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  • David Hale, ESPN Staff WriterAug 31, 2024, 11:40 PM ET

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    • College football reporter.
    • Joined ESPN in 2012.
    • Graduate of the University of Delaware.

Welcome to the season of change.

It’s 2024, and if we’re to believe the punditry, this will be unlike anything we’ve seen before in college football, which is saying something in a sport that had an interim coach drive an ATV out of a locker room just nine months ago. But it’s true that 2024 will feel an awful lot different than years past. It’s a season without Nick Saban or Jim Harbaugh, with a 12-team playoff and $20 million rosters. Texas and Oklahoma are in the SEC, the Pac-12 is divested throughout four different leagues, each half of football now comes with a two-minute timeout and for some reason chicken nuggets are now called “saucy nuggs.”

It’s all so strange and new and exhilarating and frightening, like putting USC’s defense on the field nursing a six-point lead.

And yet, for all that has changed, Week 1 also reminded us of what’s remained the same, what’s stood strong against the headwinds of private equity and super leagues and an endless parade of players entering the transfer portal.

There was Georgia, the preeminent program in college football for the past three years by any metric, showcasing its dominance once more. Carson Beck was nearly flawless, the Dawgs’ defense was impenetrable and guys who sound like they are junior partners at a prominent Atlanta law firm — Cash Jones, London Humphreys, Lawson Luckie — all chipped in as Kirby Smart’s crew embarrassed Clemson 34-3.

On the opposite sideline was Dabo Swinney, still fighting the good fight against things like the transfer portal or the steam engine, left to again consider whether his deep-rooted belief in doing things the Clemson way can still allow his program to keep pace with schools like Georgia. It wasn’t just that the Tigers struggled. Lots of teams do that against the Bulldogs. It’s that Cade Klubnik missed open receivers, Adam Randall and Cole Turner made egregious mistakes, the O-line couldn’t open holes for Phil Mafah and the defense ultimately collapsed under the pressure to be perfect. In other words, it looked so much like Clemson’s 2021, 2022 and 2023 seasons. Swinney has stopped taking calls at his weekly radio show, but we can only imagine Tyler from Spartanburg is busy crafting a strongly worded email expressing his discontent.

The game wasn’t so much a reminder of Georgia’s brilliance as it was a referendum that Clemson simply isn’t in this class any longer.

Texas A&M hopes to still join the elites, but that climb is just beginning. Saturday was a reminder that, even with a new head coach and a healthy quarterback, the Aggies are still a lot closer to the stumbling blocks of the Jimbo Fisher era than they are to Mike Elko’s finish line. Riley Leonard and Notre Dame couldn’t muster much offense against A&M, but they were consistently the more physical team, the team capable of making the big play when it had to be made — from two critical interceptions of Conner Weigman to a game-clinching swat of a fourth-down pass in the final minutes.

Colorado may be a long way from the elite tier of college football, too, but that didn’t stop the world from tuning in to see the Buffaloes on Thursday night. Quarterback Shedeur Sanders was excellent, receiver/defensive back Travis Hunter was otherworldly and Coach Prime may have let all the air of out of the tires of several cars parked in the media lot outside Folsom Field. Regardless, Colorado still looks much like it did a year ago: an incredibly entertaining team with a handful of superstars and enough holes that almost any outcome seems possible.

At Texas, the Longhorns sizzled in a 52-0 drubbing of Colorado State, but because some things never change, the real story was the backup quarterback. Arch Manning engineered a touchdown drive in his first action of the year, completing 5 of 6 passes and accounting for two touchdowns. Sure, none of that will mean much when the Longhorns head to Michigan next week, forced to rely on the starter. (What’s his name again? We want to say Quentin? We’re drawing a blank.) But Week 1 felt like a continuation of the always enjoyable “will they or won’t they” love affair between Texas and Manning. They really are the Jim and Pam of the SEC.

Who’s a more stable force in college football than Miami tight end Cam McCormick? He’s been playing for so long he can remember the last time Miami was relevant. On Saturday, he caught a touchdown pass as the Canes dismantled Florida in “embarrassing” fashion, according to Billy Napier.

And what about Michigan? The defending champs went to battle without Harbaugh or J.J. McCarthy or a host of other players who won their rings before leaving for the NFL, but the Wolverines won anyway, using their trademarked brute force to upend Fresno State 30-10. Sure, Michigan found its replacement for McCarthy when Sherrone Moore put on a jacket he hadn’t worn in three years and found $20 and Davis Warren in the pocket, but isn’t this exactly the formula we’d expect from the Wolverines? Same as it ever was.

Of course, not all change is bad — no matter what Swinney says.

Look at Alabama, for example. The Tide dominated Western Kentucky 63-0 with quarterback Jalen Milroe accounting for five touchdowns and Keon Sabb picking off two passes in the Tide’s first game of the post-Saban era. Imagine what this program might’ve accomplished these past few years if only Saban hadn’t been holding it back.

Or consider Ole Miss, where Lane Kiffin has embraced the transfer portal as much as anyone and, after Saturday’s 76-0 win over Furman, seems to have embraced a buffet of rat poison, too. Good luck convincing an offense that hung 52 in the first half that it’s not elite.

And if any team is a harbinger of this new era of college football, it’s Ohio State — a program that spent the gross domestic product of a small island nation to secure a championship roster. If Week 1 proved anything, it’s that paying your players more than Akron’s entire football budget is an effective plan to beat Akron. Michigan may be another story, but that’s a question for November.

Even Iowa, the most stalwart of all programs, showed us something new in Week 1.

For a half, it was the old Iowa — slow, plodding, punt-forward. And in the next half, it scored in droves (which, in Iowa parlance, means more than once).

Perhaps that’s the lesson here — for Week 1, for 2024, for college football. Change is not good or bad, but it is inevitable.

Clemson will eventually take a meaningful player from the portal, even if it means replacing Swinney with a lookalike in some sort of a Manchurian Candidate type of situation.

Georgia will eventually be surpassed by another program, though probably not any time soon.

Texas A&M will eventually win a big game. Probably. Maybe.

The fun of settling in for a new season, however, comes from just the right mix of seeing so many old friends creating the same magic they always have and still being surprised by another year of chaos and ridiculousness that inevitably surfaces over the course of three months in the fall.

Miami flexes, Florida falters

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Cam Ward shines in debut with 3 TDs in Miami’s win over Florida

Cam Ward throws three touchdowns in his first game with the Hurricanes as they dominate Florida on the road.

The Fed is widely expected to lower interest rates at its September meeting, and for Florida coach Billy Napier, the decision comes not a moment too soon as he was left with little left to do by the fourth quarter of Saturday’s 41-17 blowout loss to Miami than scroll through Zillow in search of his next place to live.

It’s not as if optimism was rampant in Gainesville before Week 1. The schedule is brutal, and coming off back-to-back sub-.500 campaigns, simply getting to a bowl felt like success. After watching Cam Ward chuck the ball all over the field, however, even those mediocre aspirations feel so out of reach fans were left sipping on warm High Noon and staring into the vast middle distance.

Technically, Florida played Tom Petty to open the fourth quarter, but most fans were thoughtlessly humming “Hello darkness, my old friend.”

Ward was electric for Miami, throwing for 385 yards and three touchdowns, while Damien Martinez, Tyler Baron and a host of other portal additions carried the Canes to an easy win.

At Miami, there is real hope the Hurricanes can make the playoff and all it took was enough NIL to bankrupt LifeWallet and possibly some sort of “Eternam Sunshine” treatment to erase memories of the past 20 years.

For Florida, however, the stark reality of another lost season feels like a near certainty at this point. The highlight for the Gators may have been when freshman QB DJ Lagway entered the game in the fourth quarter, a flicker of hope for a distant future. But even Lagway’s day ended with an interception, making it clear there were no saviors in Gainesville in Week 1.

What comes next?

Perhaps reality is that Miami is just really good — so good that the Gators’ remaining slate won’t be nearly so challenging as Week 1 proved to be. Or, more likely, Napier should be hoping for some nice hors d’oeuvres at the next showings for that four bedroom/three bath Dutch Colonial.

Air Allar

In 2023, Penn State’s offense was often frustratingly conservative and occasionally prescribed by local doctors as a substitute for Ambien, so this offseason, James Franklin brought in new coordinator Andy Kotelnicki with the expressed job of adding some explosiveness.

Through one week, mission accomplished.

Penn State torched West Virginia 34-12 behind a stellar game by quarterback Drew Allar, who threw for 216 yards and three touchdowns — two of which came on deep balls, something notably absent from last year’s repertoire.

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Penn State’s Drew Allar slings 3 TDs in season opener

Drew Allar shines for Penn State with a trio of touchdown passes against West Virginia.

Harrison Wallace was the primary recipient of the new approach, catching five balls for 117 yards and two scores — just the second Penn State receiver with 100 yards and two scores in the same game since the 2021 campaign.

But fear not, Western Pennsylvania insomniacs. Penn State may not lull you into a slumber anymore, but Steelers season starts soon.

Raiola bolsters Huskers

Five-star recruit Dylan Raiola made his debut for Nebraska, completing 19 of 28 passes for 238 yards and two touchdowns in a 40-7 win over UTEP, making him the first Cornhuskers quarterback since 2017 to go an entire game without slipping on a banana peel, splitting his pants and falling face first into a bowl of soup.

It’s a sterling debut for Raiola, the No. 11 overall recruit according to ESPN in this year’s class, who connected with Isaiah Neyor six times for 121 yards and a touchdown in the game, and it’s reason for optimism the Huskers may finally have a true offensive foundation after nearly a decade lost in the wilderness.

The win marked Nebraska’s first victorious opener since 2019, and it offers significant hope to the fan base that by simply reburying the bones Bo Pelini dug up from that sacred ancient burial ground, the curse may be lifted.

Still, this was only UTEP, and Nebraska led by 23 at the half, so it wasn’t a true test. Only when the Huskers face a more formidable opponent and are within a score in the fourth quarter will we know if things really are different.

Week 1 vibe check

Each week in college football, there are subtle shifts in the power structure of the sport that aren’t always obvious from the final scores. These are less about wins and losses and more about vibes. But fear not. We’re here to capture the finer points to shine a spotlight on the burgeoning trends around the game.

Trending up: Nepotism rules

For 30 minutes, it looked like business as usual for Iowa, which managed just six points by halftime against FCS Illinois State. Those six points came on drives of 6 yards and 49 yards. The Hawkeyes punted four times. Somewhere, Brian Ferentz was toasting Melissa Rivers, Bronny James and Jaden Smith with a nice glass of Frank Perignon.

But the new-look Hawkeyes finally got the offense figured out in the second half, and suddenly the fine folks in Iowa learned what a forward pass looked like.

The end result: Iowa 40, Illinois State 0. Cade McNamara became the first Iowa quarterback to throw for 250 yards, three touchdowns and no picks in a game since 2021 (and just the third of the playoff era), and the punter didn’t even need an ice bath after the game.

Trending down: QR codes

Oklahoma State planned to have QR codes on players’ helmets to help promote NIL opportunities, but the NCAA, sensing a rare opportunity to feed its eternal quest to keep money from athletes, stepped in at the last minute to quash the plan.

While it’s true, the NCAA’s decisions are often based on a deep-rooted desire to ruin Christmas from their lair atop a mountain overlooking Whoville, we actually applaud this move as a long overdue blow against the scourge of QR codes.

Now, if only the NCAA could also force restaurants to go back to handing every customer a hard copy of the menu, there’d be some real progress on the issue.

Unfortunately, Alan Bowman (three touchdown passes), Ollie Gordon (146 total yards, three touchdowns) and Trey Rucker (15 tackles) missed out on some potential earnings after starring in a 44-20 win over South Dakota State. On the upside, Eskimo Joe’s game day menu is quite reasonably priced.

Trending up: Celebrating with Beers

It’s Week 1, and it wouldn’t be the same without Beers. Indeed, there’s nothing like finding one open, then celebrating with the boys. It’s cool, refreshing, delightful.

Yes, Florida International tight end Rocky Beers scored on 7-yard pass from Keyone Jenkins just before the half against Indiana, leading to a nice end zone gathering with his teammates.

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Rocky Beers chugs into end zone for a Florida International TD

Quarterback Keyone Jenkins finds tight end Rocky Beers for a Florida International touchdown.

Why, what did you think we were talking about?

Trending up: Teammate chivalry

Kudos to Utah quarterback Cam Rising, who came to the rescue with a proper bunny ears double knot when receiver Dorian Singer‘s shoe came untied midgame.

It was just part of a spectacular day for Rising, who in addition to teaching his teammate how to tie his shoes also threw five touchdowns on just 15 pass attempts and traded half his PB&J sandwich from his lunch box for a string cheese and a vanilla pudding. Word is, Rising is also an early favorite to take home the class guinea pig next weekend.

Trending down: Mascot chivalry

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NC State’s mascot takes an unfortunate tumble

NC State’s mascot, Ms. Wuf, takes a fall during pregame ceremonies but quickly gets back up and waves to the crowd.

Mr. and Mrs. Wuf took a ride in the Wuf-mobile before NC State kicked off against Western Carolina on Thursday, but the lady of the den couldn’t quite manage the dismount.

While Mrs. Wuf landed flat on her face — or snout? — Mr. Wuf offered no assistance. It’s sad when all the romance goes out of a marriage. We’d wager Mr. Wuf doesn’t even close the door to the bathroom anymore.

Fortunately for the Wolfpack, the pregame face-plant didn’t keep the team from eeking out a too-close-for-comfort 38-21 win thanks in large part to a brilliant performance from KC Concepcion, who finished with nine catches for 131 yards and three touchdowns.

Trending up: Power tools

Northern Arizona felled trees and Lincoln (California) on Saturday, winning its opener with ease and using a chainsaw in the end zone to slice off a nice piece of wood.

This is an exceptional use of sideline power tools. Unlike the construction site in Vanderbilt’s end zone, there were actual hard hats and safety goggles involved here. And we can’t help but wonder if Oregon State had just gone the extra mile with its turnover chainsaw, the Pac-12 might’ve survived.

Trending up: Lakeside Airbnbs

Sure, it wasn’t exactly an emphatic win for Northwestern in Week 1, with the Wildcats narrowly escaping Miami (Ohio), 13-6. But if the offense was nothing to look at, the views around Northwestern’s makeshift stadium were spectacular.

Saturday’s win was Northwestern’s 14th of the playoff era when scoring 21 points or less. Only Iowa has more among Power 5 teams. The only problem is head coach David Braun is responsible for washing all linens, taking out the trash and recycling, and emptying the fridge before checkout time, which is 8 a.m. sharp.

Trending down: Sign-stealing

Connor Stalions coached his first game as the defensive coordinator at Detroit’s Mumford High this week, and the defense could’ve used some better advanced scouting.

Stalions’ squad lost 47-6, an embarrassment for the former Michigan staffer accused of sign-stealing. On the upside, he already had the perfect disguise so no one would notice him in the parking lot after the game.

Meanwhile, Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy suggested he might have a job waiting in his IT department should Stalions be in the market.

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Mike Gundy makes Connor Stalions, Michigan joke in news conference

Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy jokes about Michigan’s sign-stealing scandal with Connor Stalions when talking about helmet communications with his team.

It’s a tempting offer. After all, a fake mullet would go really nicely with the fake goatee.

Week 1 drip report

  • Arkansas-Pine Bluff knows that the clothes make the team, so the Golden Lions donned their black and gold uniforms even though it meant they’d be penalized at the start of each half against Arkansas for not having “sufficient contrast.” The away team is supposed to wear white jerseys (or something contrasting) unless both teams agree in writing before the game. Is there anything more embarrassing than showing up to a game to find out another team wore the same style of outfit? Arkansas handled the situation well, however, declining both penalties because the Razorbacks aren’t going to let guys in vertical stripes dictate fashion trends at Memorial Stadium, and the gesture paid dividends. Arkansas won 70-0.

  • For real repercussions for participating in college football’s version of “Who Wore it Better?” we turn to Virginia Tech. The Hokies, scrambling to come back from a 14-point first-half deficit, had stuffed Vandy on a third-and-10 and was set to field a punt. But return man Ali Jennings and linebacker Keli Lawson — both wearing jersey No. 0 — were on the field at the same time. That resulted in a flag that moved the ball 5 yards closer, convincing Vandy coach Clark Lea to try a field goal instead of punting. The result was a 53-yard boot that cleared the upright in a game that the Commodores eventually won in overtime.

  • Meanwhile at Arizona, New Mexico State had its own wardrobe malfunction when the Aggies’ road unis were lost in transit. And again, the home team stepped up with a gallant gesture, choosing to wear white jerseys. Thankfully, this happened in Week 1, because wearing white after Labor Day is a 15-yard penalty and loss of down.

Under-the-radar play of the week

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Kent State scores on wild sequence after punt

Naim Muhammad scores 36-yard special teams touchdown vs. Pittsburgh.

Usually you need to go to Nebraska to find a good volleyball match inside a football stadium, but Pitt and Kent State gave us a taste in Week 1.

Facing a fourth-and-17, Kent State punted. Pitt return man Konata Mumpfield fielded the kick but never got a clean grasp on it, batting it up in the air instead, leading to a truly ridiculous series of events.

Credit to Kent State’s Naim Muhammad for sticking with it, corralling the ball eventually, and returning what was scored as a fumble for the touchdown.

Ultimately, it didn’t matter, as Pitt rolled to a 55-24 win, but the serve, set and spike at least provided a highlight for Kent State’s visit to Pittsburgh that didn’t involve putting french fries inside of sandwiches.

Under-the-radar game of the week

South Carolina fans probably aren’t exactly excited for the meat of the SEC schedule, but a win is a win, and the Gamecocks’ 23-19 escape act against Old Dominion was, in spite of all visual evidence to the contrary, a win.

Nothing went particularly well for the Gamecocks, who were breaking in new starting quarterback LaNorris Sellers. He completed just 10 of 23 passes but did have a heck of a tackle (albeit on his own teammate).

ODU actually grabbed a late 19-16 lead on a 33-yard field goal with 9:54 to play, but a Grant Wilson fumble — one of three turnovers on the day for the Monarchs quarterback — gave the ball back to South Carolina at the 6-yard line, and the Gamecocks scored two plays later.

South Carolina finished with just 288 yards of offense, and its two touchdown drives covered a grand total of 9 yards. More concerning for South Carolina fans, Vanderbilt beat Virginia Tech, thus putting up a “vacancy” sign outside the SEC’s basement.

Heisman five

Like preseason rankings, the Week 1 Heisman list is more projection than reality. But also, we haven’t been wrong about a projection since thinking Clemson had a real shot to win and that was 20 hours ago. Who even remembers that?

1. Colorado WR/CB Travis Hunter

On the one hand, we did all this last year. Colorado had a fun Week 1 game, Hunter is college football’s Shohei Ohtani, Coach Prime yells at anyone who isn’t nice to him, rinse, repeat.

Then again, if Hunter can actually manage to stay on the field all season, it’s hard to argue with the Heisman candidacy of a guy who can do things like this.

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0:35

Travis Hunter comes up with unbelievable catch in end zone for TD

Travis Hunter shakes his defender for the impressive touchdown reception for Colorado in the third quarter.

In the end, Hunter finished with seven catches for 132 yards and three touchdowns along with three tackles on defense. So, at least for now, we will not be accepting questions from anyone who argues with Hunter at No. 1.

2. Boise State RB Ashton Jeanty

Can a player outside the Power 4 actually win the Heisman? It seems unlikely, but then again, there aren’t many players outside the Power 4 like Jeanty.

In a raucous 56-45 win over Georgia Southern, Jeanty carried 20 times for 267 yards and six touchdowns — including scoring on three of his first seven carries. He’s the first player to run for 250 yards and six scores in a game against an FBS foe since Pitt’s Izzy Abanikanda in 2022 and just the fifth to do it in the playoff era.

All of this begs the question: Nobody at Ole Miss or Miami had a few million NIL dollars laying around for this guy?

3. Arizona WR Tetairoa McMillan

As the great Samuel L. Jackson once said: “Hold on to your butts.”

Arizona is going to be the most ridiculous drama in town this season thanks in large part to McMillan, who finished Week 1 with 10 catches for 304 yards and four touchdowns, and also a defense that seemed to have no real answers to (checks notes) New Mexico!

Arizona has all the makings of being the football equivalent of the plotlines for “9-1-1.” We’re three weeks away from McMillan saving Noah Fifita from a bee-nado and, frankly, we can’t wait.

4. Miami QB Cam Ward

Here’s a quick list of elite Miami quarterbacks during the past two decades:

(Tumbleweed blows past.)

(Will Smith on the last episode of “Fresh Prince” GIF is shown.)

(Someone mentions Brad Kaaya and a crowd of angry Miami fans throw Cuban bread at them.)

Right. Point is, Ward is in uncharted territory here, and the early signs suggest he’s everything Miami fans hoped he would be — a swaggering, aggressive magician in the pocket capable of leading the Canes back to the promised land.

5. Almost every SEC quarterback

It was a good Week 1 for the SEC’s quarterbacks. Carson Beck was exceptional in a throttling of Clemson. Jackson Arnold tossed four touchdowns for Oklahoma. Nico Iamaleava threw for 314 and three scores. Jalen Milroe, Blake Shapen, Quinn Ewers — all excellent. And then, in just a half of football, Jaxson Dart put up numbers (418 yards, five touchdowns) most Iowa fans would consider a solid season.

But let’s put the spotlight on Vandy quarterback Diego Pavia, who threw for 190 yards, ran for 140 and accounted for three touchdowns in a stunning upset of Virginia Tech. In three starts in SEC stadiums in his career, the New Mexico State transfer has embarrassed the Hokies and Auburn and combined to account for 656 yards and six touchdowns.

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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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August 2, 2025

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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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