Leave the World Behind movie foreshadows massive cyber attack false flag event to come

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2 years ago

January 12, 2024

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The following is a partial auto-generated transcript of the Mike Adams broadcast (Brighteon Broadcast News) for Dec 13, 2023. It offers a full review of the “Leave the World Behind” movie as well as a discussion of the coming wave of cyber attack false flag events that will target America. The full broadcast episode is available late Wednesday morning in audio format at this link on Brighteon.com. Because this transcript is auto-generated, expect a few mistakes.

Now let’s talk about the movie “Leave the World Behind.” This movie was produced with funding from a company owned, as I understand it by Barack Obama and Michelle Obama. It was directed by Sam Esmail. And it stars among others, Julia Roberts, Ethan Hawke, Mahershala Ali, who’s a great actor, I really admire his acting by the way, and Kevin Bacon.

The movie is all the rage right now, for whatever reason. It’s filled with a lot of symbolism. And some people say there may be a lot of cult symbolism in the film, such as 666, in one of the opening scenes, and there are all kinds of other artistic interpretations. One of the ships that is grounded on the beach is called White Lion, which turns out to be the name of a slave ship. There are overtones of slavery and racial divide and civil war throughout the film. Far more than just a movie with anti-white tropes

However, I would say that the conservative take on this film is very shallow, because I’ve seen a lot of headlines from conservative media, including conservative alternative media that simply say this is an anti white film that makes white people look bad. And they mostly leave it at that. They’re just saying, Oh, this is Barack Obama funding a film that attacks whites. And although there are a couple of scenes in the film, where especially this young, black daughter of the one of the key characters in the film, she’s clearly an anti white racist. And she just hates white people. So she’s this woke little black girl, basically, who just hates everybody with fair skin. And yes, there are a couple of scenes in the film, with her talking about how you can’t trust white people. But that’s not what this film is about.

In fact, playing off against this anti white racist black girl is the mature woman character, the mom played by Julia Roberts. And this woman, although she doesn’t come across as racist, she comes across as a really angry, bitter, mature woman who just hates everybody. It’s not about hating black people. It’s about hating every person in the world. She’s a marketing executive, which actually kind of makes sense.

And then there’s a character played by Ethan Hawke, who is the husband of the Julia Roberts character, and they live in the city. I think New York City is what they’re referring to because the film takes place in Long Island. But the Ethan Hawke character is a male, neutered snowflake, oblivious citizen, who doesn’t know how to do anything. In fact, I’m gonna play a scene for you here that reinforces that he doesn’t know how to change a tire, doesn’t know how to use a firearm, he doesn’t know about preparedness or survival or anything. And basically, he is run by his wife, the Julia Roberts character who’s clearly in charge of that family.

And then there’s the character played by Mahershala Ali. I actually think he’s the best actor in the film, by the way. I love the work that he has done. But he plays a really sophisticated well educated, well to do black American who owns this house that is sort of rented out in a b&b arrangement to the Ethan Hawke, Julia Roberts family, and they’re just guests staying at his house. The Mahershala Ali character, he’s the father and he’s very polite. He’s very tolerant. He’s very reasonable. He has a calming personality. He is a de-escalation character in the film, whereas Julia Roberts is an escalation crazy woman in the film, and she does a great job playing that role by the way. But Mahershala Ali does a fantastic job here, bringing some key narratives to this film about preparedness, and community mindedness and how we work together and also helping to explore some of the racial overtones that we’ll talk about in a second.

Then finally, Kevin Bacon plays the American prepper. At one point in the movie, he’s on his porch, I’ll actually play the scene for you. He’s got an American flag, and he’s got a shot gun. He’s wearing a baseball cap, and he’s the All American guy who’s the prepper. He’s a handyman, he does contracting work, and he’s a hands on guy, he knows how to do stuff. You know, he can repair plumbing, for example, he can probably repair car engines and whatever. So he’s got food and ammo and who knows how much gold and whatever, and medicine we find out in the film. And yet, he is depicted as very much a you’re on your own type of prepper. He says that what’s mine is mine. Get off my porch, get off my yard, good luck, that kind of thing. So he is the, the lone wolf prepper, who is going to defend his property with his shotgun, which, frankly, may be necessary, depending on how crazy things get.

So that’s kind of the mix of the key characters of the film. And there are also three children involved if you’re wondering about the characters, the young daughter and son of the Julia Roberts family, and then the the young, racist black daughter of the Mahershala Ali character. And I don’t recall all the names of the characters in the film. I just refer to them as the names of the actors who play the roles. So the film is not a shallow, racist anti white film, even though it’s sometimes depicted as that. The film was actually very thoughtful. And I thought it was very well done. The cyber attack that brings down America’s power grid and telecom infrastructure

What the movie explores is a scenario where there are infrastructure attacks on the United States of America that take down telecommunications, and are designed to cause chaos and confusion among the American people in order to cause uprisings and revolts, and ultimately, a civil war in the country, There are effects of psychological warfare depicted in the film, for example, a small airplane dropping leaflets that appear to contain Arabic writing that says Death to America. And then, at another point in the movie, the Kevin Bacon character says that he knows somebody in the military that saw similar leaflets dropped in California, that actually contained writing that was either Korean or Chinese, he couldn’t tell the difference. So the disinformation aspect of warfare is covered in this film. But most importantly, this film witnesses the process that families, civilians go through in America, when they don’t know what is happening, but the services and infrastructure that they have come to depend upon are no longer working. They don’t have the normal access to information. You know, the news reports aren’t working, the internet isn’t working, they’re not getting information on their phones, except in one scene, there are some phone emergency texts that come through. But other than that, there’s really no communication in the film. There is a bunker in the basement of one home in the film where there’s some kind of military messaging coming across that says, as I recall, Washington DC is under attack. And this is a red alert situation, the nation is under attack, prepare accordingly.

I think this is where the film does a really good job, or the writers do a great job, they show these people not knowing what is happening, they attempt to continue with their normal vacation activities. They’re swimming in the swimming pool, they’re taking walks, and they’re just trying to live out a normal vacation, not realizing that their world is coming to an end, not realizing that they probably don’t have enough food to last very long. That was one of the questions that I had watching this film was how come nobody in this movie is wondering where the food is going to come from? When it comes to a prepping situation, you have to ask, how are you going to feed yourself?

I also kept wondering, Why were these people going out? They were venturing out into the unknown areas around this vacation home, they were venturing out without firearms. Which I just found horrifying. Because if I were going into an unknown situation, well, in fact, even when I’m going into known situations, you better believe I have a firearm with me. And not just one either, you know, a pistol on my hip, and then some kind of carbine in the vehicle or even maybe a medium range rifle in the vehicle depending on what I might be anticipating. But these people had no guns whatsoever, and they had no plan.

Now, the black father in the film played by Mahershala Ali, he apparently knew something about what was about to go down because one of his clients in the film was a defense contractor and the defense contractor was moving lots of money around in anticipation of some kind of big cyber event. So he knew something was going on. But he himself also was not a prepper. Nobody in this movie was a prepper except for the Kevin Bacon character with a shotgun and the American flag on his porch. And frankly, he looked like he could probably handle himself. So I want to play a segment of this for you. It’s about two minutes or a little longer than two minutes. That shows you the kind of tension. This is some of the prepper versus non prepper tension and also the mix of races in this film. To just give you a little taste of this I found this to be really the most emotionally impactful scene in the film.

clip plays

So several important things to notice about this clip. The deer are actually representing humanity. The humans are representing animals. That’s what I find fascinating here. So the deer are really more organized, they’re community minded, they’re working together, they’re more rational, and de escalatory. So the so-called animals are inquisitive and intelligent and very capable of surviving. The humans, especially those the two women that you saw in that clip, the the white woman, the Julia Roberts character, and then the younger, black girl. There they are acting like crazy animals having no idea what to do. Having no way to defend themselves, just feeling afraid and unsure. And all they can do is scream and dance around like animals. And even the deer think these humans are crazy. Let’s get out of here. This is a waste of time. So that’s notable.

There’s even one juxtaposition there where the Ethan Hawke character is screaming, I’m trying to reason with him. And then they show the two women that are screaming like animals in front of the deer. And the deer are probably thinking, gosh, we’re trying to reason with these humans, but they’re insane. Don’t be like the characters in this film who have no idea how to survive

But the most important line in that segment is when the Ethan Hawke character says, I have no idea what to do right now. And he says I can barely do anything without my cell phone and my GPS. And he even says, quote, I am a useless man. But my son is sick. And I think this self awareness of being a useless man, at least useless in this circumstance, is especially notable. Because I think there are a lot of people in America today that do realize that they don’t know how to do anything. But they have no choice other than just to be desperate and beg for help ask for help or maybe try to coerce help when they get into a difficult situation. And so what you really have in this scene is the Mahershala Ali character, the black man, even though he’s holding a gun, he is the voice of reason. The Ethan Hawke character is the voice of desperation. And uselessness. And then the Kevin Bacon character is the voice of Well, I told you so. And isolationism. So this is almost presented as a riddle, which is, what would you do in this situation? What would you do?

Now we know that the Kevin Bacon character has medicine that can help the boy the Son, and ultimately the way the scene ends. By the way, this is not a spoiler. And ultimately, the way this scene ends, I’m not spoiling the film for you, believe me. But it ends by the Kevin Bacon character selling a few pills, some kind of medication to the Ethan Hawke character in exchange for seemingly $1,000 in cash. Then the Kevin Bacon character even laments the fact that he’s accepting cash because he says he doesn’t know how long cash is going to be good anyway, depending on how badly things have broken down, but he does sell some medicine for cash. So there is a actually an exchange that takes place. The film presents a riddle: How would YOU handle a cyber attack grid down scenario?

But the question to you is, what would you do if you are in Kevin Bacon’s shoes, in this situation or in any of these characters shoes? Because remember, there’s no one else around, there’s not a crazy mob that’s trying to loot this home where Kevin Bacon lives or his character. He could easily say, Yeah, I’m happy to help you to the extent that I can, especially if it’s to help save the life of your son, you know, what do I have that could possibly help you? And that tends to be my answer. By the way, if I have something that I know can help other people, and if I can offer it to them in a way, that’s not going to compromise my own safety, and in a way that doesn’t encourage mass looting of my property, let’s say, then I’m happy to give supplies away. But then again, you probably know this, if you’ve listened to me for very long, I’m a community minded prepper. And I’ve been blessed with enough resources to be able to purchase a lot of things at scale with the intention of being able to share them with the community. Whereas a lot of people may not be in that position. And I understand that, especially those who are at the lower end of the economic scale, let’s say they don’t earn a lot of money. And, of course, food inflation is rather horrendous these days. So their preparedness activities may have been quite limited, they may only have enough for their own families, and quite literally not enough to share with others. But why not try to help in other ways? You know, maybe you have a book on medicine that could help them diagnose the problem. Maybe you have clean water with a water filter, and you could offer them water in case they’ve run out of water. Maybe you have, you know, something that’s very affordable such as rice supplies, for example to offer. Or maybe you can suggest that we work together, that we’re all going to be safer if we’re under the same roof. Potentially, I guess it’s up to the circumstances and the people who are involved, you might not want to invite strangers in your house. But at some point, if you’re in some kind of collapse scenario, there is strength in numbers.

One of the themes of this film is that these people eventually set aside their racist differences. Well, at least the young black girl, she’s clearly an anti white racist. But even the Julia Roberts character sets aside her hatred in the interest of trying to figure out how do we all survive this together. And that’s a really critical thing that we all need to understand.

…

I think it’s a film that explores the collision of some anti white woke racism, as well as just people hating individuals, as well as preppers versus non preppers. Escalation versus de escalation, desperation versus being calm, knowing versus not knowing, you know, panic, versus, you know, being chill and all these themes. That’s what the movie explores. And I think it does actually a good job at that. The takeaways from this movie, I think, are rather obvious. The first takeaway is, don’t be like the Ethan Hawke character if you’re a man, or woman. Don’t be like the Julia Roberts character either. Don’t be like either one of those characters because they are horrifically unprepared for what’s happening in society. And you really don’t get much traction running around just yelling and screaming and accusing people all the time, especially in face to face interactions. I mean, think about it. What would you do in a scenario if you were at a b&b rental home on vacation and there was a massive cyber attack on the world and that around you? What would you do? How would you treat people? Would you just get angry and start accusing everybody and start panicking? Or would you try to create organization? You know, how are we gonna survive this? Let’s list our basic needs here. Let’s assess an inventory of everybody’s skills. How about that? You know, who here that has medical knowledge? Who has firearms knowledge? Who can stay up at night and do a night shift? You know, for security? Who is good with radios and comms? These kinds of questions. Who has the best firearm here? Does anybody have any night vision?

You take inventory and then you figure out how we’re going to work together to survive. And then also, what skills can we teach each other right now, so we can cross train and have redundancy. And also, what are the likely threats that we are facing here together? And how can we best strategically address those threats in a way that we all survive? The other big takeaway from this is, Don’t be caught unprepared. Because we are probably facing major cyber attacks. And I’ll cover that in the next section here. But this movie, in the minds of many people is a type of predictive programming. It’s putting these themes out there, because this is exactly what is being planned. And it’s very likely that a false flag cyber attack event is going to be rolled out and blamed on China. That’s my analysis. And that’s what I’m going to cover in the next segment here. We’ll talk about some specific things that you can do to prepare for that. And things that will also help you prepare for other scenarios, as well. But that’s my summary of the movie leave the world behind. It’s definitely worth watching. I’m not endorsing all the themes in it, I’m not endorsing, whatever symbolism or cultism, that people might find it and I’m just saying that it’s worth a watch, because it makes you think about how you would handle these situations. And in doing so it may help you more efficiently prepare.

In doing so, it may help you better prepare for the collapse that’s coming. Or it could be actually a multifaceted collapse. It might not be one collapse, it could be a financial collapse, and a cyber attack, a grid down collapse and a food collapse and who knows what else. But watch this movie. And think about your own situation and what you could do better. To not only survive yourself, but also to help the people around you survive because again, remember, together is better. And we all survive with a higher, higher chance of survival. If we can figure out how to work together, whether that’s in one household, a family unit, or a neighborhood or a county or a small town or whatever the case may be figured out how to work together and you’re going to have a much better chance of getting through all this.

Listen to the full broadcast at this link on Brighteon.com once it posts.
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Sports

College football hot seats: Brace yourselves for potential blue-blood turnover

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2 hours ago

August 29, 2025

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College football hot seats: Brace yourselves for potential blue-blood turnover

The college football job market took an expected turn last year.

The headwinds of financial uncertainty, combined with a record number of jobs turning over in 2023, led to a quieter year on the coaching carousel, especially at high-end schools.

Last offseason, there was a dip in head coaching changes at FBS football, with 30 total. The year before, a record 32 jobs turned over, per NCAA statistics.

Notably last offseason, no jobs turned over in the SEC and there was just one in the Big Ten (Purdue). Only West Virginia and UCF turned over in the Big 12, and the ACC had three changes (North Carolina, Wake Forest and Stanford).

None of those jobs would remotely qualify as blue bloods, which has the industry bracing for what could end up being a big year for high-end coaching turnover. The carousel rests for only so long.

That has led to a fascinating tension that will serve as the backdrop for this year’s edition: In an era when a vast majority of schools are scrambling for resources and revenue, are schools ready to pay big buyout money to part with their coaches? For big movement this year, there will have to be one or two big buyouts.

“The signs are that it’s going to be a pretty big year,” said an industry source. “There’s 15 to 20 schools in flux, and it was really light last year. That combination lends itself to a big year.

“But the question is whether 6-6 is worth making a change when you need to find 20-plus million? I think the trend is going to schools looking not to make the decision.”

There’s a counter to that perspective, and it’s a peek at the college basketball market from last year. Places like Indiana, Villanova, Iowa, Minnesota, NC State, Texas and Utah all paid sizable buyouts to kick-start new eras.

“I think people are past the rev share issues,” another industry source said. “They were stalled out last year in the football carousel, but they didn’t have any trouble getting going in the basketball carousel.”

Jimbo Fisher’s football buyout from Texas A&M in 2023 was $76.8 million, which included $19.2 million within 60 days and $7.2 million annually with no offset or mitigation. That’s the Secretariat-at-the-Belmont runaway winner for the biggest in the history of the sport.

The second-biggest public buyout belongs to Auburn, which fired Gus Malzahn in 2020 and owed him $21.7 million.

If this is indeed going to be an active coaching carousel among high-end jobs, the Malzahn number will need to be toppled. And the Fisher buyout has a chance to be as well.

Ultimately, the case for an active coaching carousel starts with big-name jobs that are in flux, the so-called market moves that ripple through the industry. A majority of those potential openings — although not all — would involve heavy lifting from a buyout perspective.

One source pointed out that schools in the SEC and Big Ten will have new line items that could make a big buyout more tenable, as there’s an influx of CFP money coming.

One school told ESPN that it has budgeted an additional $8 million additional for bowl revenue for the new CFP starting in 2026. (The specific amount is tricky, as there’s a flurry of variables that make a finite number tough to pin down.)

That makes the particulars of the buyouts important. How much money is up front? Is there offset and mitigation?

Here’s a look at the jobs with the buyout tension that could set the market, as well as other jobs worth monitoring across each conference.

Jump to a topic:
Big buyouts | Other Big Ten
Other SEC | Other ACC
Big 12 | Group of 5

Big buyouts

USC | Lincoln Riley (26-14 entering Year 4)

Buyout: More than $80 million

Nearly everything has changed since Lincoln Riley came to Los Angeles. Most notably, the results. After an 11-3 debut in 2022, he has gone 8-5 and 7-6 with losses along the way to Maryland, Minnesota and UCLA. The splash of the hire has worn off amid close losses, media clashes and modest expectations for 2025.

His winning percentage with the Trojans is 65.0%, which is lower than Clay Helton’s USC winning percentage (65.7) when he was fired. It’s also nearly 20% worse than his Oklahoma win percentage (84.6).

Many of the core people Riley brought with him from Oklahoma have been removed or seen their roles diminish, with the firing of strength coach Bennie Wylie and the hiring of new general manager Chad Bowden recent examples of significant personnel changes around him.

Athletic director Jennifer Cohen didn’t hire Riley. She also has made clear that there are championship expectations. She has invested accordingly, including a new football performance center that’s under construction and plenty of staff infrastructure and NIL financial gunpowder.

Although firing Riley would generate eye-popping financial headlines, the understanding is that there is offset and mitigation on his deal. That would diminish the number owed him over time. He’s too gifted a playcaller and offensive mind to sit out through the length of his deal, which was originally a 10-year contract that began in the 2023 season. (His buyout to leave is minimal if he chose to go elsewhere, but leaving that much guaranteed money behind would be hard.)

Without high-end results, there will continue to be uncertainty. USC will be favored in its first four games, and then it enters one of the most difficult stretches on any schedule this year — at Illinois, Michigan, at Notre Dame and at Nebraska. (There’s a bye between the trips to South Bend and Lincoln.)

That means by Nov. 1, we’ll get a sense of what Riley truly has built in his fourth season and where his tenure is headed.

The best news for Riley is there’s hope on the way, as USC has the No. 1 recruiting class for 2026, which includes 19 ESPN 300 prospects.

Florida State | Mike Norvell (33-27 entering Year 6)

Buyout: $58 million

This was unthinkable two years ago, when FSU went undefeated in the regular season and won the ACC. But since quarterback Jordan Travis’ injury and the subsequent College Football Playoff snub following 2023, everything has gone wrong for FSU.

In the wake of FSU’s 2-10 season last year, Norvell has overhauled the coaching staff, given up playcalling and brought in new coordinators. Florida State can’t really afford to fire him, but it also can’t afford to trudge through another miserable season like last year.

Norvell also agreed to a restructured new deal, which includes donating $4.5 million of his salary to the program in 2025. Effectively, Norvell took a performance pay cut. (He can earn that back, too, as included in the new deal is a $750,000 bonus for nine wins.)

The 2024 implosion came at a time when Florida State had actively — and awkwardly — been lobbying to find a new conference home. That bluster has died down, and the financials of leaving the ACC are clear. FSU’s need to get back to winning is rooted in those grander ambitions.

What’s important here if FSU does have to move on is that Norvell’s remaining money is subject to offset and mitigation. He’d likely be a strong candidate to coach again, which would blunt some of the financial pain.

Norvell went 23-4 in 2022 and 2023, which built up some grace. Here’s what no one knows: What is enough progress for 2025?

Oklahoma | Brent Venables (22-17 entering Year 4)

Buyout: $36.1 million

Oklahoma extended Venables through the 2029 season in the summer of 2024. The Sooners subsequently went 6-7 in their SEC debut, which led to some scrutiny of that deal.

Venables is popular in Norman, dating back to his time as an assistant. Like many defensive head coaches early in his career, he made a misstep at offensive coordinator that quelled the momentum from OU’s 10-2 season in its Big 12 finale in 2023.

There’s an athletic director shift coming at Oklahoma, with Joe Castiglione retiring. There also has been new blood in the football program, with general manager Jim Nagy coming in this offseason from the Senior Bowl.

This season is a fascinating litmus test for OU’s viability in the SEC. The Sooners have fortified the roster with a significant upgrade at quarterback (John Mateer), expect better health at wide receiver and have made holistic upgrades.

But the reality is that most teams are going to lose half their games in the SEC, and it’d be a poor time for Venables to have a bad year. The Sooners also play seven teams ranked in the preseason Top 25, and that doesn’t include Missouri or Auburn.

Wisconsin | Luke Fickell (13-13 entering Year 3)

Buyout: More than $25 million

Wisconsin ended last year with five straight losses and missed a bowl for the first time since 2001.

Wisconsin extended Fickell after last year, but that didn’t impact his buyout. There’s optimism for a change of trajectory, as Wisconsin is undergoing a schematic shift back to the school’s identity roots as a running offense. It will be a welcomed change after the failed Air Raid experiment.

The factor that has this job coming up in industry circles is Wisconsin’s schedule, which might make it difficult for the Badgers to take a significant step forward. They play at Alabama, at Michigan, Iowa, Ohio State, at Oregon, Washington, at Indiana, Illinois and at Minnesota.

Wisconsin could be a better team but have a similar record. The institutional history, Fickell’s general track record and buyout expense suggest patience is likely.

Other jobs worth monitoring

Big Ten

Maryland: Mike Locksley’s strong run at Maryland took a hairpin turn last year, as the Terps went 4-8, 1-8 in Big Ten play and Locksley admitted he lost the locker room. There’s a lot of goodwill from Locksley’s three consecutive bowl games, which hadn’t happened since Ralph Friedgen’s tenure in 2008. But there’s also a new athletic director, Jim Smith, and an expectation to return to winning. Maryland is heavily favored in its three games to open the year (FAU, Northern Illinois and Towson), which could quiet things. Locksley would be owed $13.4 million if fired, a considerable amount for Maryland. He’d also have 50% of that due in 60 days, a sizable check for a university not flush with cash.

SEC

Auburn: Hugh Freeze faces a classic win-or-else season at Auburn. The Tigers have strong talent upgrades from both the portal and recruiting. But Auburn is not a traditionally patient place, so Freeze’s 11-14 record there needs to improve quickly. He’d be owed just under $15.4 million, which is expensive but not something Auburn would flinch at if there are modest results again. Don’t expect him to be around if Auburn has another losing season.

Arkansas: The goofiest buyout in college sports looms over any potential decision on Sam Pittman. If he’s .500 or above since 2021 — he enters the year 27-24 in that time frame — Arkansas would have to pay him nearly $9.8 million. To keep the buyout at this higher level, he’d need to win five games. If Pittman goes 4-8, the number would be nearly $6.9 million. Credit Pittman, who revived Arkansas from the depths of Chad Morris’ era and keeps on surviving. If he’s above four wins, Arkansas would face scrutiny for issuing such a bizarre contract and the extra money it’d cost the program to fire him.

Florida: The temperature on Billy Napier has cooled considerably, and the Gators have a top-flight quarterback and great expectations again. He’s 19-19 through three seasons, and his buyout remains eye-popping at $20.4 million. (There’s no offset or mitigation on the deal.) Athletic director Scott Stricklin gave Napier a midseason vote of confidence last year by announcing he’d return, and Florida responded with a strong finishing kick by winning four straight to close the year. Stricklin clearly has his back. And per an ESPN source, Stricklin has three additional years added to his contract, which now runs through 2030. That bodes well for Napier, as they are clearly aligned.

ACC

Stanford: General manager Andrew Luck’s first significant hire looms. With interim coach Frank Reich clear that he’s on The Farm short term, Luck needs to decide whether he wants someone from the college ranks or the NFL. What’s unique about this job is that the hire will be made through the shared prism of how Luck sees the identity of the program, not necessarily just a coach coming in and bringing the identity.

Virginia Tech: It’s a classic prove-it year for Brent Pry, who has two years remaining on his original contract. He’d be owed $6.2 million if fired on Dec. 1. He’s 16-21 over three years and 1-12 in one-score games, and Tech’s ambitions are clearly greater than that. Considerable improvement is needed, or Tech will hit reset as the administration appears motivated by the fear of getting left behind in the next iteration of the collegiate landscape. Athletic director Whit Babcock has hired Pry and Justin Fuente, which would mean his future could be in flux if a change comes here. ADs don’t often get to hire three coaches.

Virginia: There was a discernable uptick in investment and aggression by Virginia in the portal this offseason. That’s a sign the pressure is ratcheted up on Tony Elliott, who is 11-23 through three seasons. He entered a job with arguably the worst facilities in power conference football. He also dealt with unspeakable tragedy: the murder of three players in a campus shooting. UVA showed signs of progress last year with five wins, and that needs to continue. Elliott is owed more than $11.1 million if fired on Dec. 1, and UVA is more likely to need to direct that to the roster than a payout.

Cal: Can Cal do better than Justin Wilcox? It’s unlikely, as he has led the team to four bowls since taking over in 2017. Cal has no athletic director, landed in an awkward geographic league and is working to financially catch up to the rest of the sport. Wilcox would be owed $10.9 million if he’s fired, which would seemingly be too rich for Cal to handle. But with so much change afoot, there’s an industry expectation that something could happen here, as Wilcox could also have other suitors.

Big 12

Oklahoma State: The school forced Mike Gundy into a reduced salary and buyout. Those are fluorescent signs of a school preparing to move on, although the buyout remains significant at $15 million. It would be a seminal moment for a school to fire a coach who has more than 100 more wins than the next most successful coach in school history. Gundy is 169-88, but the program fell off a cliff last year at 3-9. The roster doesn’t offer much optimism for drastic improvement, and essentially the entire coaching staff is new. Gundy has done some of his best work with low expectations, and that’s what OSU has in 2025.

Arizona: Arizona’s dip from 10-3 in Jedd Fisch’s first year to 4-8 in Brent Brennan’s first season has led to scrutiny. Also, there has been a new athletic director brought in since Brennan was hired. The buyout price is steep at $10.6 million, but it’s something Arizona is expected to consider if there’s no improvement. It doesn’t help matters for Brennan that rival Arizona State burst into the CFP in Kenny Dillingham’s second year.

Cincinnati: There have been growing pains entering the Big 12 for the Bearcats, who are 4-14 in league play in the first two years. There’s an expectation for continued improvement in Scott Satterfield’s third year, as he went 3-9 in Year 1 and jumped to 5-7 last year. The Bearcats lost their final five games last year. The buyout tab is nearly $12 million, which is a lot for a school that moved its opener against Nebraska to Kansas City for financial reasons.

Baylor: The temperature on Dave Aranda’s seat has cooled exponentially compared with the past two seasons. He snapped a skid of two losing seasons by going 8-5 last year and 6-3 in the Big 12. A change would require a precipitous downturn, as Aranda is beloved in Waco. There’s an unforgiving schedule, however, that opens with Auburn and a trip to SMU. His buyout is in the $12 million range, and it’s unlikely to be tested.

Group of 5

American: The American might have been the biggest surprise in the 2024 coaching carousel, with FAU, Tulsa and Charlotte all firing coaches after just two seasons. Temple, Rice and East Carolina also fired their coaches. Oddly, the worries over revenue share spending didn’t intimidate these schools from making moves.

There’s really only one job squarely in the crosshairs, and that’s Trent Dilfer at UAB, who is 7-17 in two seasons. He’d be owed nearly $2.5 million if dismissed. UAB has struggled to translate its strong run in Conference USA to the American since joining in 2023.

Conference USA: This also projects to be a quieter year in Conference USA, with only Louisiana Tech having a coach potentially in flux. Sonny Cumbie went 5-8 last year after opening with back-to-back 3-9 seasons. He’ll need continued improvement to stick around for that school’s eventual transition to the Sun Belt. He’d be owed nearly $875,000 if let go, as 2026 is the last year of his deal.

MAC: There’s already one MAC job open, after Kenni Burns’ firing this spring at Kent State. There are significant financial challenges both there and at Akron, which also could be in flux with Joe Moorhead entering Year 4 at 8-28. (He’d be owed about $650,000 if fired, which is significant.) There’s still a market for Moorhead as a college offensive coordinator, which could be the pivot if the Zips don’t get moving. (Perhaps the NFL, too.) Overall, this looks like a quieter year in the MAC.

Mountain West: The lack of a contract extension for Jay Norvell at Colorado State is a smoke signal that a decision is coming. He has just one year left on his deal and would be owed $1.5 million if fired before Dec. 1. He also wouldn’t have to pay any money to go elsewhere. Norvell has an administration that didn’t hire him and, despite solid improvement, there will be speculation over his future until something changes contractually. Colorado State went 8-5 last year and 6-1 in the Mountain West. Norvell is 16-21 in his three years.

Sun Belt: Two coaches will be watched closely here. Tim Beck is 14-12 at Coastal Carolina over two seasons, having reached bowls in each of them. He had the misfortune of replacing Jamey Chadwell, who averaged more than 10 wins over his final three seasons. Beck would be owed $1.5 million if Coastal fired him, and Coastal has both a new athletic director and president. Ricky Rahne at Old Dominion is 20-30 overall and still in search of his first winning season there. He has just one year remaining on his deal after this one, a sign that a decision on his future one way or the other is imminent. He’d be owed $600,000 if fired.

Pac-12: None.

Sports

Betting stampede moves Texas’ odds vs. OSU

Published

2 hours ago

August 29, 2025

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Betting stampede moves Texas' odds vs. OSU

David PurdumAug 29, 2025, 08:54 AM ET
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- Joined ESPN in 2014
- Journalist covering gambling industry since 2008

The point spread on Saturday’s Texas-Ohio State showdown has been on the move all week, with the Longhorns becoming a favorite at some sportsbooks, including ESPN BET, as of Friday morning.

The Buckeyes opened as a 3-point favorite months ago, but sportsbooks have been reporting a steady stream of money on the Longhorns throughout the summer, causing the line to move toward Texas.

The consensus line was a pick ’em as of noon ET Friday, with ESPN BET and DraftKings listing Texas as a 1.5-point favorite.

Circa, a sportsbook known to cater to professional bettors, had seen enough interest on the Longhorns to move them to a 1-point favorite on Thursday. Derek Stevens, the owner of Circa, said on VSIN that a $550,000 bet on Texas preceded the move to Longhorns -1. The line had ticked back to pick ’em by early Friday at Circa.

“It seems like the public is moving the line,” Chris Bennett, sportsbook director at Circa, told ESPN. “We’ve seen a lot of interest in Texas, but not from the usual suspects, and by that I mean a subset of sharp customers we have a lot of history with.”

The Buckeyes have not been a home underdog since 2018 against Michigan and have been favored by less than three points at Ohio Stadium only once since 2012. If the line closes with Ohio State as the favorite, Texas would become the first team ranked No. 1 in the preseason Associated Press Top 25 to be an underdog in its first game.

“The perception is that Texas is just more experienced than Ohio State,” said Ed Salmons, veteran football oddsmaker for the Westgate SuperBook in Las Vegas. “Arch Manning is considered a much better quarterback than the Ohio State quarterback [Julian Sayin]. Both are such unknowns, no one really knows.”

Salmons said it became obvious over the summer that the betting public was supporting Texas and that, once the line dropped from the opening number of Ohio State -3, it had the potential to move all the way to the Longhorns being the favorite.

“The public right now likes Texas, but we’ll see the day of the game,” Salmons said. “Sometimes you think that, and then all of a sudden you’ll see these big Ohio State bets. It’s a game we’re expecting a ton of handle on.”

The bulk of the betting action, both on the moneyline and spread, was on Texas at Caesars Sportsbook as well, but some of the bigger bettors had not weighed in on the marquee matchup of Week 1.

“There has not been a lot of wise guy action thus far,” said Joey Feazel, lead football trader for Caesars Sportsbook. “I believe that says more to the true variation of this game and not knowing exactly what you are going to get from either side of the ball. I expect we will see some action closer to game time.”

Sports

Miami LB Hayes charged with vehicular homicide

Published

2 hours ago

August 29, 2025

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Miami LB Hayes charged with vehicular homicide

ESPN News Services

Aug 29, 2025, 01:35 PM ET

Miami linebacker Adarius Hayes has been charged with three counts of vehicular homicide and one count of reckless driving with serious bodily injury following an investigation into a May crash that killed three people.

Hayes surrendered to police Friday morning in his hometown of Largo, Florida, officials said, and records show he was booked into the Pinellas County Jail. It was not immediately clear if he retained an attorney.

Miami said Hayes “has been indefinitely suspended from all athletic related activities per athletic department policy” in response to the charges. The Hurricanes declined further comment.

The three people who died as a result of the May 10 afternoon crash — a 78-year-old woman, plus two children ages 10 and 4 — were all in a Kia Soul that collided with a Dodge Durango being driven by Hayes, police said at the time.

The children were ejected from the vehicle, police said, and investigators later found that Hayes was “maneuvering aggressively through traffic shortly before the crash.” He was driving at 78.9 mph in a 40 mph zone at the time of the crash, police said.

Another passenger of the Kia had been hospitalized with serious injuries.

“The investigation concluded that Adarius Hayes’ egregious speed, aggressive and reckless lane changes, and complete disregard for surrounding traffic conditions demonstrated a willful and deliberate disregard for the safety of others, constituting reckless driving. These actions directly led to the tragic deaths of the three victims,” Largo police said in a statement Friday.

The Kia, police said, was “lawfully executing a left-hand turn” when Hayes’ vehicle “made a rapid and dangerous maneuver” and crashed into the car.

Hayes played in 12 games as a freshman for Miami last season, mostly on special teams. He was a four-star recruit coming out of Largo High School.

Largo is about 20 miles east of Tampa and about 15 miles north of St. Petersburg on Florida’s Gulf Coast.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.