TCU quarterback Josh Hoover intends to enter the NCAA transfer portal, he announced on social media Thursday.

Hoover will be one of the most productive and coveted players available, as he projects to have the most passing yards (9,629) and touchdown passes (71) of any player returning to college football next season. Hoover says he will not play for TCU in the Alamo Bowl.

Hoover reflected on his decision in a post on Instagram, writing, “I’ve prayed about this and decided that I will be entering the transfer portal,” and thanking his Horned Frogs coaches and teammates, among others.

“I’m so thankful to have had the opportunity to represent TCU for an incredible 4 years,” his post continued. “It has been a dream to be able to play and graduate from this university and I will forever be grateful for that.”

Hoover has been TCU’s starting quarterback since midway through the 2023 season, throwing for 439 yards and four touchdowns in his first start against BYU. In 2024, he set a school record with 3,949 passing yards.

Hoover will draw interest from the highest levels of the sport, as he is already considered a draftable prospect. Instead of entering the draft, sources said he intends to play out his final year of eligibility and polish his game for the next level. He will bring with him 19 wins as a starter over his four seasons, including nine wins in 2024 and eight this season.

He blistered North Carolina this year in a season-opening blowout, throwing for 284 yards and two touchdowns. He had four touchdown passes in the regular-season finale against Cincinnati and threw for 379 yards and five touchdowns against SMU in September.

Ohio University cited football coach Brian Smith’s romantic relationships, including one he admitted to with a student, as well as an allegation of public intoxication in a letter stating its intent to fire him for cause.

Smith, put on leave Dec. 1, was fired Wednesday for what the university called “serious professional misconduct and participating in activities that reflect unfavorably on the University.” The school did not provide specifics on Smith’s misconduct before Thursday.

In the intent to terminate letter, obtained by multiple media outlets through a public records requests, university president Lori Stewart Gonzalez wrote that Smith’s “extramarital affairs,” including one with an undergraduate student, brought “disrepute, scandal and ridicule,” which violated his employment agreement with the school.

Gonzalez also wrote that Smith told athletic director Slade Larscheid that he “carried on an affair” while at the Ohio University Inn, where he could be observed by athletes’ families, donors and others connected to the university. Smith had been under contract through the 2029 season and was owed about $2.5 million in remaining salary.

Rex Elliott, Smith’s attorney, responded in a letter to Gonzalez, obtained by media outlets through a records requests, and stated that Smith “didn’t participate in an extramarital affair and you know it.” Elliott added that Smith and his wife separated earlier this year, were going through a divorce and were living apart during the fall. Smith had been living at the OU Inn while looking for permanent housing and had told Larscheid that he saw athletes’ families there while with a 41-year-old woman he was seeing at the time, after he broke off the relationship with the Ohio student.

Elliott wrote that Ohio University had no policy prohibiting employees from dating students, and that Smith and a student engaged in a “perfectly appropriate consensual adult relationship that did not violate any OU rule or policy.” He said Smith and the student dated for about four months until early November, and that the student was part of the athletic department.

Elliott also responded to Gonzalez citing a reprimand for Smith for consuming alcohol in his office at the school, as a reason for his termination. Gonzalez wrote that the university was aware of a public appearance where Smith “smelled strongly of alcohol” and was “intoxicated in your demeanor.” Elliott wrote that Smith has “never been inebriated at an OU event” and that the reprimand and a meeting that occurred around it, which took place in late November, never mentioned other concerns related to Smith’s alcohol use. He added that Ohio University serves and encourages alcohol usage at other university-sponsored events and cited examples of faculty and staff drinking in their offices and other campus facilities.

“The reprimand related to coaches toasting in the [football] offices after home victories,” Elliott wrote to Gonzalez. “Finally, the coaches were toasting with Bourbon provided by your husband to Coach Smith in his office.”

In his letter, sent before Ohio terminated Smith, Elliott said Smith would “vigorously pursue” litigation for wrongful termination if Ohio fired him for cause.

Smith went 8-4 is his lone season as Ohio’s coach, after being promoted to the role from offensive coordinator. He had been on the football staff since 2022.

Indiana is expected to finalize a new three-year contract with offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan, a source confirmed to ESPN on Thursday, as the school reinforces its commitment to coach Curt Cignetti’s staff.

The deal will keep Shanahan as Indiana’s offensive playcaller for the 2026 season and potentially through 2028. Shanahan has worked on Cignetti’s staffs since 2016, at IU-Pennsylvania, Elon and James Madison before coming to Indiana in 2024.

Indiana last week secured a new contract for defensive coordinator Bryant Haines that will make him among the nation’s highest-paid assistants. Cignetti lost only one assistant from the 2024 staff and will have at least his two primary coordinators back next fall.

The (Bloomington) Herald-Times first reported Shanahan’s new deal with the Hoosiers, who secured their first outright Big Ten title since 1945 and have the top seed entering the College Football Playoff. Indiana will face Oklahoma or Alabama on Jan. 1 in the College Football Playoff quarterfinal at the Rose Bowl presented by Prudential.

Led by Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Fernando Mendoza, Indiana’s offense ranks third nationally in scoring (41.9 PPG) and rose to 10th in rushing (221 YPG), a significant increase from 2024. Since Shanahan’s arrival, Indiana leads the FBS in scoring at 41.6 points per game.

Shanahan, 35, is a former Pitt wide receiver who started his career at his alma mater before joining Cignetti.