THEY WERE BOTH SO YOUNG.

One would be entering his old age now, with most of a long life behind him. The other would just be entering his senior year in high school, working to fulfill a life of great promise.

A vast gulf of time separates them.

But nobody knows them now except by memory, so time is also what ties them together.

And it is time that tells their story.

They were both so young, are both so young still.

---

ONE IS JAY KUTNER. He is a quarterback. He plays for Holy Trinity Diocesan High School in Hicksville, New York. He is a senior, 17 years old. He wears No. 5. One afternoon, his team, the Titans, is playing a preseason scrimmage against Amityville Memorial, a public school. It is the second week of September, and the day is hot and dry and dusty, and Jay is walking off the field for a drink of water. He is done, like most of the starters. His backup is already stepping behind center. But he hears the whistle blow. The coach is dissatisfied — execution or effort, it hardly matters now. He tells Jay to go back in for one last play. It has been a rough scrimmage, but Jay is wearing a red outer jersey for his protection. He is not supposed to be hit. He barks the signals, the ball is snapped. The play later will be described as “nondescript” or “routine.” But mistakes are never routine. There is a problem with the snap. The ball comes loose. The ball is on the ground, and Jay dives for it. So does everyone else. The play is not particularly violent, just crowded. There is a pile, and at the bottom of it, a small voice — “my neck.” The whistle blows, and the players peel themselves off of or are pulled from the scrum. They stand up, then they look down. The player at the bottom remains on the ground. The player at the bottom is Jay Kutner, and he does not get up.

The other is Caden Tellier. He is a quarterback. He plays for Morgan Academy, in Selma, Alabama. He is a junior, 16 years old. It is a hot Friday night in August, and he is playing under the lights, first game of the season. Morgan versus Southern. He wears No. 17, in emulation of his hero, Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills. Most of the people who watched him grow up — the people who know and love him most — have come to the small stadium in the back of the school to watch him play football. His father is here. His mother is here. His sister is here, his girlfriend, his pastor, his coaches, his teachers, his friends. Caden is at home on his home field, with his old Ford truck in the parking lot. He sat out a few games as a sophomore after a shoulder injury. He is healthy now, a rangy kid who is as proud of his legs as he is of his arm. He likes to run. On Morgan’s first drive of the second half, he rolls right, toward his own sideline — toward his team, toward his family, toward the home crowd. He sees an opening along the white stripe and is turning upfield when a diving tackler grabs him low and trips him up. It’s a clean tackle everybody will say. But Caden stretches and sprawls forward, still gathering momentum as he falls. He lands hard, his helmet hitting the turf with a snap. He gets right up, he heads right back to the huddle. But then he takes himself out. He goes to the sideline and takes a knee. He says, “I don’t feel good,” and slumps over.

It’s the last thing Caden Tellier ever says.

---

YOU CAN’T MISS HIM. He’s good at everything he does — hell, Jay’s good at smiling. On the pitcher’s mound, he throws so hard he wears out the hands of his catchers. On the football field, he stands tall in the pocket and throws a ball his receivers have to either catch or duck. He’s 6-foot-2, 185 pounds and still growing, and though his school, Holy Trinity, sits in the middle of Long Island, he has drawn attention from major college scouts as far away as North Carolina, as well as comparisons to Roman Gabriel, the marble statue who quarterbacks the Philadelphia Eagles.

But it’s in the halls of Holy Trinity where you see his promise most clearly — where young Jay, with his blue eyes and easygoing and yet purposeful gait, looks like a particularly self-possessed politician, somehow already a handshake away from higher office. It’s not just that everyone wants to talk to him; it’s that he can talk to everyone, even the grinds in his Latin class. Yes, when the bell rings, he seems to float above the fray, surveying the scurrying underclassmen as if from a great height. But he also sees things — particularly the kids having a hard time. When the yearbook photographer comes to school to shoot senior portraits, Jay pokes his head in the classroom and sees that his friend Tommy Young doesn’t have a sport jacket. He gives him his own, an unmistakably loud plaid, along with an assurance that when the yearbooks come out at the end of senior year, there they will be for all of posterity, secret twins stuck in the same jacket. And when he sees one of the biggest and most imposing of his jock buddies roughing up the editor of the school paper after a rowdy basketball game — Brian Clancy has written an editorial condemning the cherished Holy Trinity ritual of under-the-bleachers basketball-game boozing — Jay strides over and taps him on the shoulder. “I don’t think this is a good idea,” he says. “I know Brian, and Brian’s a good guy.” His teammate nods, and leaves Brian alone.

Heroism comes naturally to him, but not easily. He’s from an enormous Catholic family, one of 11 children, and his father is the unquestioned hero in the house — the war hero. It is a time in American history when many middle-aged men in many suburban neighborhoods fought in World War II. But Harry Kutner flew a B-29 on bombing missions over the Pacific. He is a lawyer who’s just about to be appointed judge at the Nassau County Family Court, and to his children he’s a judge already, with an inflexible standard of right and wrong and a prickly distaste for the “gray area.” Some fight him, some live in fear of him, but Jay — well, one day a kid from the neighborhood shows up at the front door to object to something Jay has done. They all live near a big public park and the kid, Jim Savage, was playing baseball with his friends when Jay came along with his friends and kicked them off the field. Harry Kutner answers the door, with his tall middle son appearing behind him. When Savage finishes his story, the judge turns to Jay and asks, “Did you do this?”

“Yes, Dad,” Jay answers.

Without hesitation, Harry slaps his son across the face, hard. Jim Savage is horrified, but what he will remember most vividly, what he will remember forever, is Jay’s response. The boy doesn’t cry. He doesn’t even flinch. He just … takes it, as if endurance has already become his calling and his fate.

---

THE FATHER AND SON, Jamie and Caden Tellier, are also coach and player. They are with each other all the time because Caden wants to be coached all the time — he’s that kid. A pitcher, he keeps a baseball in his hand no matter where he goes, working on different grips for different pitches even when he’s hanging out and watching television. A dual-threat quarterback, he takes pride in studying for games as rigorously as he studies for school, where he can’t abide anything less than an A. He likes baseball better than he likes football, but if baseball is his sport, he knows football is his chance — his chance to keep playing in college. His chance to leave his mark. Caden has always been a boy with dreams, and Jamie has always been a man dedicated to their realization. He played quarterback himself once; he taught Caden how to play the game in their backyard in Selma, and when Caden became a 15-year-old sophomore starter at the Morgan Academy, Jamie joined the coaching staff as a volunteer. He doesn’t have to push Caden because Caden pushes himself. But Caden’s dreams keep growing bigger and bigger, and now he has one that he shares not just with his father but also with his closest friends: He wants to see his jersey retired. In the gym at the Morgan Academy, the jersey of Gunnar Henderson, Class of 2019 and now a shortstop for the Baltimore Orioles, hangs from the wall. Caden wants his garnet-and-gold No. 17 to hang right next to it.

But it is not his only goal. He has worked so hard to prepare for Morgan’s first game of the 2024 season that he wonders if his worldly ambition is getting in the way of his spiritual one. He has been a professing Christian since he was 4 years old, but he has been spending so much time practicing and studying for football that he has been missing the Wednesday night youth group. His youth pastor, Roxanne Jones, is also his godmother, and he has been telling her that his heart is with her but his head is with football, so she’s surprised when he calls one Wednesday night and says he’s coming — “Should I bring a pizza?” He arrives late, pizza in hand, and explains to the group that he doesn’t know why, but he had to come. Then he becomes impassioned. He’s a determinedly soft-spoken kid, but he speaks with such conviction that he causes his pastor to abandon her planned lesson. He might want to see his jersey retired, but what he really wants to see is a spiritual revival of his team. Then he stops himself. “No,” he says, “I want to see a revival at school …”

Two nights later, he leads his team onto the field for a game against Greensboro, Alabama’s Southern Academy, with his father up in the booth calling plays.

---

THERE SHOULD BE NO PROBLEM with the snap. The quarterback and the center, Jay Kutner and Richie Callahan, are best of friends, one of them tall and the other so squat he’s called “Stumpy.” They’ve practiced the exchange all summer, in preparation for their senior season. Jay has taken hundreds of snaps, until receiving the ball from Stumpy has become second nature to him, just like their friendship. But when preseason begins and the team goes to camp at a nearby seminary, there is a complication. Holy Trinity’s head coach, Fred Bruno, has hired a new offensive assistant, an odd, persnickety man with a crewcut and a deep ideological commitment to the University of Delaware’s wing-T offense. Crewcut sweats the smallest details, even the snap from center. His center and his quarterback exchange the ball as they have since they started playing football, Richie turning the ball on the upswing so Jay can grab it across the laces. Crewcut tells them they’re doing it wrong. He insists on Jay grabbing the ball by the point, a doctrinal choice that’s supposed to help the running game but succeeds only in turning what has been routine into a roll of the dice. The quarterback and the center start fumbling. At first, they are just making mistakes; then they do it on purpose, two friends engaged in a secret rebellion. Finally, the coach surrenders and allows them to go back to what was automatic. They don’t have to think about the snap again until the day of the scrimmage with the Tide of Amityville High School.

It’s Tuesday, the 11th day of September, and it’s getting late in the day, a little past 5 o’clock. The scrimmage has been sloppy and short-tempered, the two teams eager for the season to start and the games to count. Coach Bruno blows the whistle, and Richie Callahan heads to the sideline for water. He’s done. Most of the starters are done, tired and thirsty and taking off their helmets. Richie figures Jay is done too, but when he turns around he sees Jay still on the field. The coaches are yelling and Jay has gone back under center. Richie wants to put his helmet back on and return to the fray — to his quarterback and his friend. It is a strong feeling, one he remembers. But the Titans need a backup center, and the coaches are auditioning a guard named Mark Pospisil. He snaps the ball exactly as the dogmatic coach has instructed, point up instead of the laces. Tommy Young is playing tight end, and he will remember waiting for Jay to throw him the ball. Kevin Kavanaugh is playing running back and he will remember waiting for Jay to hand it off. Richie Callahan is watching from the sideline, and he will remember exactly that — watching as Jay begins to pivot without the ball in his hands, and wishing he could somehow still go in.

The scrimmage is being played on the grass field where the Holy Trinity Titans play their games on Saturdays. It is a few hundred yards from their locker room, but now it seems a mile. There is nobody in the stands. There is no doctor on hand, and no emergency personnel. There are no cellphones. There is something called 911, but it has just been instituted in Nassau County, and people are still much more accustomed to calling the operator or the fire department in an emergency. They — all of them, the coaches and the players — are suddenly all alone, with no help available and Jay Kutner flat on the field and unable to move. They hear his voice, the fear in it. They have no idea what to do, and they make mistakes. Kavanaugh remains where he stood in the backfield, and he sees Coach Bruno grabbing his quarterback by the belt, as if the wind has been knocked out of him and he’s trying to force air back into his lungs. The Amityville players wonder why Jay’s helmet is off when he’s not moving and he’s complaining about his neck. The coaches clear the field, and the teams move away from the fallen player like two armies too exhausted to keep fighting. The Amityville Tide climb back into their yellow school buses and head home. The Holy Trinity Titans, both varsity and JV, gather on the threadbare grass in front of the locker room and stare into the distance at the small knot of desperate men bent over their friend on the playing field. It turns into kind of a vigil if only because they have to wait. Time passes, the sun sinks in the hazy sky. The ambulance finally arrives and drives onto the field, its red light quietly whirling. The father of one of Trinity players is a New York City cop; he watched the scrimmage from the sideline and now he joins Jay in the back of the ambulance. He sees Jay struggling to breathe and he doesn’t want him to ride alone, this teenaged boy with a broken neck

---

WHAT HAPPENS TO CADEN on Aug. 23 happens right in front of them all. They are so close, in the intimacy of the small stadium they call home; they are so far away, in their inability to change what they see and hear. Caden’s father, Jamie, is sitting in the little booth perched at the top of the stands, sending in plays; Caden’s mother, Arsella, is a few rows down, sitting where she always sits, next to Pastor Roxanne Jones. When Caden takes himself out of the game, she’s immediately worried. “ACL,” Roxanne says to her. But when her only son slumps over on the green grass, she turns around and motions her husband to go down to the field. Her gesture — her uncharacteristically urgent gesture — is what lets him know that Caden is in trouble. He rushes down the narrow rickety steps from the booth and then jumps onto the track and then to the sideline. But Arsella reaches Caden first. So does a doctor who was watching from the stands. The game between the Morgan Academy and the Southern Academy somehow continues, somehow persists, until the play-by-play announcer for Morgan sounds an alarm over the booming stadium loudspeakers: “Refs, stop the game — we have a medical emergency!”

The stadium falls into rapt silence interwoven with murmured prayers, and everybody who loves Caden watches as the doctor removes his shoes and prods the soles of his feet with scissors. When an ambulance takes him to the hospital in Selma, the game resumes with a sophomore named Patrick Johnson at quarterback. He doesn’t throw the ball very much but Morgan Academy plays inspiring football, the game won on the ground by a team that doesn’t know yet that Caden has been flown to Birmingham in a helicopter. His family follows in their car; his teammates return to their homes, and most of them are asleep when, in the early-morning hours, phones begin ringing and their parents begin taking the calls. Amanda Denmark gets a call. Her son, Caine McLaughlin, is a lineman at Morgan and one of Caden’s closest friends. She walks into his room and finds him fast asleep, as only a high school boy can be. She wonders if she should wake him but decides not to. Sleep is what he needs and what he’s going to need. He’s going to have the rest of his life to take in the news that his quarterback is brain-dead.

---

HIS NAME IS TIM TIMLIN. He’s a quarterback. He’s a junior and he has talent. He was the one waiting to step in during the scrimmage when the coach called Jay back for one more play. He figures that now he’ll need to replace Jay as the starter. But there’s another scrimmage, this one on the Saturday after Jay broke his neck. It’s between the Titans, and it’s being played to determine who will lead the team. Timlin has the worst game of his life. He throws three interceptions and the coaches turn to a senior who’s one of Jay’s closest friends. His name is Bobby DeLorenzo. He’s not a quarterback, at least in the way Jay was, and he didn’t expect to play quarterback when Jay was starting. He’s so nearsighted he has to wear his owlish eyeglasses even when he’s on the field. He doesn’t have the big arm and, at a shade under 5-10, he doesn’t have the stature. He’s just a utility player who can do a little of everything and fill in wherever he’s needed — “a Swiss Army knife kind of guy,” Timlin calls him. But he’s perfect for the wing-T, and something happens when he steps in. His teammates respond to him. They would do anything for him. He replaces Jay even as he knows that Jay can’t be replaced. And they win.

They win because they find purpose and they find purpose because they win, and after each game they visit Jay in Nassau Hospital. It is not easy for them. It is not easy for him. He broke the two vertebrae, the C-3 and the C-4, high up in his neck. His spine was not severed but his spinal cord swelled, and the swelling did irreversible damage. A tracheotomy saved him when the ambulance brought him in, a ventilator keeps him breathing now. He can barely speak and sometimes he answers questions by blinking his eyes. But those eyes, they’re still blue, and that smile, it’s still full of mischief. Back when he had a summer job as a crossing guard, his friends used to come by to see him in his uniform, and he would do silly dances for them out in the middle of the crosswalk. Now he tries to crack jokes with his tracheotomy. He does it for them, for his boys, and they in turn do something for him when they play Chaminade 25 days after his injury.

Holy Trinity has been in existence for less than 10 years, and it has never beaten Chaminade, the prestigious all-boys school located in the same Long Island town where Jay is hospitalized. They’re behind at halftime, and a priest who has just visited Jay in the hospital comes to the locker room with a message from him: “Win.” One of the captains on the team, Gregg Garner, stands up and says, “You hear that? Jay isn’t going through all that he’s going through just so we can lose to Chaminade!” He begins banging the steel lockers with his helmet and then everybody else does the same and they emerge from the racket and the uproar to defeat their despised rival in the second half. Later that night, they present Jay with the game ball in his hospital room, telling him that they couldn’t have done it without him and watching the tears shining in his blue blinking eyes.

Then they leave. For all anyone knows, the victory over Chaminade might hurt Jay as much as it helps him. He might not want a football, given what football has done to him, and when his teammates go home and he’s alone again in the hospital, his tears of sparkling joy might turn to tears of hopelessness and sorrow. But maybe he understands that he has done more for them than they can ever do for him, and that’s where he finds his comfort. Maybe he told them to win not for himself but for them, because he knew they needed to hear it. They are young, 16 and 17 years old, and their lives are in front of them. Most of his life is already behind him, but he changes them, in ways they won’t fully grasp for years. A football game sounds like such a paltry thing in comparison to the suffering he has to endure. But what else did they have to offer? He asked them for it, and they gave it to him, and nothing else is ever the same for them, especially Bobby DeLorenzo.

He is the quarterback of his high school football team, glasses and all. He is the first Holy Trinity quarterback to beat Chaminade, and he leads the Titans to a second-place finish in the Catholic high school league. He winds up dating the girl he will never cease calling the prettiest in the school and then winds up marrying her. He tells himself, always, that he did the impossible after his friend Jay was paralyzed, and so there’s no challenge he shies from. It is not until much later that he sees clearly that he had the life Jay should have had. He sees that Jay gave him his life, just the sheer opportunity of it. And with both pride and a sadness that still sneaks up on him, he realizes that if you want to know how Jay Kutner might have lived, you might want to look at how Bobby DeLorenzo is still living.

---

WHEN CADEN WAS 4 YEARS OLD, Jamie Tellier’s father died of cancer. Caden was very close with his grandfather, and his parents worried about how he would respond to the loss. They woke him in the morning after “Pops” died overnight, and when they told him the news they were shocked that he didn’t cry, that he appeared unfazed. “Pops has gone to heaven,” Jamie said. “Oh, I know,” Caden said. “He stopped on his way and told me.”

Now 12 years have passed, and it is Caden who is gone. His brain has died, and the body that has been left behind is being sustained by machines in his Birmingham hospital room. His mother and father know what they must do next, because he has told them. He just turned 16 in May, and so he also just got his driver’s license. He talked to his parents about his decision when he was checking the required boxes. He was very clear about what he wanted and what God was asking of him. In the event of his death, he wanted to be an organ donor, based on his conviction that somewhere out in the world was a person he was meant to help. Jamie and Arsella were struck by his confidence, by his certainty about an eventuality they could barely bring themselves to contemplate. Now they remember what he had told them as a little boy. He had always behaved as if he were just passing through, with one foot already in heaven. It was what gave him his confidence at 16. It was also what gave him his unearthly confidence at age 4, and it is what gives his parents confidence that Caden is already with Pops in heaven, with just his body in the hospital room.

His mother calls it his “earth suit.” And on Sunday, Aug. 25, she and her husband and daughter have to find the strength to let go of it. They have to abide by the wishes printed on Caden’s license. They have to allow the doctors to prepare his body for organ removal rather than survival. And they have to say goodbye to their beautiful boy. They are not alone in this. People begin arriving from Selma early in the morning and keep arriving all day. It is a pilgrimage, and as much as they might believe he is already gone, they want to see him, they want to touch him, they want to pray over him, they want to tell him they love him. But the room is closed to all but Jamie and Arsella, the family and Caden’s girlfriend and closest friends. So when the doctors come, the nurses come, and when at last Caden is being rolled on a gurney out the door of his room, there are hundreds of people waiting for him. They line one hallway of the hospital, two hallways, three hallways, and Caden rolls past all of them. They are silent, they are softly applauding, they are praying, they are sobbing, they are waving goodbye, until at last another set of doors opens and closes, and he is gone — gone to do good, for good.

---

BACK IN THE SUMMER , before the onset of football practice, Jay went with some of his friends to visit a classmate in the hospital. She was, in many ways, his counterpart — an accomplished gymnast, a captain of the cheerleaders, a leader of her class. She had suffered a spinal injury during a gymnastics camp. Jay visited her at the Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation in New York City, where she was already demonstrating the resolve that sustains her to this very day. But Jay was shaken. On the drive home, he said to the friends jammed into an old Mercury Comet something they will not forget: “I don’t know if I could do it. I don’t know if I could live like that. I think I’d rather be dead.”

He has a friend, Tom Casey, at Trinity. Tom’s mother, Janet, is a nurse. She’s the supervising nurse at Nassau Hospital. She likes to stay late at the hospital and visit her son’s friend Jay Kutner. She likes talking to him, because they have something in common. They both have a secret. Jay’s is that he’s terrified of what’s to come. Janet’s is that she’s a Catholic woman who’s planning to leave her husband. Jay can’t go home. Janet doesn’t want to, so she stays with him. Maybe she tells him it’s OK to be afraid.

One day, she meets one of her student volunteers, Nancy Fischer. Nancy is a sophomore at Holy Trinity. Janet tells her to visit Jay. Nancy is 15, tall, and a little awkward. She knows who Jay Kutner is, of course — everybody does. But she doesn’t know him. She’s not friends with him. In truth, she’s embarrassed, because she doesn’t think she’s worthy of him — what can she do for Jay Kutner? And she’s also scared by the sight of him in his bed, helpless among the machines. But Janet is her boss, and she’s not giving Nancy a choice. She starts visiting him every week, sitting by his bedside. She talks about school, mostly — the things that happen throughout the day. He doesn’t say much. He can’t. So he just listens. She wishes she could say something profound instead of hearing herself prattle on about this and that. But he smiles when he sees her walk into the room, and one day, when he smiles, she realizes he’s withering away.

Jay doesn’t stay at Nassau Hospital, in Mineola. He is a chronic case, so he moves to Goldwater Memorial Hospital, on Roosevelt Island in New York City, in the middle of the East River. There was once a penitentiary on that island. The smallpox hospital and the almshouse and the asylum used to be on that island. And it is on that island, and in that hospital, that fear really takes hold. He still has visitors; his mother, Virginia, even with all the children at home, visits every day, and Bobby D and the boys drive 45 minutes to the city whenever they can. But whoever visits Jay at Goldwater Memorial Hospital will talk about Goldwater Memorial Hospital and have bad dreams about Goldwater Memorial Hospital for a long time — the men in the iron lungs, the brusque nurses, the coughing, the groaning, the hopelessness, the isolation, the sodality of lost causes. There are people who visit once and never again, and there is Sister Amelia who taught Jay at Trinity and now teaches in Manhattan. She tries to visit him every week, and once, when she is sitting next to him, she hears him struggling to speak. It is hard for him, but she can hear him well enough, and she’ll never forget what he says: “What should I think about God?”

“If you’re angry at him, you should tell him,” Sister Amelia says. “Have that conversation. Because if you speak to him honestly, that will be your prayer.”

It is hard to be a helpless hero. The people who have invested their hopes in Jay have little choice but to keep doing so. They want Jay to be brave, and he is brave. They want Jay to hold fast to his will to live, and he holds on for as long as he possibly can. But he is dying. He is susceptible to infections and fevers. He burns, there in his bed at Goldwater, and at the end of April, around seven months after he fell on the field at Holy Trinity, he is transferred to another hospital, this time Bellevue, on the East Side of Manhattan. Not long after, his friend Georgie Wich hears from his father, a New York City cop. Do you want to go see him, he asks. Dad, it’s late, George says. Do you want to go see him, his father asks again.

George and his father go to Bellevue in the middle of the night. He spends time with his friend, and on the next day, May 23, the Feast of the Ascension, Jay dies of a bladder infection. A few weeks later, the yearbook that honors his graduating class is published. There, among the black and white senior portraits, are Jay Kutner and Thomas Young, wearing the same loud plaid blazer. It belonged to Jay; he shared it with Tom when Tom didn’t have one. Now Jay is gone, and Tom is the only one who knows, who remembers, what Jay did for him.

---

THERE IS A WORSHIP SERVICE on Wednesday, three days after well-wishers crowded the hallways at the hospital. It’s at The Cathedral of Christ the King, the church downtown where the Telliers worship. Seven hundred people come, so many that the crowd overflows the chapel. Most are from Selma, but not all. The story of Caden Tellier’s short life and precipitous death has made the national news over the weekend, to the extent that Jamie Tellier, on Monday morning, opens his phone only to read the news once again that Caden is gone. People have traveled from all over Alabama to be part of the service, including a family from around Greensboro. The player from Southern Academy who made the fatal tackle just five nights ago has come to pray, along with his parents. The Telliers embrace them in the absolute conviction that Caden wants them to — not that he would want them to; that he wants them to, now, from his place in heaven.

Two nights before his injury, Caden told his youth group that he wanted to see a revival — a spiritual gathering of sorts — on his football team and at Morgan Academy. This night, at Christ the King, is the beginning of it. But what is a revival at a school that was chartered in 1965 in response to the Civil Rights Act, that was named after a senator who doubled as a grand wizard in the KKK, and that admitted its first Black student in 2008? What is a revival on a team that plays a sport predicated on pointed, intentional and occasionally lethal violence? There are problems in our schools and in our sports that sometimes feel nearly as old as original sin and nearly as resistant to change. The convulsions of grief that shake Selma in the wake of Caden’s death do not transform Selma; they allow people to pray for the power of pardon, to forgive and to be forgiven.

Grief might sometimes tell stories, grief might speak through the imagination, grief might find its way into our dreams as well as our prayers. But stories do something real if they help us survive. Imagination speaks the truth if it helps us stay alive. And dreams are gifts of mercy if they give us the strength to offer ourselves to others when we have lost everything. The Telliers have lost Caden. Morgan Academy has lost Caden. The people of Selma have lost Caden. They all tell stories about him — triumphant stories. He died for a reason, they say, he died for a cause, he died as part of a plan, he died for us. Some people believe those stories; some people don’t. But it’s because of those stories that the Telliers have the astonishing strength to accompany Caden’s body as he is rolled out of the hospital room. It’s because of those stories that Caden’s teammates call the boy from Greensboro who tackled Caden along the sideline and is still grieving himself. They take him out for dinner, and then take him out hunting, so that he knows they don’t blame him, they’re not mad at him, it was an accident, it was not intentional, it was a good clean hit, he was only doing his job, it was not his fault, it’s nobody’s fault, these things happen, and God is always good.

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THERE ARE STORIES TOLD by grief and time about Jay, too. Fred Bruno is the coach who called Jay back for one more play, one more snap. It turns out to be his last season at Trinity. He resigns and begins coaching at a public high school in Suffolk County. His coaching colleagues say he made the move for better pay. But he never wins a championship, and the death of Jay Kutner always follows him around. When he quits coaching, he becomes a pastor at a Christian church in East Meadow, just a few miles from Holy Trinity.

Kevin Kavanaugh holds Coach Bruno accountable for Jay — the way he picked him up by the belt. He was right there, the running back waiting for Jay to hand him the ball. Jay never got there, and Kevin, a few years later, feels as if he’s still waiting. He’s 24 years old and his life has yet to begin. Then his life almost ends. He eats something he shouldn’t eat. He has no idea he’s allergic to it, but he finds out his susceptibility by going into anaphylaxis. His throat closes. He can’t breathe. He’s dying, and then suddenly he’s dead — his heart has stopped. A doctor is working on him, telling him, “Don’t go, don’t go, don’t go,” but he’s leaving, all the voices coming to him now from a great distance. And then he sees two faces. One belongs to an aunt who died when he was a little boy. The other belongs to Jay Kutner. They say, “Go back, you’re not ready yet,” and that’s when Kevin takes a breath and speaks to the doctor. “I’m not going anywhere,” he says.

Tommy Joyce is another of the Titans’ running backs. He blames himself for failing Jay. He visits Jay, but he can’t shake the fear he sees in Jay’s eyes when he sits with him in those hopeless hospital rooms. He wants to say something to take the fear away but doesn’t know what it could be. He spends his life searching for those words and he finds them when he gives his life to God. Tommy becomes the man he always wanted to be, a graduate of Annapolis, a decorated fighter pilot, a husband, a father, and a captain with an office in the Pentagon, where he sits on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001. He is 45 years old. He’s thinking of Jay, because it has been 28 years to the day since Tommy saw Jay break his neck diving for a fumble. Then an explosion knocks him to the ground, and when he looks out his window, he sees an enormous billowing fireball. A plane has hit the Pentagon, and he begins moving immediately to get people out. That fear he saw in Jay’s face so long ago — he sees it again. This time he knows what to do, and he becomes one of the many heroes of 9/11, taking people out of the burning building, saving lives.

Jay Kutner died more than 51 years ago, on May 23, 1974. He was 18 years old. According to National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research (NCCSIR) statistics, in 1974, a total of 10 middle school and high school football players died of the traumatic injuries they incurred from playing. In 1975, 13. In 1976, 12. In 1977, seven. In 1978, nine. In 1979, three. In 1980, nine. In 1981, five. In 1982, seven. In 1983, four. In 1984, four. In 1985, four. In 1986, 11. In 1987, four. In 1988, seven. In 1989, four. In 1990, zero. In 1991, three. In 1992, two. In 1993, three. In 1994, zero. In 1995, four. In 1996, five. In 1997, six. In 1998, six. In 1999, four. In 2000, three. In 2001, eight. In 2002, three. In 2003, two. In 2004, four. In 2005, two. In 2006, one. In 2007, three. In 2008, seven. In 2009, two. In 2010, two. in 2011, three. In 2012, one. In 2013, eight. In 2014, five. In 2015, seven. In 2016, two. In 2017, two. In 2018, two. In 2019, four. In 2020, the pandemic year, zero. In 2021, four. In 2022, three. In 2023, two. In 2024, three, including Caden Tellier, who, before he died at age 16, chose to donate his organs.

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I WAS JUST A BOY. And I was there.

I was there on Sept. 22, 1972, when Jay Kutner threw a 73-yard-touchdown pass against Syosset. I was a freshman at Holy Trinity, 14 years old. It was the first high school football game I ever attended. The Holy Trinity Titans wore the green-and-white of my favorite team, the New York Jets. They were losing when junior quarterback Jay Kutner stepped in. He wore No. 5. He was tall. He faded back in the pocket and threw the ball 50 yards downfield. The ball landed in the outstretched hands of a receiver named Barry Pannell who never broke stride. It was beyond beautiful — it was everything I ever wanted, in a spiral, in the arc of communication between quarterback and receiver. And it changed everything for me. I was a slow split end on a freshman team I barely made. But suddenly I wanted to do that. I wanted to be a quarterback. I wanted to be like Jay Kutner.

I was there a year later, on Tuesday, Sept. 11. I was a JV quarterback. Jay in his kindness, told me during training camp that I threw “a nice ball.” We scrimmaged against Amityville alongside the varsity, on the same field. Then the coaches ushered us off and herded us back to the locker room. Coaches and players were running around, with a terrible harried look in their eyes, as if dogs had set upon them. We gathered in the bristly grass out in front of the locker room and waited in the dust, stared out in the distance, and tried to understand what it meant, what we were hearing, that Jay Kutner was badly hurt. It was a long time ago. But I remember the futility and the panic and the wait. I remember the ambulance and fire truck drove right onto the field, so late that they seemed to bring darkness with them.

I was there on the day set aside to mourn his death. It was late spring, the school year almost over. There was a memorial Mass in the big chapel across from the entrance to the locker room. Jay’s teammates assisted, as altar boys. Kids trying to look brave, kids trying to look solemn, little knots of kids everywhere, sobbing, the way rainstorms break out, simultaneously across a hodgepodge of clouds. I wandered around and came upon two girls from my class, crying so hard they were shaking, they were embracing each other, they were one broken person. I had never seen anything like it, and I wondered: What must it have been like to be loved like that? What must it have been like to be Jay Kutner? And what might Jay Kutner have become?

---

JAMIE TELLIER HAS A DECISION TO MAKE. He has already made the decision to speak at Caden’s funeral, because he wanted to testify to Caden’s love of the Lord. That was his decision as a father. But now he has another kind of decision to make: a decision of a father who is also a coach. He has to decide whether to return to football.

It is entirely up to him. Certainly no one would blame him if he simply said, I can’t. The Morgan Academy Senators have a new head coach this year, Jacob Webb, and he has already been told by the school’s headmaster that this season is not about wins and losses but rather about making sure his players take care of each other. Coach Webb has told Jamie he should do what he feels is right for him and his family. Everybody has told Jamie he should do what is right for him and his family. But what is right for him and his family? And he asks himself, what is right for Caden?

He saw it, from the booth — he saw the tackle, and he saw Caden take himself out and then slump down. And, of course, he still sees it, every second; he can’t stop seeing it, eyes open or closed. He agrees that it was a good tackle, a clean play; he calls his son’s injury “the accident.” The question he has to answer is whether he can see it again, any of it, another tackle, another hit, another boy slow to get up, more football. He has time; the game scheduled the week after Caden’s death has been canceled and the following week is a bye. He wouldn’t be able even to consider walking on the field otherwise. But can he consider it now? The game on Sept. 13 is against Monroe Academy. Three weeks have passed since the tackle, the accident, the loss, the walk down through the hospital halls. But Jamie Tellier doesn’t make his decision until two hours before game time.

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THEY ARE ALL SURVIVORS. There were 11 of them, to start with. But Jay played football. Rosemary Kutner was born with Down syndrome and died in an institution at age 4. Matthew was born with a congenital heart condition and into a childhood of multiple surgeries; he dreamed of playing hockey, and when he was 19 his doctor approved him to do so. His heart gave out and he collapsed in his brother Kenny’s arms playing in a street hockey league; he was pronounced dead at the hospital. Stephen lived to a saintly adulthood, but when he died of cancer in 2018, he was the fourth child Virginia Kutner buried before her own death two years later. There are seven of them now. And yet as they all meet with me around a conference table in a law office in Garden City, New York, they project neither fragility nor diminished numbers — anything but.

There are three brothers, Harry and Chris and Kenny, all of them lawyers; there are two sisters, Bernie and Marybeth; there are a brother and a sister, Raymond and Ann Marie, attending on Zoom, along with Harry’s son, John Joseph Kutner II; and there is Harry’s wife, Barbara, who keeps her husband in line and hence everyone else. They are in their 50s and 60s and 70s. Their hair is mostly gray and white, but the men all wear sharp suits, the women have all dressed for the occasion, and, en masse, the Kutners are blessed with the electricity of big sprawling families, the eternal youth of their eternal jostling. With their quips and their complaints and comebacks, they pride themselves on being a tough crowd, and even with all of their losses, they do not seem like a tragic family but, rather, a family that has endured tragedy. And yet there is something that they’ve never done, never had the time to do nor the inclination: They’ve never sat in one place, all together, and talked about Jay.

They’re doing it now, and so they’re crying, one at a time, two at a time, sometimes as they’re speaking and sometimes after they’ve spoken, reflected on some moment, told some story. The bad news of Jay’s injury; the horrible news of how very bad it was; the hope that dwindled away; the individual isolation of the big booming household; the loneliness caused by Virginia’s faithful vigil at her son’s bedside; the pitiless education they received from the sight and sound of the iron lungs on Roosevelt Island; their unspoken prayers, at Bellevue, for the mercy of an ending. They talk for hours, and what they come to at last is not simply a reckoning with grief, but also with the man who bore up under it. “Tell me about your father,” I say, remembering what one of Jay’s friends told me about Judge Harry Kutner and the slap. “Aw Jesus, now you’ve done it,” his namesake Harry Jr. says, drumming his fingers and rolling his eyes. They each have different versions of the old man. But they agree that he softened at the end of his life, learning how to lend an ear, becoming a father the kids could bring their troubles to because he had troubles of his own. The war hero, the B-29 pilot, the NYC cop who learned the law at night school, the man of unyielding rectitude who turned out to be born for the bench — he couldn’t forgive himself about Jay. He couldn’t forgive himself for not visiting Jay in the hospital more often. He had gone, sure, but not enough, never enough. He died at 94, still regretting. The kids would tell him don’t be silly, he had 10 mouths to feed and a wife who visited her son every single day, no matter what. But the Judge would wave them off. A hero must follow his own example.

“Did your father have any heroes of his own?” I ask.

“Jay was my father’s hero,” Harry says, and for once all of them, all those squabbling, surviving Kutners, don’t have to add anything. They just nod in solemn agreement. Yes.

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HIS NAME IS PATRICK JOHNSON. He is a fledgling quarterback because he’s a fledgling football player. He’s “double-sided” about football, he acknowledges — playing the game mainly because his friends play. He’s a sophomore at Morgan, and he’s satisfied to be Caden Tellier’s backup. He goes to practice, but he’s happy to be on the sideline during the games, and he pushes neither Caden nor himself. It is, in fact, Caden who pushes him, Caden who makes sure that Patrick gets his reps, Caden who tells Patrick of his potential, Caden who instructs Patrick to go out there and don’t try to be anyone but himself. On Aug. 23, 2024, Patrick is on the sideline when Caden appears to break loose on a running play before he’s tripped up and spills forward. He watches Caden take himself out; he hears Caden complain that he doesn’t feel well. He wonders if Caden has a concussion and can’t help but wonder how many games he might sit out, how many games Patrick will have to …

Three days later, Patrick goes on Facebook and writes a long tribute to the late Caden Tellier. He writes about all of it — his uncertainty about his role, the game that resumed after Caden went to the hospital, the tough victory Morgan Academy dedicated to its quarterback, the celebration afterward, the news that Caden had a brain bleed, the tears that his parents shed telling him that next morning that Caden was brain-dead, Patrick’s decision to do what he feared most and stand in the hallway of the hospital and watch Caden being wheeled away. It’s a beautiful post because of its honesty, and also because, implicit in those words is the story Patrick is telling not just about Caden but about himself. He’s 15 years old, and he’s the quarterback now. He wants to honor Caden’s legacy, but the only way he can do that is to do what Caden will never have the chance to — grow up, be himself, live a life, be a leader, become a man. “Why him, why not me, why did he deserve it of anyone in the world,” he asks. Then, in the end, he addresses his friend: “God sent us an angel for 16 years that we didn’t deserve. Satan tried to get this to tear our school apart but all it has done is make us stronger. No matter what, I will always consider myself QB2 because you will always be my Quarterback. I love you #17 and I will never forget the impact you had on my life.”

It’s a post that, despite the youth of its author, raises powerful questions about character and God and fate. What it never does — what none of the many tributes to Caden ever do — is raise questions about football.

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WE HAVE MADE a kind of uneasy peace with the pain. It is, of course, a defining and inescapable feature of the game. We cannot watch our favorite teams play without also watching some of our favorite players being carried off the field. We cannot avoid becoming witnesses to injury and sometimes agony. Why do we keep watching? Because to us, the game is worth it. Because pain makes football feel authentic. If players put themselves at physical risk to play it, we will put ourselves at moral risk to watch it. And that is the pact that has made football America’s national sport.

But we have not made peace with another aspect of football that has been part of the game since its inception. In the first decade of the 20th century, when it was a fledgling sport of rising popularity, it was also a sport in which people died. It had a fan in President Theodore Roosevelt in those days. He thought its brutality could preserve American manliness and help his country win wars. “I believe in rough games and in rough, manly sports,” he said in a 1903 speech. “I do not feel any particular sympathy for the person who gets battered about a good deal so long as it is not fatal.” But eight young men were killed playing football in 1904 and 18 the year after that. In 1909, 26 players perished.

Newspaper editorials and university presidents called for the game’s abolition. Roosevelt helped institute the modern system of down and distance and pushed for the legalization of the forward pass so that fewer players would be stampeded. Fatality became the line that football approached but hoped not to cross, the line that a sport of breathtaking “roughness” came to live by.

Players have died playing lacrosse. Players have died playing hockey. Boxers not only die, they are literally beaten to death. But no other team sport has the record of on-field mortality that football does. According to statistics compiled by the NCCSIR, nearly 2,000 football players have died while playing since 1931, the causes of death divided evenly between “traumatic injury” and “exertional” events such as heat stroke and cardiac arrest. The incidence of fatal injuries peaked in the years when football displaced baseball as America’s national sport and the numbers of people playing it surged: between 1966 and 1986, 306 football players died of “traumatic injury.” And there is further heartbreak implicit in the mute testimony of the statistics. Since 1966, 370 players in high school and middle school have died of “traumatic injury” playing football. One of the three players who died in 2024 was a 13-year-old who suffered a brain injury making a tackle during practice. There are a number of theories that attempt to explain why immaturity and mortality are linked. The brain keeps developing through adolescence, making it more vulnerable than a mature brain to the kind of trauma football inflicts. But even without explanation the numbers are terribly clear: Most of the players who die playing football are young men and boys.

Jay Kutner and Caden Tellier were in many ways the same kind of boy — what used to be called “All-American.” They were popular, handsome, talented, kind-hearted, leaders less by virtue of the position they each played than by the character they each developed. They played in different decades, in different parts of the country. But how they lived is intertwined with how they’re remembered, and how they’re remembered is intertwined with the game they played. People admired them. People followed them. People loved them, and football was and still is central to that. There was something beautiful about how they lived, because football can be beautiful; there was something unbearable about how their lives ended, because football can be unbearable. Teddy Roosevelt was right: Football can make men out of boys. But Jay and Caden were boys who never had the chance to become men.

HE CRIES. He’s just a boy, and he thinks he shouldn’t. But his aunts and uncles are crying, so he figures he can cry without shame. He is standing with them on a field being dedicated to the memory of their brother, an uncle he never met. They talk about him sometimes — Uncle Jay. It’s 1994; he died 20 years ago from a broken neck he suffered in this very place, on this very football field. But there’s his name, spelled out on a big sign on the back of the bleachers, visible from the main road. You can’t drive past Holy Trinity High School without seeing it: John Kutner Memorial Field. People called him Jay. People call the boy John or JJ, but his name is the same. He is named after his uncle. He is John Joseph Kutner II.

He does not go to Holy Trinity when he’s old enough for high school. He goes to Garden City High. But the name follows him around, because people see it whenever they drive on Newbridge Road in Hicksville. “Is that you?” they ask, oblivious to its meaning. He shakes his head. “No, that’s my uncle. He died.” But in a way, he’s a walking memorial — he plays baseball and basketball and lacrosse, and he excels in all of them. Once he finds out the number his uncle wore, he wears No. 5.

There is, however, one sport JJ Kutner wishes he could play, but can’t. He can’t play football. His lacrosse coach wants him to play football, wants to toughen him up. JJ wants to play football, wants to prove he’s tough enough. But he’s not allowed to. His father, Harry, won’t let him. Harry has inherited some of Judge Kutner’s vehemence, and so he doesn’t have to say it more than once — “You’re not playing football. There’s no discussion.” The coaches might want JJ to play football, but they know better than to try appealing Harry’s edict. So does JJ. He’s a Kutner, part of a big and endlessly competitive family. He has 31 cousins. Only one of them braves the family prohibition against playing football.

JJ plays college lacrosse, enduring a series of knee injuries to become more of a star in his sport than even his Uncle Jay was in his. His name, over time, becomes less of a burden to him, and more of a point not only of pride but of meaning. He might not have known the first John Joseph Kutner, but he knew his Uncle Matthew, and one of his earliest memories is attending Uncle Matthew’s funeral after he suffered a heart attack playing street hockey. He was 19, Uncle Matthew. JJ is in his 40s now, a man with a wife and child, and therefore a decision he has to make. I meet him in the fall, at a hotel where children are running around on the grass and his family is enjoying the soft waning sunlight. He knows why his dad forbade him to play the sport he wanted to play most of all — it’s … dangerous. People call what happened to his uncle an accident because it was unintentional. But people get into accidents by driving too fast. They get into accidents driving drunk. Jay Kutner didn’t do any of that. He was innocent. He was just playing a game. And yet the game …

JJ still feels that he missed out. He missed out on meeting Uncle Jay. He missed out growing up with Uncle Matthew. But he missed out on football too, and so neither he nor his wife is definitive on the subject. Their little boy is running around on the green grass, with long blond hair, beautiful and wild. Football or no football? JJ can’t imagine making the choice for him the way his father did. He suspects he’ll let his son make a choice for himself. The little boy drifts back to the table, and this time John Joseph Kutner II grabs him and makes the introduction.

“Say hello,” his father tells him.

“Hello,” the boy says.

“Hello,” I say to John Joseph Kutner III.

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I CRASH THE REUNION. Holy Trinity High School, Hicksville, New York, Class of 1974. They’re easy enough to spot at a big chain sports bar on Route 110, the white hair, the pink faces, the vestigial beer-drinking postures of Catholic school magically preserved. And they’re all there, Bobby DeLorenzo, Kevin Kavanaugh, Brian Clancy, Georgie Wich, some of the Tommys. They’re all welcoming to the interloper in their midst because they have a story to tell about two people who are not there and whose absence has always fused this particular graduating class together. It still sounds unbelievable in the telling — two of their classmates suffered spinal injuries within a few weeks of the onset of their senior year. One, the gymnast, managed to thrive; she has a husband, two children, a career, and a talent for art. The other, the quarterback, wasn’t even supposed to be in there; it was the end of the scrimmage, they were done, it was the last play, the last snap, the coach called him in for one more exchange with the center and it proved fatal.

I spot the center right away. The football team grieved for Jay Kutner, but it also celebrated itself for what it accomplished that year — the seven games it won against all odds, including the landmark victory against Chaminade — and it is still celebrating itself at the reunion. The players had all been through something and come out the other side, and the chemistry between them endures 50 years after the fact. But one of them operates on the periphery, and wears a tentative, sometimes pained expression. Jay’s youngest sister, Marybeth Kutner Marchand, has also come to the reunion to find out more about what happened to her brother on Sept. 11, and when she introduces herself to him, he shakes her hand and responds immediately: “I’m Mark Pospisil. I snapped the ball.”

For years, people thought it was Richie Callahan. Even most of his teammates thought that he was playing center when Jay Kutner fumbled; they didn’t ask him about it because they thought he wouldn’t want to talk about it. And Richie did feel bad about it, he did feel guilty about it, just not for the reasons they thought. He didn’t snap the ball. He wasn’t playing center when the ball came loose. He had taken himself out, believing the scrimmage was over. He went for water. He watched. There was a fumble. He has never stopped thinking he should have gone back in when he saw Jay go back in; he has never stopped thinking that he let his friend down.

Mark Pospisil wasn’t even a center. He was a guard. The coaches put him in to try him out. He was just doing what he was supposed to be doing, the counterintuitive snap one of the coaches favored. He was blocking when Jay fumbled. He was playing line, enveloped in the scrum, the tussle. The fumble happened behind him. He didn’t see. He heard about it later, when his teammates started talking about it — and then he got scared. He heard about it in school and then, a few weeks later, the coaches called him into their office. The office was a scary place, a big plate-glass window between the office and the locker room, which allowed the coaches to see out and the players to see in. They asked him questions. They were concerned about liability. What did he remember, did Jay Kutner have his helmet on or off when Mark left the field and headed to the locker room? Harry Kutner Sr. was suing the school, suing the Catholic diocese for not having a doctor on hand and leaving his son to the ministrations of the coaching staff, a suit later settled out of court. But the questions stuck with Mark. He thought of them as the decades went by, asking himself about his level of responsibility. He didn’t play center again at Holy Trinity. But he played center for life.

Richie and Mark. They’re in their late 60s now. Jay Kutner fumbled the snap and didn’t make it past 18. They both spent 50 years wondering if it was their fault, the death of their quarterback.

But there’s something they need to know.

It’s something people say, when players die of injuries they sustain playing football.

It’s a violent sport, and so, by definition, they die violently. Someone hits them, someone delivers the fatal blow. The terrible consequence is not intended, but the violence is, an intrinsic part of the game.

And yet what can the death be called but an accident? It sometimes even comes by accident, as the result of a mistake, a freak happenstance — a loose ball, a player laying himself out for a first down.

And so, what Richie and Mark need to know is what the Telliers said and what the players from Morgan Academy said to give comfort to the boy who took Caden down by a shoestring.

It wasn’t their fault, it’s not their fault, it was nobody’s fault.

It was football.

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JAMIE TELLIER FINALLY makes his decision on game day, three weeks after Caden’s fatal injury. He will not go back to the booth perched on top of the stands. He will not return to the place where he watched his son’s last run, both too close and too far away. He instead goes down to the field and does his coaching from the sideline. He will be as close to his players as possible. If one of them gets hurt, Jamie is going to be present, right there, in the fray.

Now two months have passed, and it’s the last game of the regular season, first day of November 2024. Jamie is on the sideline, with a headset framing his hair and his beard touched silver, and Caden … well, Caden is everywhere. His No. 17 is on Jamie’s shirt. The No. 17 adorns the T-shirts the entire Morgan team wears for warmups and all of their helmets. It’s on a circle on the 17-yard line of the field and on the game clock — 17 seconds left — until kickoff. Students are wearing buttons emblazoned with photos of his face, and they can be heard, in the stands, espousing their determination to “Live like Caden.” Listen closely: Live like Caden. He was just a boy. But he wanted — asked for — two things before he died: to have his jersey retired and to start a culture of religious revival at Morgan Academy. He has accomplished — though not lived to see — both.

It has become part of his story, the belief that Caden died young but did not die until he did exactly what God put him on Earth to do. The story that his life was short but remarkably and even enviably complete. And yet there is another story being told when Morgan takes the field against Lowndes Academy, and it also has the power to last. Lowndes is bigger, stronger and faster than Morgan, and Patrick Johnson, the sophomore starting quarterback, struggles along with the rest of his team. On the sideline, he seeks the counsel of his quarterbacks coach, Jamie Tellier, who puts his arm around his shoulder and talks to him with a solicitude that is unmistakable even from the stands. He has lost his son, but he is sure that his son would have wanted him to keep coaching Patrick and to keep coaching at Morgan until Patrick is no longer there. And so that’s what he’ll do. He’ll take care of him. They’ll take care of each other. They talk for a while, the coach and his quarterback, and it is such a human moment, such a loving and protective moment, that it almost comes as a surprise when the whistle blows and Jamie sends Patrick back onto the field.

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I SAW THE SIGNS FOR YEARS, every time I drove by my old school and passed John Kutner Memorial Field. I thought of Jay, with his New Frontier smile, and wondered who else remembered him. I decided to ask. I sought them out, his teammates and classmates. I asked them to go back in time, back 50 years, and in response they made me wish that I could go with them — wish that I had known Jay better.

I never saw him again after he broke his neck. I never visited him in the hospital. I was a scrub and didn’t think I had the rank to pay him a visit. What I remembered most, after the panic and desperation of his injury, was what I witnessed a few days after he died. The memorial. Those two girls in my class embracing each other, shaking and sobbing. Jay Kutner was gone; he had suffered, died and was buried. I still wanted to be him.

I decide to call one of those girls, Joanne Cappuccio Lopilato. I haven’t talked to her in decades; we might as well be strangers. But when I ask her if she remembers the day of the memorial Mass, she answers instantly.

“I remember,” she says. “And I remember the day he was hurt. I was waiting for him, back at the school. I was waiting for him to get out of practice. Oh, I had such a crush on him. Everybody did. He was the Big Man on Campus. But we used to talk. He was so kind. And do you know what? He still is. He’ll never age. He’ll always be that happy, smiling face. He’ll never change … to us.”

It’s when I begin talking about Jay — about the permanence of Jay — that I hear the news about Caden Tellier, down in Alabama.

I hear that he’s in heaven, I hear that he’s in God’s hands. I picture them on the same field. I see them linked. I even imagine that some people who read this story will believe that Jay Kutner and Caden Tellier are friends now, protected by a spiral of angels. And I know people for whom that will be enough, will be everything.

I don’t know any of that. I can’t say I know. But there is something I can say. I went back into the past for a glimpse of the future. I talked to people about something that happened 50 years ago to be certain about what could happen 50 years from now.

Jay Kutner died in 1974. Caden Tellier died in 2024. A year later, just before football season began, some 200 players in Dallas County, Alabama — from every school with a football team — gathered for a dinner hosted by the Caden Tellier Foundation. They broke bread together and listened to pastors pray for their protection. Jamie saw the night as another fulfillment of Caden’s dream.

Amen.

Nobody knows what’s going to happen in the 2025 football season. No one can say if our prayers for protection will be answered. But Jay Kutner’s family and friends can tell the Telliers what happens 50 years from now.

They can offer this assurance, this comfort: that Caden, like Jay, will be remembered.

That even 100 years apart, the boys who suffered the same fate will share the same fate.

The fate of the unforgotten.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — NASCAR in 2026 will race on a new street course in San Diego, return Chicagoland Speedway to the schedule, move the All-Star race to Dover, Delaware, and end its 38-race season back at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

The schedule released Wednesday includes two off weekends on a calendar that stretches from February to November. It begins with the exhibition Clash on Feb. 1 at Bowman-Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem for the second consecutive year, with the season-opening Daytona 500 to follow on Feb. 15.

The season ends Nov. 8 in Florida at Homestead, which hosted the championship-deciding finale for 18 consecutive years before NASCAR shifted it to Phoenix Raceway in 2020. The race at Phoenix was given a different date in the playoffs and NASCAR is expected to rotate the season finale to various venues in ensuing years.

Chicagoland is reopening after a six-year hiatus and a switch back to the track located in suburban Joliet after three seasons on a temporary street circuit in downtown Chicago. The San Diego event will be held on a military base in Coronado.

To add Chicagoland and San Diego, NASCAR dropped the Chicago street race and will not return to Mexico City, where it held the first international Cup Series points race since the 1950s. A return to Mexico City in 2026 became difficult to schedule because of soccer’s World Cup.

NASCAR also moved Watkins Glen in New York from its traditional August date to Mother’s Day weekend and the all-star race from North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, to Dover so that North Wilkesboro will be a points-paying Cup race, and New Hampshire lost its playoff race to become the penultimate race of the regular season.

There also are two off weekends after just one this season, which ends with 28 straight races.

The 2026 Cup Series schedule:

Feb. 1 — Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium

Feb. 15 — Daytona 500

Feb. 22 — Atlanta

March 1 — Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas

March 8 — Phoenix

March 15 — Las Vegas

March 22 — Darlington, South Carolina

March 29 — Martinsville, Virginia

April 5 — off weekend

April 12 — Bristol, Tennessee

April 19 — Kansas

April 26 — Talladega, Alabama

May 3 — Texas

May 10 — Watkins Glen, New York

May 17 — All-Star Race (Dover)

May 24 — Coca-Cola 600 (Charlotte)

May 31 — Nashville, Tennessee

June 7 — Michigan

June 14 — Pocono in Long Pond, Pennsylvania

June 21 — San Diego

June 28 — Sonoma, California

July 5 — Chicagoland

July 12 — Atlanta

July 19 — North Wilkesboro

July 26 — Brickyard 400 (Indianapolis)

Aug. 2 — off weekend

Aug. 9 — Iowa

Aug. 15 — Richmond, Virginia

Aug. 23 — New Hampshire

Aug. 29 — Daytona, Florida

Sept. 6 — Darlington

Sept. 13 — Gateway in Madison, Illinois

Sept. 19 — Bristol

Sept. 27 — Kansas

Oct. 4 — Las Vegas

Oct. 11 — Charlotte Roval

Oct. 18 — Phoenix

Oct. 25 — Talladega

Nov. 1 — Martinsville

Nov. 8 — Homestead, Florida

College football games are mere days away, which means a new group of budding players is about to be revealed.

We’re not talking about Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith, Clemson’s T.J. Parker, Notre Dame’s Jeremiyah Love, Alabama’s Ryan Williams or a certain Texas quarterback from a famous football family. The players in this cohort haven’t occupied the national stage, and some aren’t even in the community theater phase of their stardom. But they have generated excitement within their programs, and according to their coaches and teammates, will be showcasing their talents in big ways this fall.

They are commonly known as sleepers.

Some might ring a bell, either from their recruiting profiles, transfer announcements or production in previous seasons. But none appears in ESPN’s list of top 100 players for the 2025 season. Last year’s sleepers list included standouts such as Marshall defensive end Mike Green, a second-team All-America selection and a second-round NFL draft pick, and Cal linebacker Teddye Buchanan, an FCS transfer who earned first-team All-ACC honors.

I surveyed coaches and some players to compile a list of possible sleepers for 2025. My goal again was variety, especially with position groups and backgrounds. Some players transferred in, looking for fresh starts, while others have developed within their programs and are ready for a star turn.

Here’s a look at 43 sleepers around college football to monitor when the games kick off Saturday.

Class: Senior

Height/weight: 6-foot-3, 258 pounds

2024 stats: Sat out the season because of injury. He played 13 games and had 17 tackles, 3.5 sacks, 1 fumble recovery, 1 quarterback hurry in 2023

ESPN recruiting snapshot: Three stars, No. 50 defensive end, No. 4 in Pennsylvania

Penn State brings back several standouts from a top-10 defense but must replace All-American defensive end Abdul Carter, the No. 3 selection in the NFL draft. Fisher didn’t come to Penn State with major recruiting accolades, and initially started out at linebacker before moving to defensive end. Even with a productive 2023, he has battled injuries during his first three seasons in State College. But he’s healthy now and could help fill the Carter void opposite emerging star Dani Dennis-Sutton.

Coach’s take: “He’s almost 260 pounds, he’s got freaky long arms, he’s able to play the run and be physical and match up, based on strength, size and technique,” Penn State coach James Franklin told ESPN. “But he also has the ability to disrupt the quarterback. He’s a well-rounded defensive end who’s a mature guy and understands the game. He’s one of those guys that no one’s really talking about right now, and he’s an older player that we thought would have had a big year for us last year.”

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Class: Sophomore

Height/weight: 6-foot-1, 205 pounds

2024 stats: 12 games (8 starts), 40 receptions, 578 yards, 4 touchdowns at Cal

ESPN recruiting snapshot: Four stars, No. 49 wide receiver, No. 36 in California

Nebraska made significant upgrades to its wide receiver room to give sophomore quarterback Dylan Raiola more options. Kentucky transfer Dane Key is the headliner, but Hunter is another intriguing addition who had production last year for Cal. He had a touchdown catch in his college debut and two scores against Auburn. He also putt up notable numbers against SMU and others in the ACC. Hunter was a decorated high school recruit who had multiple receptions in 11 of 12 games for Cal last season.

Coach’s take: “I think he’s going to be dominant, really talented,” Nebraska coach Matt Rhule told ESPN. “Great run after the catch, he’s like a 1990s tailback playing receiver. He had production at Cal, and he was my favorite guy in the portal. I was like, ‘Go get that guy.’ Watching him so far, he’s a great fit for what [offensive coordinator] Dana [Holgorsen] does. He’s going to catch and run and run through people.”

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Class: Sophomore

Height/weight: 6-foot, 180 pounds

2024 stats: 11 games (1 start), 21 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 1 interception, 9 pass breakups at Utah

ESPN recruiting snapshot: Three stars, No. 59 cornerback, No. 18 in Ohio (signed with Michigan)

Calhoun is with his third Power 4 team and should be a valuable addition for an Alabama secondary that has better depth than in 2024 but must replace productive safety Malachi Moore. The Tide probably will use Calhoun at cornerback or nickel, as he can play alongside returning starters Domani Jackson and Zabien Brown. Calhoun played sparingly at Michigan but led Utah in pass breakups last season, while tying for fourth in the Big 12. He had three pass breakups against Iowa State, intercepted a pass against Utah State and also spoiled a 2-point conversion attempt by BYU with an interception in the end zone.

Coach’s take: “He can play inside or outside, has done a really nice job,” Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer told ESPN. “He can match up and play man [coverage]. He’s caught on pretty quickly, so that says a lot about him. He’s just gone out there and made plays.”

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Class: Senior

Height/weight: 6-foot-6, 300 pounds

2024 stats: Played one game after sitting out first 10 because of injury at Wisconsin

ESPN recruiting snapshot: Three stars, No. 199 defensive end, No. 72 in Ohio

Illinois coach Bret Bielema added several transfers from his old job, Wisconsin, during the offseason as the Illini try to build on a 10-win season. Thompson might end up being the most significant, as he’s pegged to fill a key defensive line spot in coordinator Aaron Henry’s scheme. Limited by injury in 2024, Thompson started 18 games during the 2022 and 2023 seasons for the Badgers, recording 51 tackles with 5 sacks and 12 tackles for loss. He led all Wisconsin defensive linemen in tackles with 29 in 2023.

Coach’s take: “He’s big, he’s athletic,” Bielema told ESPN. “He almost hit 20 miles an hour running the other day. He was like 19.6 or something like that, at 310 pounds. He’s long, bends, runs, smart, works.”

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Class: Junior

Height/weight: 6-foot-4, 245 pounds

2024 stats: 13 games (1 start), 40 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss, 4 sacks, 1 forced fumble, 1 interception, 8 quarterback hurries, 7 pass breakups

ESPN recruiting snapshot: Three stars, No. 178 defensive end. No. 22 in Missouri (signed with Bowling Green)

Texas A&M returns a lot but must replace several standouts along the defensive line, including NFL first-round draft pick Shemar Stewart. The team has high hopes for Howell, a transfer from Bowling Green who had a very strong finish to last season. Howell had 5.5 tackles for loss and two sacks in his final three games. He recorded 2.5 tackles for loss and a forced fumble against Texas, and then started the Las Vegas Bowl against USC and notched a sack and an interception. Howell also had three pass breakups and a sack against Mississippi State, as he was very active against the pass.

Coach’s take: “He had a much higher [NFL] draft grade if he left [college] earlier than people thought,” Texas A&M coach Mike Elko told ESPN. “He’s primed to be a really talented edge rusher. Just his ability to attack the edge, he has a natural twitch and explosion that’s really, really unique. He’s doing it now with a faster, stronger body type.”

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Class: Junior

Height/weight: 6-foot-4, 300 pounds

2024 stats: 7 games, 17 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, 1 sack at Utah

ESPN recruiting snapshot: Three stars, No. 93 defensive end, No. 77 in California (signed with Utah)

Tanuvasa is hardly an unknown in the state of Utah, especially after moving across the Holy War rivalry this winter, a move that not surprisingly sparked a backlash from Utes fans. But he could become a bigger name nationally for a Cougars team that won 11 games last season and returns linebacker Jack Kelly and other standouts on defense. Tanuvasa started 19 games at Utah and had his biggest season in 2023, when he had 27 tackles, including six for loss and two sacks. He has at least 1.5 tackles for loss in each of the past three seasons, and will fill space for BYU against the run.

Coach’s take: “Keanu Tanuvasa is going to be a dominant force at the line of scrimmage,” BYU coach Kalani Sitake told ESPN. “Our identity has to start there first. He came in here, I love the way he transitioned into it. He’s a natural leader.”

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Class: Senior

Height/weight: 6-foot-4, 312 pounds

2024 stats: 12 games played and started, 11 at guard and one at center for Wake Forest; gave up only one sack and graded by Pro Football Focus as No. 4 guard in the ACC; logged 693 snaps at left guard, 113 at center and had a prominent role on special teams

ESPN recruiting snapshot: Three stars, No. 53 guard, No. 4 in Connecticut (signed with Wake Forest)

Michigan State made a major offseason investment into its offensive line, adding Gulbin and several other notable transfers. Gulbin played mostly guard at Wake Forest but competed for the center position at MSU during the offseason. The Spartans need an upgrade at center for returning quarterback Aidan Chiles, and Gulbin, an honorable mention All-ACC selection, probably provides one. He has started 23 games during the past two seasons and comes to MSU with 41 career appearances in the ACC.

Coach’s take: “Matt was a good addition, played at Wake Forest for four years,” Michigan State coach Jonathan Smith told ESPN. “He’s physical, kind of a veteran presence to him. He learned our terminology right away. His approach early on really stood out, diving in and learning what we do.”

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Class: Junior

Height/weight: 6-foot-4, 264 pounds

2024 stats: 14 games played, 14 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, 3 sacks

ESPN recruiting snapshot: Three stars, No. 160 defensive end, No. 5 in Europe (Germany)

Boise State is the favorite among Group of 5 teams to return to the CFP, but the Broncos must replace several NFL-bound players, including defensive end Ahmed Hassanein, a sixth-round draft pick of the Detroit Lions. Stege, who flashed as a pass rusher late in the 2024 season, is set to take Hassanein’s spot, opposite All-America hopeful Jayden Virgin-Morgan. Stege, a native of Cologne, Germany, recorded 2.5 sacks during Boise State’s stretch run, including a half-sack against Penn State in the CFP quarterfinal at the Fiesta Bowl. He tied for fifth on the team in sacks despite playing behind two all-conference players.

Coach’s take: “It’s his time now,” Boise State coach Spencer Danielson told ESPN. “He’s very, very violent at the point of attack. You talk about a guy who takes everything he does at a very high level. He’s the guy in the walk-through who you have to tell, ‘Hey man, you have to slow down here.’ He’s extremely explosive and he’s very long. He’s got a very high ceiling. If he stays healthy, people will know about Max Stege six months from now.”

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Class: Sophomore

Height/weight: 5-foot-10, 203 pounds

2024 stats: 8 games, 49 carries, 197 yards, 2 touchdowns

ESPN recruiting snapshot: Four stars, No. 163 overall, No. 14 running back, No. 25 in Texas

Ohio State’s quarterback competition between Julian Sayin and Lincoln Kienholz generated most of the attention this month, but the player who shares a backfield with the next QB1 also should get some consideration. Peoples was a distant No. 3 back behind TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins in 2024, but still got playing time, especially in some of Ohio State’s lopsided wins. His experience will help, though, as Ohio State might need to lean more on its running game early as its next quarterback acclimates. Peoples will have competition as well with Bo Jackson and others, but should get the first opportunity to carry the ball this fall.

Coach’s take: “James Peoples is someone that’s going to have to step up,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day told ESPN. “He has a lot of ability, but he played mostly behind Quinshon and TreVeyon last season. He’s had a great offseason, so I’m excited to see how he does.”

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Class: Junior

Height/weight: 6-foot-2, 255 pounds

2024 stats: 13 games (12 starts), 38 tackles, 18 tackles for loss, 9.5 sacks, 10 quarterback hurries, 2 fumble recoveries (1 for touchdown), 1 forced fumble, 2 pass breakups at Mercer

ESPN recruiting snapshot: Not rated (signed with Mercer)

Manley might end up being one of the top additions from the FCS, where he earned second-team All-America honors and was Southland Conference Defensive Player of the Year as a sophomore. He showed natural playmaking ability last fall, recording at least a half-sack in nine games, including one against eventual national champion North Dakota State in the FCS title game. Manley also recovered a fumble in the end zone for a touchdown against East Tennessee State and had 2.5 sacks against Western Carolina.

Coach’s take: “He’s been the guy who has been really disruptive …” Georgia Tech coach Brent Key told ESPN. “He’s one of them crazy ones who yells and screams and talks, but he has influence. Some guys just talk and talk, but do they actually have influence on others?”

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Class: Sophomore

Height/weight: 6-foot-2, 220 pounds

2024 stats: 14 games (8 starts), 752 rushing yards, 13 rushing touchdowns, 13 receptions, 88 receiving yards, 2 receiving touchdowns

ESPN recruiting snapshot: Three stars, No. 90 running back, No. 6 in Minnesota

Hansen led Iowa State in rushing last season, so he’s hardly an unknown, but he shares the spotlight with fellow Cyclones running back Abu Sama III, who generates more attention at times after being the team’s lead back in 2023. Hansen ranked among the top 30 nationally in total touchdowns with 15, had five games with multiple touchdowns and was the first ISU player since Breece Hall to reach 90 or more rushing yards in three consecutive games. He also made his most definitive statement in the Pop-Tarts Bowl victory against Miami, accounting for four total touchdowns (three rushing, one receiving). Hansen has a nose for the end zone and a good combination of size, strength and speed.

Coach’s take: “Everybody talks about Abu Sama because he’s had some wild moments, but I think what [Hansen] did, even in the bowl game last year, you’re talking three [rushing] touchdowns,” Iowa State coach Matt Campbell told ESPN. “The kid’s got special talent. He has played since his true freshman year. He’s got a wow factor about him that, if he can stay healthy, he’s got a chance to be a really, really special football player that I think can have a breakout year.”

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Class: Seniors

Height/weight: Guerad 6-foot-2, 295 pounds; Konga 6-foot-4, 300 pounds

2024 stats: Guerad 10 games, 22 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, 1 fumble recovery; Konga 11 games (6 starts), 20 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks

ESPN recruiting snapshot: Guerad three stars, No. 128 defensive tackle, No. 294 in Florida (signed with Florida International); Konga three stars (signed with Rutgers)

Louisville’s defense will be under the microscope this fall after an up-and-down 2024 season, and the front will be replacing NFL draft pick Ashton Gillotte and several others. The Cardinals picked up some experience in the portal but will lean on returnees Guerad and Konga to solidify the interior. Guerad delivered some of his best performances in big games against Miami, Clemson and Washington in the Sun Bowl, where he was named Lineman of the Game. Konga will enter his sixth college season after spending four at Rutgers.

Coach’s take: “They’ve been in our system now, they understand it, if they stay healthy, they can do a really good job and make some plays for us in there and be a solid component,” Cardinals coach Jeff Brohm told ESPN. “They have similarities. Jordan has some initial quickness and has strength and power. Rene is bigger, but he actually can run pretty well.”

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Class: Senior

Height/weight: 6-foot-4, 223 pounds

2024 stats: 11 games (1 start), 40 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, 4 pass breakups, 1 interception at Virginia Tech

ESPN recruiting snapshot: Three stars, No. 96 outside linebacker, No. 30 in Virginia

Lawson is a tall, rangy linebacker who contributed last fall for Virginia Tech but had his most productive season in 2023, when he led the team with 80 tackles, 7 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks. He also had an interception and a fumble recovery and earned honorable mention All-ACC honors for the Hokies. Lawson, who started at least one game in each of the past three seasons for Virginia Tech, joins a UCF defense under new coach Scott Frost and coordinator Alex Grinch, looking to reboot after finishing 82nd nationally in points allowed last season.

Coach’s take: “Keli is a kid who is kind of built weird for his position,” Frost told ESPN. “He’s playing [middle] linebacker for us and he’s 6-5, can run like a freak, big kid, so I’m excited to see him play.”

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Class: Junior

Height/weight: 6-foot-1, 211 pounds

2024 stats: 12 games (1 start), 18 tackles, 1 interception, 1 pass breakup

ESPN recruiting snapshot: Three stars, No. 102 athlete, No. 25 in Michigan

Iowa has had an almost unparalleled run of standout defensive backs under coordinator Phil Parker, and Entringer could be the next after seeing his role increase a bit last season. The Hawkeyes’ leadership group selected him over more experienced players to represent the team at Big Ten media days in Las Vegas, and the fourth-year player should get significant time alongside two-year starter Xavier Nwankpa. He had strong performances against Washington and Michigan State and made a touchdown-saving tackle on a punt return against Michigan in the 2023 Big Ten championship.

Coach’s take: “I don’t know how many snaps he’s had, he’s had injuries, made a helluva play against Michigan in the championship game a couple years ago,” Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz told ESPN. “He’s missed a lot of time with some injuries, but he’s got great potential, he’s an unbelievable kid and he’s played really well on the practice field. He can be one of our better guys this year.”

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Class: Senior

Height/weight: 6-foot-1, 200 pounds

2024 stats: 14 games (5 starts), 39 receptions, 422 receiving yards, 5 receiving touchdowns

ESPN recruiting snapshot: Four stars, No. 58 nationally, No. 6 wide receiver, No. 14 in Texas

The former top 60 national recruit is still seeking a true breakout season, although he has been remarkably consistent in two years at SMU, logging 30 and 39 catches and 425 and 422 yards. He has averaged 12.3 yards per catch with the Mustangs, scoring 12 touchdowns and made his first five starts last fall. SMU returns quarterback Kevin Jennings but loses top wide receiver Roderick Daniels Jr. and versatile running back Brashard Smith. Hudson probably will be Jennings’ top target this fall.

Coach’s take: “If Jordan Hudson is the best version of himself, which he’s trending … he’s got Rashee [Rice]-like qualities, just the physical stature and the ability to go up one-on-one and catch the ball and contested catches and the size,” SMU coach Rhett Lashlee told ESPN. “He’s going to run in the 4.5s, he’s not a burner but he’s also big. He’s a guy who can catch a slant, run through an arm tackle and take it to the house, or go up one-on-one and catch it.”

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Class: Sophomore

Height/weight: 5-foot-11, 195 pounds

2024 stats: 11 games (6 starts), 89 carries, 571 rushing yards, 6 touchdowns, 19 receptions, 263 receiving yards, 2 receiving touchdowns

ESPN recruiting snapshot: Four starts, No. 230 national, No. 12 running back, No. 9 in North Carolina (signed with Oklahoma)

Smothers came on strong during ACC play last season, emerging as NC State’s primary running back during the second half of the season. A former ESPN 300 recruit at Oklahoma, Smothers averaged 6.3 yards per carry or better in four of his final five games, and had five rushing touchdowns and a receiving touchdown. He had more than 100 all-purpose yards in four of the last six games, and had the sixth-best yards-per-carry mark (6.4) in team history. Smothers had two runs of longer than 50 yards and finished with 139 rushing yards and 42 receiving yards against East Carolina in the Military Bowl.

Coach’s take: “He’s going to get the ball a lot more so he’s a playmaker, he’ll make a lot of things happen,” NC State coach Dave Doeren told ESPN. “He’ll make a lot of things happen. Yeah, he can turn a little play into a big play pretty fast. He’s explosive. He is really fast, he’s tough, he’s a smart football player. He sees things really well.”

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Class: Senior

Height/weight: 6-foot-3, 223 pounds

2024 stats: 12 games played (7 starts), 188 completions for 2,504 passing yards, 13 touchdowns, 57.3% completions, 99 rushing yards

ESPN recruiting snapshot: Three stars, No. 42 pocket passer, No. 78 in California

After a very quiet start at San Jose State — four games, three passing attempts in three seasons — Eget emerged as the top quarterback for the team’s revamped offense under coach Ken Niumatalolo and coordinator Craig Stutzmann. Eget entered a Week 5 game against Nevada and helped the Spartans to a come-from-behind win, and then eclipsed 200 passing yards in seven of his final eight games, including 446 yards against Boise State and 395 against Oregon State. He played a key role in wide receiver Nick Nash becoming a Biletnitkoff Award finalist, and averaged 295.4 passing yards during his final eight games. Eget will try to improve his accuracy and reduce interceptions as he operates Stutzmann’s run-and-shoot offense.

Coach’s take: “He’s a big kid, he’s 6-4, 230, he’s got a big arm,” Niumatalolo told ESPN. “… Coming back for a second year, his mastery of the offense is totally different. He threw for Nick Nash and Justin Lockhart at pro day, and we had scouts from over 20 different [NFL] teams, and he was throwing really well and a ton of guys walked away impressed by Walker.”

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Class: Whitson senior, Bledsoe junior

Height/weight: Whitson 6-foot-5, 295 pounds; Bledsoe 6-foot-4, 315 pounds

2024 stats: Whitson 4 games (all starts), 21 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, 1 forced fumble, 2 quarterback hurries at Coastal Carolina; Bledsoe three games, two tackles for Texas

ESPN recruiting snapshot: Whitson not rated (signed with Coastal Carolina out of Independence Community College); Bledsoe four stars, No. 123 overall, No. 12 defensive tackle, No. 23 in Texas (signed with Texas)

Whitson and Bledsoe are among the newcomers for a Mississippi State defense aiming to improve dramatically against the run after finishing 129th nationally, worst among Power 4 teams. Bledsoe was the more decorated recruit, and had his most playing time with Texas in 2023. Whitson started 13 games during the past two seasons for Coastal Carolina and showed flashes as a pass rusher with five sacks and 8.5 tackles for loss. Both also provide the size and strength that Mississippi State lacked during coach Jeff Lebby’s first season.

Coach’s take: “Those are two guys that we’re going to be able to lean on,” Lebby told ESPN. “They’re incredibly talented and they play the game the way you want it to be played. These are big, physical interior guys, and they fit this league. It’s such a different situation than we were in. I love their skill set. I love who they’ve been since they’ve been here.”

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Class: Sophomore

Height/weight: 6-foot, 201 pounds

2024 stats: 12 games (4 starts), 28 receptions, 594 receiving yards, 7 touchdowns, 1 rushing touchdown

ESPN recruiting snapshot: Three stars, No. 100 wide receiver, No. 12 in Indiana

Cooper is hardly a total unknown, as he finished second in receiving on a CFP team behind an All-Big Ten player, Elijah Sarratt, who returns this season. But Hoosiers coach Curt Cignetti expects possibly even bigger things from the third-year wide receiver, who will be even more of a complement to Sarratt this fall. All but four of Cooper’s receptions went for first downs, and he averaged 21.2 yards per reception with three of 40 yards or longer. He projects as a top target for new quarterback Fernando Mendoza.

Coach’s take: “He has big-play ability, working on becoming a little bit more consistent play in and play out, but he’ll have probably more opportunities this year,” Cignetti told ESPN. “He’s explosive, can play inside, outside, can get on top of people and still do some back-shoulder stuff. He’s got good speed, good strength, good ball skills. He’s one of those guys that, instead of flashing quite a bit, now has just got to do it every play.”

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Class: Junior

Height/weight: 5-foot-8, 190 pounds

2024 stats: 2 games, 9 carries, 42 rushing yards, 3 receptions, 6 receiving yards

ESPN recruiting snapshot: Four stars, No. 64 overall nationally, No. 5 running back, No. 2 in California (signed with USC)

Brown wasn’t a huge factor in Arizona State’s push for a Big 12 championship and a CFP appearance in 2024, as a hamstring injury limited him to two games and a medical redshirt. He’s healthy now and has an opportunity ahead as the Sun Devils must replace All-American running back Cam Skattebo, the nation’s No. 4 rusher. Brown came to USC as one of the more decorated and versatile high school backs, and showed flashes as a runner and a receiver, especially as a true freshman in 2022, when he appeared in all 14 games. He has added mass to his frame and will be competing with several backs, including holdover Kyson Brown and Army transfer Kanye Udoh.

Coach’s take: “He showed up at about 170, 175. He weighs 200 pounds right now and he runs just as fast as he did two years ago” Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham told ESPN. “That kid, if he stays healthy, will probably be the sleeper of our football team. He’s got that ‘I started at USC’ athleticism still. Now he’s got 25 more pounds. He’s got a chance to do something and really explode this season.”

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Class: Junior

Height/weight: 6-foot-4, 265 pounds

2024 stats: 13 games, 13 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, 3 sacks, 2 pass breakups, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery

ESPN recruiting snapshot: Four stars, No. 25 defensive tackle, No. 37 in California

Michigan’s defensive line showed in the ReliaQuest Bowl win against Alabama that it will remain a team strength, even with NFL first-round draft picks Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant moving on. Brandt had his first career fumble recovery to go along with a sack in the win against the Crimson Tide, and also had a notable performance in Michigan’s narrow loss at Indiana, recording a forced fumble, a sack and two tackles for loss. He enters his third season with the Wolverines and should have a larger role in a talented defensive front seven.

Coach’s take: “He’s a guy that I think is going to stand out and make a lot of plays,” Michigan coach Sherrone Moore told ESPN. “People know about TJ Guy, people know about Derrick Moore, but Cam Brandt is going to make an impact on college football in a huge way. I love the way he’s worked and put himself in position to be successful.”

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Class: Senior

Height/weight: 6-foot-4, 264 pounds

2024 stats: 12 games (7 starts), 2 receptions, 15 yards

ESPN recruiting snapshot: Not ranked

Utah coach Kyle Whittingham is excited about all the players surrounding new quarterback Devon Dampier, including a group of transfer running backs and wide receivers that includes Wayshawn Parker (Washington State) and Ryan Davis (New Mexico), and an offensive line that Whittingham said could be the best of his long tenure. The Utes have some returners who can help, too, including Bentley, who had ample field time in 2024 but played behind Brant Kuithe at tight end. At 264 pounds, Bentley is a true in-line tight end who will aid in Utah’s blocking efforts for Parker and others. But he also should get a bigger role in the passing game under new coordinator Jason Beck.

Coach’s take: “The light switch finally came on for him, as well as the ability to stay on the field,” Whittingham said. “He had been bogged down by some nagging injuries his first couple of years. He was kind of hit and miss, inconsistent, but this new offense has been a really good thing for him, and seems to fit his skill set. He was really good in spring ball, he’s an excellent blocker. He can be an in-line tight end, you can flex him out. He’s got the prototypical size, so he’s got a lot of tools. He’s been behind some really good kids … now it’s his turn.”

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Class: Senior

Height/weight: 6-foot-4, 313 pounds

2024 stats: 12 games played and started, allowed only 1 sack and 10 pressures in 375 pass-rushing opportunities

ESPN recruiting snapshot: Three stars, No. 22 center, No. 43 in Illinois (signed with Cincinnati)

Renfro is a name some fans will recognize, especially those who have followed coach Luke Fickell’s career. A first-team All-AAC selection in 2021, Renfro started for the Cincinnati team coached by Fickell that became the first from the Group of 5 to reach the four-team College Football Playoff. But he sat out the 2022 season because of injury and then, after following Fickell to Wisconsin, only appeared in the ReliaQuest Bowl during the 2023 season. Renfro returned to the lineup last season, helping an offensive front that protected well against the pass. He enters this fall as one of the nation’s more experienced centers.

Coach’s take: “Jake is in a much different place than he was last year,” Fickell told ESPN. “That’s the core, the apex, of your offensive line. Healthwise and sizewise and leadershipwise is where he’s taken a big step. There’s three guys up front with our offensive line that give us the best opportunity with him and Riley Mahlman and Joe Brunner.”

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Class: Sophomore

Height/weight: 6-foot-4, 240 pounds

2024 stats: 13 games, 6 tackles, a half-sack, 1 tackle for loss, 2 quarterback hurries for Oregon

ESPN recruiting snapshot: Three stars, No. 67 defensive end, No. 54 in California (signed with Oregon)

Under coach Pat Narduzzi, Pitt typically does a good job of identifying and developing defensive talent, either through recruiting or the portal. The Panthers expect to get more from Moore, who was a rotation player at Oregon despite appearing in all but one game last season. Pitt is seeking more pass-rush help to assist standout linebacker Kyle Louis and others. Moore flashed in Oregon’s rivalry games with two pass breakups against Oregon State and a half-sack against Washington, but could be a better scheme fit for Narduzzi and coordinator Randy Bates.

Coach’s take: “He’s a starter coming out of spring ball, and I think he can be really good, he can be special,” Narduzzi told ESPN. “I think he’s a 4-3 freaking defensive end, I think he can play in the NFL, he’s got a great motor, he’s smart. He fits into our defense. They kind of stood him up at Oregon in the 3-4 stuff. He’s the sleeper on the D-line.”

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Class: Senior

Height/weight: 6-foot, 220 pounds

2024 stats: 11 games, 48 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, 4 sacks, 1 forced fumble, 2 interceptions, 4 pass breakups for Fresno State

ESPN recruiting snapshot: Not rated (signed with Fresno State)

Baylor added an experienced and productive player in Jackson, who appeared in 34 games at Fresno State and faced Power 4 opponents such as Michigan, UCLA and Arizona State. He showed the ability to rush the passer and drop into coverage, earning Fresno State’s top coverage grade from Pro Football Focus in 2024. Jackson had a total of three interceptions during the past two seasons, and 99 tackles.

Coach’s take: “He’s very talented,” coach Dave Aranda said. “As spring went on, just the flashes that he would do, so disruptive. There were times where he was unblockable, and then the ability to cover people out of the backfield and cover tight ends and mismatches and all those things he was able to handle. Phoenix has an ability to really go and make a big push.”

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Class: Sophomore

Height/weight: 5-foot-10, 205 pounds

2024 stats: 15 games, 34 carries, 219 rushing yards, 2 rushing touchdowns, 18 receptions, 172 receiving yards

ESPN recruiting snapshot: Four stars, No. 26 running back, No. 7 in Missouri

Rarely does a third-string player make the sleepers list, but few positions measure up to Notre Dame’s running back room, and still create opportunities for talented players such as Williams. He logged a carry in 13 of 15 games and had a 58-yard touchdown run against Army at Yankee Stadium, while remaining a consistent factor in the passing game, especially on third downs. Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price will remain Notre Dame’s primary backs, but Love has dealt with some injuries and could also be used more as a receiver this fall. Notre Dame’s coaches value Williams’ versatility and ability to maximize his limited opportunities, including a 36-yard reception in the CFP semifinal against Penn State to set up the tying touchdown early in the third quarter.

Coach’s take: “He didn’t know how much he was going to play at running back, and then in one of the biggest games of the season (the CFP semifinal), he makes one of the biggest plays right after half,” Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman told ESPN. “Understand that is going to help him this year. He doesn’t control his role in the game, he just controls how much better he gets, and I think he’ll benefit from that.”

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Class: Junior

Height/weight: 6-foot, 190 pounds

2024 stats: 9 games played, 28 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, 5 pass breakups for NC State

ESPN recruiting snapshot: Three stars, No. 108 cornerback, No. 19 in South Carolina

Cisse is known in the Carolinas, where he grew up and started his career at NC State. He recorded 38 tackles with an interception for the Wolfpack in two seasons there. Cisse joins a South Carolina defense that was among the SEC’s most talented in 2024 but replaces several NFL-bound players, including safety Nick Emmanwori, a second-round draft pick. He will challenge for a starting role this season and be a factor in South Carolina’s nickel and dime packages.

Coach’s take: “We love how he plays,” defensive coordinator Clayton White told ESPN. “He can play corner and nickel. He’s got some long speed. He’s very football IQ oriented. He understands concepts. His improvement is to get more plays on the ball, but he is definitely a legit cover corner, which I like.”

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Class: Senior

Height/weight: 6-foot-2, 250 pounds

2024 stats: 13 games, 20 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 4 quarterback hurries

ESPN recruiting snapshot: Not rated (signed with Cornell)

Buffalo’s defense has more star power than most in the Group of 5, as linebacker Red Murdock and defensive end Kobe Stewart are both on the national radar. But don’t forget about White, a transfer from Cornell who had a solid first season with the Bulls and will be playing his sixth college season this fall. White has squatted well over 600 pounds and can move offensive linemen with his power. He should be a strong complement to Stewart.

Coach’s take: “He’s the strongest player on our team, ridiculous weight room numbers,” Buffalo coach Pete Lembo told ESPN. “We shut down his squat at 635 and he probably could have done another 70-80 pounds, easily. He’s definitely become better with change of direction, and just much better technically at defensive end. You’ve got Kobe Stewart on the other side, who was All-MAC last year, and now I feel like we got a guy opposite him that could be a really legit player.”

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Class: Sophomore

Height/weight: 6-foot-5, 285 pounds

2024 stats: 13 games (6 starts), 24 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, 3 pass breakups

ESPN recruiting snapshot: Three stars, No. 67 defensive end, No. 52 in California

USC wants to build back its defense starting with the line, and made some noticeable strides in 2024. Coach Lincoln Riley now wants the unit to be among the nation’s best, and Thompkins should be a key factor. After playing sparingly his first two seasons with USC, Thompkins emerged as a key interior lineman last fall and had productive performances against Maryland, Nebraska, Notre Dame and others. He started six of USC’s final eight games.

Coach’s take: “He had a really strong back half of the year for us and had a great spring,” Riley told ESPN. “Just can play every single position. Really talented player that came in, was incredibly raw, just his confidence, his physical ability, everything just gets better quickly. We’re really, really excited about him.”

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Class: Senior

Height/weight: 5-foot-10, 180 pounds

2024 stats: 13 games played (all starts), 41 tackles, 4 interceptions, 17 passes defended

ESPN recruiting snapshot: Unranked as a recruit

Coats did not even play high school football before trying out for a junior college team in Mississippi. He made the team at East Mississippi Community College and worked his way to Nevada, where he became an All-Mountain West selection last season. But the team’s overall struggles kept Coats somewhat under the radar. He’s among a large group of transfers joining West Virginia for coach Rich Rodriguez’s return.

Coach’s take: “I think he’s an NFL guy, really explosive kid,” Rodriguez told ESPN. “Some of the guys I’ve had the most success with, like, Pacman [Jones] were, like uber competitive, over-the-top competitive, like pissed off on every rep. And that’s what Michael is. You can see that on film, and then after you watch him work out, this dude is like, tear your throat off.'”

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Class: Senior

Height/weight: 5-foot-10, 178 pounds

2024 stats: 13 games (10 starts), 34 receptions, 381 yards, 2 touchdowns for Tennessee

ESPN recruiting snapshot: Three stars, No. 105 wide receiver, No. 27 in Alabama

White is among a sizable group of transfers coming to FSU to reboot the offense under new coordinator Gus Malzahn. He brings significant SEC experience with 38 games at Tennessee, where he caught 131 passes for 1,665 yards and 6 touchdowns. White had his most productive season in 2023, recording 67 catches for 803 yards, but saw his numbers drop last fall as Tennessee spread the ball around with quarterback Nico Iamaleava. White is undersized but boasts breakaway speed and has 10 career catches of 40 yards or longer and six of 50 yards or longer. He joins fellow wide receiver transfers Duce Robinson (USC) and Gavin Blackwell (North Carolina) in Tallahassee.

Coach’s take: “He has big-time potential,” Florida State coach Mike Norvell told ESPN. “His speed and explosiveness stand out. He is one of the fastest guys on the team, one of the faster guys in the country. He’s got great ability to separate. He’s really good with the ball in his hands as well. So I think just a variety of things that he can do, but really pushing the ball down the field is something that we’re excited about.”

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Class: Freshman

Height/weight: 6-foot-2, 192 pounds

2024 stats: 41 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 2 interceptions, 8 pass breakups for Milton (Georgia) High School

ESPN recruiting snapshot: Three stars, No. 59 safety, No. 88 in Georgia

Redmond wasn’t among the higher-rated recruits in Tennessee’s class and isn’t even the most notable No. 4 on the roster (wide receiver Mike Matthews was a top-25 national recruit in 2024). But Redmond made an impact this spring, joining a secondary that includes standout cornerback Jermod McCoy and others. He was rated as both a cornerback and a safety by different recruiting outlets but probably can play multiple spots in Tennessee’s scheme.

Coach’s take: “He’s got all the traits that you look for,” defensive coordinator Tim Banks told ESPN. “He will be really good at corner. For him to do what he did in the spring was really impressive. We think a lot of him, we feel like he’ll get a chance to play. We think the sky’s the limit.”

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Class: Junior

Height/weight: 6-foot-2, 265 pounds

2024 stats: 10 games played, 36 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss, 5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 20 quarterback pressures

ESPN recruiting snapshot: Four stars, No. 38 defensive tackle, No. 13 in North Carolina

Hopper isn’t a true sleeper, earning first-team All-Sun Belt honors after a breakout 2024 season. But he didn’t make ESPN’s top 100 transfers list and remains somewhat anonymous outside of the South. He could be a major addition, though, for a Tulane team that should be in the mix for the American title and a possible College Football Playoff berth. Hopper has been a dominant pass rusher at times, recording two sacks against Georgia State and bullying East Carolina last fall. He had multiple tackles in each of his final nine games last fall. Hopper was a big-time recruit for Appalachian State who will have showcase opportunities for a Tulane team facing Ole Miss, Duke and Northwestern in nonconference play.

Coach’s take: “He’s uber-talented, he’s got a chance to be a real guy,” Tulane coach Jon Sumrall told ESPN. “Without question, he was a guy in the Sun Belt who people remember. Nobody in our league knows much about him, and he could be a problem. If he can play to his ceiling, he’s going to have a pretty hellacious year.”

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Class: Senior

Height/weight: 5-foot-11, 193 pounds

2024 stats: Started four games for Arizona before season-ending injury, 11 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 1 interception

ESPN recruiting snapshot: Three stars, No. 39 safety, No. 18 in Arizona (signed with Northwestern)

Maldonado joins Kansas State as one of the more experienced transfer defenders in the Big 12. He started portions of each of the past four seasons at Arizona, and helped spark the team’s breakthrough in 2023. Maldonado had 81 tackles, 2 interceptions, 2 forced fumbles and 3 fumble recoveries that season, and earned defensive MVP honors in an Alamo Bowl win against Oklahoma after returning a fumble 87 yards for a touchdown. He joins a K-State secondary replacing several starters.

Coach’s take: “He missed the last half of the season and missed our spring ball, but he’s got a little s— to him,” Kansas State coach Chris Klieman told ESPN. “He’s been a two-time captain at Arizona, I’m excited about him.”

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Class: Senior

Height/weight: 6-foot-3, 235 pounds

2024 stats: One game (start) but suffered season-ending injury after recording one tackle in 30 snaps

ESPN recruiting snapshot: Three stars, No. 38 inside linebacker, No. 187 in Texas

Duke has star power on both sides of the ball after a nine-win season in coach Manny Diaz’s debut. While transfer quarterback Darian Mensah, All-American cornerback Chandler Rivers, offensive tackle Brian Parker II and others will generate attention, Morris’ return from injury could be sneaky important. He started the final five games of the 2023 season and rose to third on the team in tackles with 61. Morris had 12 tackles against Pitt and a forced fumble against rival North Carolina. He has played in 20 career games but only one for Diaz and defensive coordinator Jonathan Patke.

Coach’s take: “Nick, we really think might have a chance to be as good as any linebacker we had,” Diaz told ESPN. “Getting Nick back will help us, as a middle linebacker, sort of the quarterback of our defense.”

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Class: Senior

Height/weight: 6-foot-5, 256 pounds

2024 stats: 6 games (3 starts), 16 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, 1 pass breakup

ESPN recruiting snapshot: Unranked, signed with University of Sioux Falls

A Minnesota native, Durfee spent 2021 and 2022 at Sioux Falls, the alma mater of former Washington coach Kalen DeBoer. He had a breakout season there in 2022, earning first-team all-league honors with 11 sacks and 13.5 tackles for loss. Durfee transferred to Washington, where he became eligible late in the 2023 season then appeared in the CFP semifinal against Texas. Durfee showed flashes early last fall before sitting out most of the second half of the season because of a foot injury that required surgery, but he should be a factor under new defensive coordinator Ryan Walters.

Coach’s take: “I’m really hopeful that Zach plays all 12 games, and if he does, I think he’ll be one of the best defensive linemen in the Big Ten,” Washington coach Jedd Fisch told ESPN. “He’s one of the best players that I’ve seen. But, you know, he looks the part, he is the part, but he has to stay healthy. He can stop the run and rush the passer. He can line up against a tight end, he can line up against an open-side tackle, he has real amazing flexibility to do all the things that you could ever ask for a defensive end.”

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Class: Senior

Height/weight: 6-foot-3, 189 pounds

2024 stats: 13 games (all starts), 41 receptions, 799 receiving yards, 6 touchdowns

ESPN recruiting snapshot: Three stars, No. 80 wide receiver, No. 18 in Maryland (signed with NC State)

Smith enters his sixth college season and second at ECU, where he should be among the American’s top wide receivers after an impressive 2024. He had only 13 receptions at NC State, while dealing with injuries, but showed big-play ability throughout his first season as a Pirate. He averaged 19.5 yards per reception, which ranked 11th nationally, and had seven receptions of 42 yards or more and 30 catches of 10 yards or more. He eclipsed 50 receiving yards in eight games and again will be catching passes from quarterback Katin Houser.

Coach’s take: “He can kind of take the top off of it,” East Carolina coach Blake Harrell told ESPN. “He catches the ball really well now. He’s a guy who can run past you. It doesn’t matter if it was North Texas, Navy or NC State, they know what’s coming and he can run by you.”

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Class: Junior

Height/weight: 6-foot-2, 194 pounds

2024 stats: 11 games (all starts), 53 tackles, 7 tackles for loss, 15 pass breakups at Saginaw Valley State

ESPN recruiting snapshot: Unranked, signed with Saginaw Valley State

NIU doesn’t take transfers in bunches like other programs in its position, instead seeking to fill specific spots and supplement a roster heavy on development. Beeler is among the team’s key pickups for a defense that last season ranked 14th nationally in points allowed and No. 5 in fewest pass yards allowed. He had a breakout season in 2024 for Saginaw Valley State, leading the league in passes defended and showing good open-field tackling skills.

Coach’s take: “He has a great vertical, 4.4 speed, tremendous tackler, can play the whole middle of field and has tremendous ball skills,” NIU coach Thomas Hammock told ESPN. “He gives us the ability to sideline to sideline from the safety position, which I think is important.”

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Class: Senior

Height/weight: 6-foot-5, 250 pounds

2024 stats: 9 games (6 starts), 30 receptions, 425 receiving yards, 3 touchdowns

ESPN recruiting snapshot: Three starts, No. 66 Y tight end, No. 27 in Missouri

Gyllenborg is a known name around the Mountain West but could get more traction both regionally and nationally if he builds on a strong 2024 season. After sitting out early because of an ankle injury, he went on to lead the Cowboys in receiving yards per game, tying for the team lead in touchdown receptions and finishing second in both receptions and receiving yards. Gyllenborg earned second-team all-conference honors despite starting only half the season. He had three or more receptions in seven of nine games and had the winning touchdown catch against Washington State in the season finale.

Coach’s take: “I like everything about him,” Wyoming coach Jay Sawvel told ESPN. “He’s 6-5, he’s 250 pounds. He’s got excellent hands, great ball skills. He’s going to blow every [NFL] combine test out of the water, and he’s a bulletproof person. You look at that and go, ‘OK, where’s the weak spot?’ Physically, there’s not a weakness.”

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Class: Redshirt freshman

Height/weight: 6-foot, 175 pounds

2024 stats: 1 game, 2 receptions for 13 yards, logged 11 snaps at wide receiver and 7 on punt coverage

ESPN recruiting snapshot: Three stars, No. 72 wide receiver, No. 16 in Louisiana

Young is one of the least experienced players on the list, appearing only in Houston’s 2024 season opener against UNLV before sustaining a toe injury and sitting out the rest of the season. But second-year Cougars coach Willie Fritz expects his return to help with a reshaped offense now under the direction of Slade Nagle. Young brings speed and big-play ability to Houston, as he stood out in track in high school and also contributed on returns. He’s slated to start among a group of veteran wideouts that includes UAB transfer Amare Thomas.

Coach’s take: “We were trying to recruit him at Tulane and I couldn’t get a visit out of him, and then as soon as I got the job at Houston, he called me up and said, ‘Let’s go!'” Fritz told ESPN. “He had an excellent spring, fully healthy, I think he’s going to be a guy that people may not know a lot about, but we certainly do.”

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Class: Sophomore

Height/weight: 5-foot-10, 190 pounds

2024 stats: 12 games (9 starts), 63 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 2 interceptions, 4 pass breakups

ESPN recruiting snapshot: Three stars, No. 68 safety, No. 133 in Florida

Big Ten fans and others probably know about Minnesota’s other safety, Koi Perich, the first-team All-Big Ten defensive back who might be the closest thing to Travis Hunter in 2025 as he takes on a significant role for the offense. But Minnesota also is excited about Brown, who performed well during his first season as a starter, finishing third on the team in tackles and showing active hands in pass coverage. He had pass breakups in each of his last two games, and made several of his biggest tackles on fourth down, where Minnesota thrived (15th nationally in fourth down defense).

Coach’s take: “Kerry Brown is a very special football player,” Minnesota defensive coordinator Danny Collins told ESPN. “He is a star on our team, and he’s ready to take that next step. He can do everything. We put him at nickel, we put him at strong [safety], we put him at free [safety], he plays dime on third down. He can do everything. His coverage right now is the best that it’s ever been. He just has a great feel for the game. He can track the ball deep throws, he’s a guy that has a great ability to blitz and he can bend and blade and get his body in different positions to get through the line of scrimmage.”