infusion of talent and NFL pedigree, adding Kaydon Finley (son of Jermichael Finley), Brayden Robinson and Devin Fitzgerald (son of Larry Fitzgerald).

Notre Dame’s trip to last season’s national title game arrived amid the program’s steady rise on the recruiting trail under coach Marcus Freeman. That has continued in 2026, where the Irish are poised to sign more ESPN 300 pledges — 17 — than in any cycle since at least 2006.

Five programs poised to push for a top-five finish this fall

Current ESPN class ranking: No. 6

Only one program can match USC’s count of nine top-100 pledges in 2026: Alabama.

The Crimson Tide’s second class under coach Kalen DeBoer boomed in June and July as the Crimson Tide secured a slew of commitments on defense with five-star safety Jireh Edwards (No. 23 overall), No. 3 outside linebacker Xavier Griffin (No. 30) and defensive ends Nolan Wilson (No. 53) and Jamarion Matthews (No. 92). Priority in-state offensive targets Ezavier Crowell (No. 31) and Cederian Morgan (No. 47) marked two more key additions this summer.

Alabama whiffed on another major in-state recruit Thursday when four-star outside linebacker Anthony Jones, the state’s No. 1 prospect in 2026, committed to Oregon. Jones represented one of the last elite targets on the Crimson Tide’s board. But Alabama has already flipped four Power 4 commits this summer and could continue to climb this fall as long as DeBoer and his staff remain active within the class from now to the early signing period.

Current ESPN class ranking: No. 11

LSU enters the month with ESPN’s No. 1 overall recruit, a five-star wide receiver in Tristen Keys (No. 10 overall) and 10 total ESPN 300 commits in the program’s incoming recruiting class.

How can the Tigers climb into the upper reaches of the 2026 cycle this fall? First and foremost, they have to hang onto Keys, ESPN’s No. 3 wide receiver. He has been committed to LSU since March 19, but that didn’t keep him from taking multiple official visits in the spring or shield him from serious flips efforts from Miami, Tennessee and Texas A&M this summer.

The Tigers’ battle to keep Keys could stretch all the way to the early signing period.

Sources expect LSU to ramp up its own flip efforts with in-state safety and Ohio State pledge Blaine Bradford (No. 34 overall) in the coming months. The Tigers are also finalists for Deuce Geralds and remain top contenders in the recruitments of offensive linemen Darius Gray (No. 73) and wide receiver Jase Mathews, both of whom are set to commit in August. LSU can’t be counted out from renewing its work in the 2026 quarterback this fall, either.

Current ESPN class ranking: No. 7

The defending national champs had a relatively quiet summer atop the 2026 cycle, adding only four ESPN 300 pledges highlighted by the in-state pledges of outside linebacker Cincere Johnson (No. 82 overall) and running back Favour Akih (No. 160). Fahey, ESPN’s No. 28 pocket passer, will pad Ohio State’s future quarterback depth after Air Noland‘s offseason transfer, too.

One priority target who could help push the Buckeyes over the edge is four-star prospect Bralan Womack (No. 32). Ohio State has been consistent a leader in the recruitment of ESPN’s No. 3 safety through the spring and summer, and coach Ryan Day & Co. will have to hold off late pushes from fellow finalists Auburn, Florida and Texas A&M from now until Womack’s Aug. 22 commitment date. The Buckeyes also remain involved in the recruitments of No. 2 running back Savion Hiter and Darius Gray, the nation’s 10th-ranked offensive lineman.

Current ESPN class ranking: No. 8

Wolverines coach Sherrone Moore has filled out his class with nine ESPN 300 pledges since June 1, headlined by top-100 defender Carter Meadows (No. 88 overall), who trails only quarterback Brady Smigiel (No. 44) among the top prospects pledged to Michigan in 2026.

Who could be next for the Wolverines? Michigan are finalists for ESPN 300 defenders Davon Benjamin (No. 63) and Anthony Davis Jr. (No. 299) with each set for a decision Saturday. More prominently, the Wolverines remain focused on Hiter (No. 24 overall), a top priority for the Michigan staff this summer whose commitment date is set for Aug. 19. The Wolverines also continue to be linked with Syracuse wide receiver pledge Calvin Russell (No. 28). ESPN’s No. 4 wide receiver closed a narrowing process with a commitment to the Orange on July 5, but sources expect Michigan and Miami to remain involved with Russell this fall.

Current ESPN class ranking: No. 10

No. 2 outside linebacker Anthony Jones committed to the Ducks on Thursday, joining five-stars Immanuel Iheanacho and Jett Washington in a string of high-profile pledges for Oregon this summer.

Insiders believe the Ducks have backed off at the very top of the 2026 class after spending in the 2025 cycle, but Jones’ pledge could be the first move in a late-summer surge for coach Dan Lanning. Oregon is viewed as the front-runner for both Deuce Geralds and Davon Benjamin as the pair of top-65 prospects prepare to announce their commitments Saturday afternoon. If the Ducks land both, Lanning & Co. could be in position to sign another top-five class by December.

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