College football 2025: How much does each position cost?
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Max Olson
The price tag for top college football talent has never been higher — but how high is it, really?
Schools had more money to spend this offseason entering the first year of revenue sharing with athletes. Power 4 programs ponied up to re-sign their returning players and combined to acquire more than 1,400 transfers via the portal. Players increasingly turned to agents to negotiate massive raises and maximize their value.
And yet, we still know too little about what college football players are actually earning. Agents share exaggerated sums in the interest of signing more clients. General managers downplay the numbers to avoid locker room issues. In the NFL, salary and contract data are easy to access. In this sport, without transparency, it’s an inefficient market with an incredibly wide spectrum of underpaid to overpaid players.
How much does a Power 4 starter cost at each position? To answer that question, ESPN surveyed more than 20 college general managers and agents. The goal was to better define the price ranges for each spot based on the deals completed for 2025 and what each side considers fair positional and market value.
To be clear, these price ranges do not reflect what everybody is making at the Power 4 level. There are million-dollar outliers with the elite players at most positions, and there are still good, young players earning less than $100,000. Talent retention is still more affordable than acquisition, so it’s the transfers who tend to reset the floor and ceiling. Agents say SEC and Big Ten programs continue to consistently outspend the ACC and Big 12, regardless of the revenue share cap.
After an unprecedented offseason of inflated spending raised the bar at every position, here’s what Power 4 players are now earning to start and compete at the highest level.
Jump to a position:
QB | RB | WR | TE | OL
Edge | DT | LB | DB
Quarterback: $1 million-$2 million
The going rate for good quarterback play quickly surpassed $1 million by the end of November as Power 4 programs re-negotiated deals with their starters to ensure they’d return for 2025 and stay out of the transfer portal. Coaches and GMs anticipated that if they didn’t lock in a seven-figure deal with their QB1, signing a replacement in the portal would be even more expensive. They were right about that.
Several Power 4 schools paid $1.5 million for their transfer quarterbacks this offseason, sources told ESPN, and the highest-paid QBs in the sport will make well over $2 million this year. The top end of the market includes highly coveted transfers such as Miami’s Carson Beck, Duke’s Darian Mensah and Oklahoma’s John Mateer, as well as rising former five-star recruits such as Michigan’s Bryce Underwood and Nebraska’s Dylan Raiola.
Keep in mind, though, that the elite young quarterbacks such as Texas’ Arch Manning and Florida’s DJ Lagway are still earning millions from major brand deals and don’t have to dip into their school’s revenue share or collective funds as much.
“The great ones are like $3 million,” one SEC GM said. “And if you don’t have one, it’s at least $1 million.” As one ACC director of player personnel (DPP) summed it up: “These dudes are getting paid paid.”
The coaching staffs who didn’t anticipate that or who suddenly needed a QB after theirs departed certainly experienced some sticker shock when the portal window opened in December.
“The numbers that were being thrown out there, I thought they were fake at first,” another ACC DPP said. “I was like, for that guy, $1.5 million to $2 million? What? And then I quickly found out that was just the market, that’s what was happening. So we had to step up to the plate and put our big-boy pants on and make a decision. It was certainly a real thing. Those are all real numbers, real money being paid out at that position.”
But when you combine a high number of departing seniors and heavy attrition at the position with programs having more to spend than ever before, it’s no wonder quarterback pay jumped to a seven-figure standard. Only 28 of the 68 programs in the Power 4 have a returning starter at QB entering Week 1.
Agents surveyed by ESPN agreed that Power 4 starters should be making between $1.5 and $2 million and that elite passers could be worth upward of $3 million to $4 million, though they noted there were a few instances this offseason where Power 4 programs managed to get their guy for closer to $800,000.
While Beck was able to leverage his NFL draft decision to maximize his value in the transfer portal, reps generally view the quarterback market as different from the rest. From their perspective, a QB is better off locking in the best situation and fit quickly during the portal window. Nico Iamaleava‘s post-spring exit from Tennessee also clearly demonstrated that the destinations and dollar figures on the table aren’t the same in April as they would’ve been back in January.
Running back: $300,000-$700,000
Good quarterbacks cost what they cost. Running back value is a totally different discussion, one that has been raging in the NFL in recent years. At the college level, staff opinions vary depending on where they are, what they run and who they have. As for the agents?
“I think anything below $750,000 for a starting running back at a serious program would be disrespectful, basically,” one agent argued.
Another agent pointed to Quinshon Judkins as proof that some teams will be willing to go up to seven figures for a top-tier No. 1 back. But Judkins’ move from Ole Miss to Ohio State last year looks more like a rare exception to the rule than a deal that resets the market at the position.
The opinions from recruiting staffers, including those at programs that shopped for portal running backs this offseason, were all over the place. One SEC GM said they’d expect a good Power 4 starting back to cost a minimum of $250,000. A DPP in the Big 12 said his program wouldn’t spend more than $300,000 on one. Others suspect the range is somewhere between $300,000 and $500,000. Most surveyed struggled with the idea of paying a back $500,000 or more unless he’s special.
“Anything more than that, I think you’re overvaluing the position, honestly,” an ACC DPP said.
A few top transfers such as Oklahoma’s Jaydn Ott and Texas Tech’s Quinten Joyner (who just went down with a season-ending knee injury) were able to maximize their value thanks to highly competitive portal recruitments. But other prized backs agreed to deals for less than $500,000, and several more who could’ve earned top dollar preferred to stay put.
“A lot of guys didn’t move,” one agent said. “The running back market, it was kind of weird.”
At Power 4 programs that had good supplies of returning rushers, the imminent revenue share cap forced some to make tough offseason decisions about who needed to get paid and who was expendable. The programs with major needs that had to sign two or more transfers were hunting for bargains this offseason.
Solid rotational backs aren’t cheap, either, with most agreeing they’re looking to be paid around $200,000. It’s no surprise we saw close to 50 Group of 5 and FCS running backs transfer this offseason to P4 schools hoping to get more affordable production.
Wide receiver: $400,000-$800,000
Personnel staffers and agents were fairly aligned when it came to how they perceived the wide receiver market. A true No. 1 receiver costs $700,000 or more and could be worth up to $1 million in some cases. Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith is an extreme outlier, a generational talent worth so much more than $1 million.
“If you want a guy with any production, it started at $700,000 to $800,000,” one SEC GM said.
The next tier of wideouts, quality No. 2 and No. 3 receivers and starters, were typically valued at closer to the $300,000 to $500,000 range depending on their experience and production.
Year after year, more FBS wide receivers and defensive backs transfer than any other position group. There’s more than enough volume every offseason that programs can live out of the portal in recruiting and, therefore, don’t feel like they need to overspend on skill players.
This offseason, more than 500 FBS scholarship wide receivers entered their names in the transfer portal. Fewer than 200 of them were able to land at Power 4 programs.
“Receiver in the portal is such a saturated market,” one Big Ten GM argued. “Receivers are going to go in every year; that’s just the nature of the position. We always felt like you didn’t need to overpay. You can get an equal player who’s going to take $200,000 less.”
One ACC DPP acknowledged that he probably misjudged wide receiver value going into the December portal period after watching wideouts who made $150,000 to $175,000 last season earn so much more in the portal, including one who got away for more than $500,000.
Another Big Ten staffer said he believed starting wideouts who aren’t No. 1 receivers should be in the $250,000 to $400,000 range. But he paused to point out that blue-chip receiver recruits are now seeking serious paydays as well.
“Some of these freshmen are coming in and making more than your No. 2 receiver,” he said, “because the high school market is so inflated.”
Tight end: $200,000-$400,000
Some Power 4 programs were willing to go as high as $800,000 for all-conference caliber tight ends in the portal this offseason, sources told ESPN, but most aren’t spending anywhere close to that even on proven multi-year starters.
“I think $800,000 is insane,” an SEC GM argued. “That’s nuts.”
Several staffers surveyed said they were able to secure their top portal target for around $300,000 to $400,000. Others still believe that’s overvaluing the position and struggle to justify even going to $200,000. One agent said he was able to secure a $400,000 deal for a primarily blocking tight end whose previous school wouldn’t go any higher than $140,000.
“Tight end is so unique,” a Big 12 DPP said. “There’s just not a ton of them, and it’s very dependent on what they do. There are very few well-rounded tight ends out there.”
There is one player out there whom several GMs pointed to as the ultimate rare exception: Mark Bowman. The No. 26 overall recruit in the 2026 ESPN 300 from Mater Dei High School in California is committed to USC and is already evoking comparisons to Brock Bowers.
Bowman is expected to become one of the highest-paid tight ends in the country as a freshman next year with a seven-figure deal, sources told ESPN. Recruiting staffers see elite potential in the 6-foot-5, 225-pound pass catcher but were still blown away by his number, with one Big Ten staffer describing it as “astronomical.”
Bowman’s deal might not substantially raise the bar for his peers if coaches remain skeptical about spending on tight ends. But if he’s as impactful as Bowers was for Georgia as a Day 1 starter and the Trojans become CFP contenders, perhaps he’s worth every penny.
Offensive tackle: $500,000-$1 million
Offensive guard/center: $300,000-$700,000
Several GMs and DPPs acknowledged that the highest-paid position group on their roster for 2025 is their offensive line. If you had to reload with a bunch of new starters via the portal, the big men took up a big chunk of your roster budget.
Agents say recruiting battles for quality offensive tackles easily get up to $800,000 or $900,000 and can go all the way to $1.2 million or more for left tackles. GMs were more than willing to extend seven-figure offers for the best available tackles and quickly learned the starting point in conversations for starting tackles was no less than $500,000.
Nobody was more coveted than Nevada transfer Isaiah World, a projected first-round pick in ESPN’s early mock drafts for 2026. Sources told ESPN that World turned down a more than $2 million offer to sign with Oregon. Tackles with that kind of early-round potential rarely hit the open market, and it’s worth noting the highest bid might not always win out for pro prospects who are determined to maximize their potential and play for a title contender.
Interior offensive linemen were a little more affordable this offseason, and some staffers had success finding good bargains with guards and centers who had solid starting experience, but the highly competitive recruitments still crossed into the $600,000 to $700,000 range.
One fascinating element about offensive line recruiting in the transfer portal: Timing is everything. Teams that were able to lock up offensive linemen in early December likely got a good discount.
“No school that got the kid to sign early has ever overpaid,” one representative said. “The numbers only go up. The biggest mistake schools make is they wait on a kid they could’ve had for $300,000 and end up getting him for $600,000 — or they offer $600,000 and don’t get him.”
Once coveted targets start going off the board, desperation sets in for teams still dealing with serious needs. One agent said he’s seen Group of 5 linemen who might’ve been making $30,000 last year get offered close to $1 million to move up to the Power 4 level.
Notre Dame’s Rocco Spindler and Pat Coogan waiting until after the national championship game to enter the portal made them highly coveted as proven veteran starters. In one far more extreme instance, sources say a Power 4 team shelled out $1.5 million for an inexperienced tackle late in the winter portal window.
“Folks were desperate,” an ACC DPP said. “They thought the spring portal was going to be super dry.”
They’ve had to step up the pay for more than just their starting five. Multiple staffers said top reserves along the offense line are now expecting to make at least $200,000. All these factors drive home the point that programs ideally need to have success developing and retaining high school linemen if they hope to keep costs somewhat under control in this new era.
“The offensive line room is going to be the most expensive one everywhere,” one SEC GM reasoned, “because you have the most humans there and the acquisition cost is so high on every single one.”
Edge rushers: $500,000-$1 million
Much like in the NFL, college front offices view left tackles and pass rushers as the next-most-valuable positions behind quarterback.
“If it’s the right fit and a program that’s got some money,” an agent said, “they’ll pay $1 million for an edge.”
Texas Tech had an awful lot of money and was willing to make big-time spends here with Stanford’s David Bailey becoming one of the highest-paid defenders in college football at more than $2 million and Georgia Tech’s Romello Height earning more than $1 million this year, sources told ESPN.
For GMs and DPPs with portal needs, it quickly became clear that proven starters weren’t going for less than $500,000. A few staffers did tell ESPN they don’t have any edge defenders on their rosters making more than $500,000, and not everyone is willing to go as high as $1 million for a great one. But plenty were willing to cut big checks to get their guy.
One SEC GM said his school got turned down by an FCS transfer whom they’d offered $650,000. An agent said one of his defensive end clients had an ACC program come in late and triple his best offer to more than $700,000. Another GM said his program had to get up to $800,000 for the Group of 5 transfer they coveted.
“If you need a starter in the portal, good luck,” the SEC GM said.
Defensive tackles: $300,000-$800,000
Texas Tech was a big spender here, too, in its quest to assemble one of the best defensive lines in college football and made serious investments to land their top two targets, UCF’s Lee Hunter and Northern Illinois’ Skyler Gill-Howard.
The Red Raiders had a strategy with their December portal battles that proved incredibly effective: If they could get the right players on campus for an official visit, they’d pay whatever it took to shut down the recruitment. As one Big Ten GM politely put it, the sums Texas Tech was willing to spend “fudged up the market” at a few positions. Still, talented linemen with starting experience are rarely going to come cheap.
“The big guys are demanding the big premiums,” Texas Tech billionaire booster Cody Campbell told ESPN in February.
One agent who repped a top defensive tackle transfer said he fielded multiple $1 million offers, but the best long-term fit for his client ended up being a program that paid $800,000. Highly competitive recruitments could drive the price for a great defensive tackle up to $1 million, but several staffers surveyed agreed that a low-end Power 4 starter is probably worth closer to the $300,000 to $500,000 and were able to sign solid players in that price range.
“I’ve heard sometimes it can be even more expensive for defensive tackles than edges,” the Big Ten GM said, “because, just like the NFL, there are only so many humans that size that can move like that walking on planet Earth.”
Linebackers: $200,000-$500,000
This might be the position group with the greatest disparity in perception between agents and GMs. Multiple agents told ESPN they believed a good linebacker can fetch $500,000 to $700,000 with elite players going for as much as $1 million.
Front office staffers surveyed generally agreed that $300,000 to $500,000 was a more reasonable price range for quality starters. The easiest explanation for that gap might be the offseason portal cycle and the reality that few all-conference caliber linebackers hit the open market. In fact, only four linebackers made ESPN’s top 100 transfer rankings.
There weren’t many $500,000-plus linebackers in the portal, and some staffs intentionally spent less at this position by focusing their efforts on G5 or FCS transfers. One Big 12 school was able to land the top linebacker on its board, a veteran multi-year starter, for a mere $225,000.
“They were not going for an exorbitant amount of money,” an ACC GM said.
Schools might’ve been a little more willing to pay up to retain their returning starters, but bottom line, it comes down to how a staff values the position and how closely they’re trying to stick to a roster budget influenced by NFL standards.
“There are some linebackers starting at P4 schools who are on $200K deals and some who are making $600K, and I don’t think their talent is that big of a difference,” an agent said.
Cornerbacks: $300,000-$800,000
Safeties: $300,000-$700,000
Defensive back is always a high-volume position in the portal, with more than 650 FBS scholarship players transferring over the past year, and everybody plays a bunch of them. For those reasons, there’s plenty of room for debate around the cost of DBs.
Top-tier cornerbacks are still considered more valuable than safeties and are making at least $500,000 at the highest level. “There are so few really good ones,” an SEC GM argued. ACC and Big 12 programs have still been able to land starter corners on deals closer to the $300,000 to $400,000 range, but experience is expensive.
At safety, there were a few rare instances this offseason where all-conference-caliber players secured deals around $800,000, and some staffers suspect the top of the safety market actually ended up being just as expensive as the top of the corner market. One DPP at a program that paid more than $800,000 to re-sign their top safety justified it by pointing to the fact that there were several SEC programs interested in paying him even more.
“A couple guys were being shopped around for crazy amounts of money,” an ACC DPP said, “but I thought it was easier to find bargains at safety.”
This DPP’s coaching staff had a lot of work to do in the December portal window, and he had to quickly adjust to the rapid price inflation. As another staffer summed it up, everybody was suddenly a $200,000 to $300,000 player at every position.
“It didn’t matter what position you were talking to, if you came in at under $150,000 or $175,000, oh man, people take offense to that,” the ACC recruiter said. “They’d say, ‘All right, so you see me as a second- or third-team guy.’ Word was getting out. Agents were hip to the game. If they hear a number that starts with a one, that means depth chart.”
So they spent like they’ve never spent before. They did what they had to do to keep their returning players in the building and secure the recruits they coveted. We’re about to find out how many of these frenzied offseason spending sprees actually paid off and which players were truly worth every penny.
“You make some decisions you look back on like, ‘F— yeah,'” one Big Ten GM said. “You make some decisions you look back on where you’re like, ‘Damn it.’ That was the market, the market was telling me to pay him that much. But was he worth that? You’re going to have those. Every school in the country is looking at the same thing.”
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Rachel Kryshak
With the Hlinka-Gretzky Cup wrapped up, the unofficial start of the 2026 NHL draft scouting season has begun. Junior teams kick off training camp in the next few weeks, NCAA players are settling into campus, and hockey season is right around the corner.
As was the case last year, certain players will dominate the conversation atop the class. Because of rule changes, we’re seeing players make the jump from Canadian major junior play to the NCAA. It will be interesting to track how those players develop — and the impact that older competition has on them.
NHL teams made it clear in the 2025 draft that big defensemen and skilled forwards with bite are valued at a high premium. There is no shortage of right-handed defensemen who will be in the top-10 discussion this season, and a few highly skilled forwards many teams will be tracking closely. These are the players worth familiarizing yourself with, especially if your team is not expected to be a Stanley Cup playoff contender this season.
Note: This list is in alphabetical order with the exception of the odds-on favorite to be the top pick in the 2026 draft in the first spot.
Gavin McKenna
LW, Penn State Nittany Lions (NCAA)
This is the obvious name on the list. The hubbub around his decision to play in the NCAA led “SportsCenter” — a testament to the star quality of this prospect.
McKenna was one of the best players in the Canadian Hockey League last season, and he will be one of the best — if not the best — players in the NCAA this season. Making the jump to Penn State, McKenna is a bring-you-out-of-your-seat offensive dynamo. A playmaker first, McKenna is usually the best player on the ice.
He draws defensive coverage, makes plays at full speed and turns every skater on the ice with him into a threat to score because of his elite puck-distribution skill. Expect him to be among the NCAA’s best players in transition, turning defenders into pretzels and playing in every key situation.
The NCAA will give McKenna the opportunity to add to his lean frame and learn to play against bigger, stronger opponents as he prepares to compete in the NHL next October. You could say he’s one to watch, but the reality is he is the one to watch in this class, and he will be all over the highlight reels.
Ethan Belchetz
LW, Windsor Spitfires (OHL)
A mammoth winger playing for the Spitfires, Belchetz’ 6-foot-5 frame will be impossible to miss. He has developed the ability to physically impose himself to impact the game, which was evident at the recent Hlinka-Gretzky Cup for Canada. He’s learning to use his body along the wall to protect pucks, bump players off balance and bully his way to the dangerous areas of the ice.
Given his physical package and willingness to engage physically, it is easy to understand why teams are excited about him. He’s a powerful winger with above-average puck skill and shooting ability. If he can add speed and bite to his play style, it won’t be surprising to see teams target him with a top-10 pick — the way they did with Brady Martin and Porter Martone in the 2025 class.
Viggo Björck
C/W, Djurgårdens (J20)
It is generally a good sign when you break scoring records and are moved out of your age group (Hlinka) to play in the World Junior Summer Showcase.
Björck fits the bill. He’s a highly skilled center who possesses quality playmaking ability. His creative playstyle showcases elite hockey sense, and he has the ability to control the game with a package of good acceleration, a quick release and above-average puckhandling skill. He’s strong on pucks, defensively sound and a projectable NHL center.
If he grows a couple of inches, there is a real chance he will hear his name called in the top five in June.
Tynan Lawrence
C, Muskegon Lumberjacks (USHL)
Coming off a Clark Cup MVP season in the USHL as a 16-year-old, Lawrence will be a fascinating watch in his final junior season. He’s committed to Boston University for 2026-27.
Having success as a young center in the USHL is no easy task, and Lawrence was more than up to it. He has excellent instincts on both sides of the puck, allowing him to thrive on the penalty kill and power play. I expect he will be in the top units of both for Muskegon this season.
Offensively, he has a smooth catch and release and can let pucks fly once he gets to the middle of the ice. He should be one of the top creators in transition this season with his ability to make plays at speed off the rush. Lawrence will be a key play driver for the Lumberjacks and will be tasked with winning his minutes offensively while playing sound defensive hockey. Scouts like his work rate and instincts, and there’s a path to being a top-10 pick if he dominates the way some believe he can.
Ryan Lin
D, Vancouver Giants (WHL)
He won’t bring you out of your seat with razzle-dazzle the way some players on this list will, but there is arguably not a more well-rounded defenseman in the draft. Lin is the type of player who often goes unnoticed because he doesn’t make mistakes.
He shuts plays down early with proper angles, a good stick and excellent reads. His hockey sense and decision-making are two of his best qualities, allowing him to make the simple play and start his team up the ice with a quality first pass. He plays in every situation, including the penalty kill and power play, and should be the engine of the Giants this season.
His offensive numbers don’t jump off the page, but with some development to his skating he has the potential to be an elite, two-way defender who dictates the game on both sides of the puck. Lin is going to play 30 minutes per game for Vancouver this season and have every opportunity to thrive offensively and defensively. If he grows a few inches — he’s 5-11 — it will only help his draft stock.
Mathis Preston
C/W, Spokane Chiefs (WHL)
One of the most exciting players to watch at the Hlinka-Gretzky Cup, Preston is a crafty playmaker with smooth skating and elite hockey sense.
His offensive instincts constantly have him in the right spot at the right time, drawing defenders toward him before making a play that creates a high-danger chance for a teammate. He’s evasive, makes good decisions with the puck and uses his quick hands to execute with ease.
He’s going to be one the biggest offensive producers this season as a draft-eligible player. If he continues to develop his offensive toolbox, he’ll be a top-10 pick because of his ceiling as a high-end winger in the NHL. Given his late-July birthday, I would expect him to star at the U18 world championship next year if he’s not in the WHL playoffs. Wherever he’s playing, he will catch your eye with his highlight-reel skill.
Chase Reid
D, Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHL)
Reid’s development curve has been fascinating to watch, and he will have every opportunity to lead the Greyhounds’ blue line this season.
The right-handed defenseman is a good blend of smooth mobility, high-end offensive instincts, quality transition play and enough raw talent to mold into a legitimate top-pairing defender. He will undoubtedly be of the OHL’s best defensemen this season and will be relied upon to play heavy matchups in key situations, producing offense.
It is rare that a defenseman produces a point per game in the Division I season, but Reid did, and it put him on a lot of NHL radars. If his defensive game keeps improving and he becomes elite on both sides of the puck in transition, he will be a hot commodity in the upcoming draft.
Ryan Roobroeck
C/W, Niagara Ice Dogs (OHL)
Roobroeck will be one of the most intriguing prospects to watch this season with many scouts wondering where he will play. He has a late-September birthday, so he’ll be in his third OHL season after leading Niagara in scoring in his D-I year.
The real question is whether Roobroeck will play at center or on the wing as he did in his first two seasons. At 6-4 with good skating, reliable special teams play and an NHL-quality shot, his value will significantly increase if he can prove his capabilities as a play-driving center. If he develops his playmaking in the middle of the ice to become more of a dual threat and more physically engaged, there is every reason to believe he will be a top-10 pick.
There is a lot of potential for Roobroeck, and it will be interesting to track where he is positioned and how that impacts his ability to drive the action.
Daxon Rudolph
D, Prince Albert Raiders (WHL)
Rudolph’s development took off in the back half of last season, and he should be the leader of the Prince Albert blue line this season.
With more opportunities, Rudolph is likely to put up offensive numbers with his ability to beat defenders and find open teammates for high-danger scoring chances. He’s a well-rounded player with good skating that allows him to defend the rush well with gap control. He has thrived when elevated to higher-leverage matchups, and it will be interesting to see how he owns that role for the entire WHL season in his draft year.
Teams will be watching closely to see if he can continue to control play on both sides of the puck and produce offensively as a right-handed blueliner.
Ivar Stenberg
LW/RW, Frölunda HC (SHL)
An ace in transition and with the ability to play both wings, Stenberg has turned heads regardless of the level at which he plays.
He looked like the best player at the world junior showcase as an underaged player after torching the J20 league in his 17-year-old season. He was two weeks from being draft-eligible in 2025 and is on the inside track to be a lottery pick in the upcoming draft.
Playing in the SHL in your draft year is no joke, and Stenberg has the skating, creativity and skill to thrive with Frölunda. His ability to make his teammates better by running a power play, facilitating offense in transition with speed along with elite playmaking and above-average instincts make him an attractive player. At this stage, he projects to be a top-line NHL winger, and he will only improve his value if he continues to develop his play off the puck.
Keaton Verhoeff
D, University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks (NCAA)
A 6-4, minutes-eating, right-handed defenseman with leadership qualities? You know that’s got the attention of the NHL scouting world.
There are some who believe Verhoeff will challenge McKenna for the top spot in the upcoming draft. On skill alone, that’s a tough case to make. But given Verhoeff’s size, ability to impact the game and the fact that he’s a right-handed defenseman, it would not be surprising if some teams felt that way.
He is a go-to player in every situation and should be a key member of the North Dakota blue line this fall. He makes a good first pass to exit the zone, his shot is NHL-caliber, and he has the hockey sense to facilitate offense in the zone.
Defensively, he’s further along than others in this draft class, and that will only improve against tougher competition in the NCAA. If he can improve his skating to match pace, defend in transition and quickly move to offense, he will be drafted in the top three.
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David Hale
NEWARK, Del. — Russ Crook has a shirt he likes to wear to Delaware football road games. He’s a lifelong fan and the current president of the Blue Hen Touchdown Club, but he knows the jokes, so he picked up the shirt a few years back when he saw it at the historic National 5 & 10 store on Main Street. It’s gray with a map of the state across the chest and the ubiquitous punchline delivered succinctly: “Dela-where?”
Yes, the state is small, though Rhode Island gets the acclaim that comes with being the country’s smallest. In popular culture, Delaware often translates as something of a non-place — cue the “Wayne’s World” GIF — and it’s widely appreciated by outsiders as little more than a 28-mile stretch of I-95 between Maryland and Pennsylvania that hardly warrants mentioning.
It’s a harmless enough stereotype, but Cook is hopeful this football season can start to change some perceptions. After all, in 2025, Delaware — the football program — hits the big time. Or, Conference USA, at least.
“Delaware’s a small state, but the university has 24,000 students,” Crook said. “Many big-time schools are smaller than we are. There’s no reason we can’t do this.”
When the Blue Hens kick off against Delaware State on Aug. 28, they will be, for the first time, an FBS football team, joining Missouri State as first-year members of Conference USA — the 135th and 136th FBS programs.
Longtime Hens fans might not have believed the move was possible even a few years ago, as much for the school’s ethos as the state’s stature. The university’s leadership had spent decades holding firm in the belief that the Hens were best positioned as a big fish in the relatively small ponds of Division II and, later, FCS.
And yet, just as the rest of the college sports world is reeling from an onslaught of change — revenue sharing, the transfer portal, NIL and conference realignment — Delaware decided it was time to join the party.
“Us and Delaware are probably making this move at one of the more difficult times to make the move in history,” said Missouri State AD Patrick Ransdell.
All of which begs the question: Why now?
Many of Delaware’s historic rivals — UMass, App State, Georgia Southern, Old Dominion, James Madison — had already made the leap to FBS, and the Hens’ previous conference, the Colonial, was reeling. Economic conditions at the FCS level made life challenging for administration. The NCAA was making moves to curb future transitions from FCS to FBS, and the school felt its window to make a move was closing.
“We had no choice,” Crook said.
And so, ready or not, the Hens are about to embark on a new era — a chance to prove themselves at a higher level and, perhaps, provide Delaware with a reputation that’s more than a punchline.
“We talk about doing things for the 302 all the time,” interim athletic director Jordan Skolnick said, referencing the area code that serves the entirety of the state. “We want everyone in the state of Delaware to feel the pride in us being successful, and we want people to realize how incredible this place is. It’s not just a place you drive through on 95.”
BACK WHEN MIKE Brey was coaching Delaware’s men’s basketball team to back-to-back tournament appearances in the 1990s, he would often swing by the football offices to talk shop with the Hens’ legendary football coach Tubby Raymond, who won 300 games utilizing a three-back offensive formation dubbed the wing-T. Brey recalls pestering him once about the new spread schemes being run at conference rival New Hampshire by a young coordinator named Chip Kelly. Raymond was a beloved figure at Delaware, and he had helped mentor Brey as a head coach, but he was notoriously old-school.
Raymond huffed, dismissing the tempo offense as “grass basketball,” all style and finesse without the fundamental elements of the game he had coached for decades. The mindset was often pervasive at UD.
“It was in the bricks there,” said Brey, who went on to a 23-year stint coaching at Notre Dame. “Tubby had his kingdom, and nobody was telling him what to do. It was, ‘Leave us alone. We’re good. We’ve got the wing-T.'”
Brey’s contract in those days technically referred to him as a member of the physical education department, and he and his staff had to teach classes during the offseason on basketball skills. Despite Raymond’s retirement in 2001 and an FCS national title in 2003, not much changed. By 2016, when Skolnick arrived to work in the athletic department, a number of coaches were still considered part-time employees, and several programs had to source their own equipment.
But change was brewing.
Old rivals such as App State, Georgia Southern and JMU had left FCS without missing a beat. Delaware had often punched above its weight and churned out genuine stars such as Rich Gannon and Joe Flacco, but the chasm between the haves and have-nots in football was growing. It was clear the Hens needed to invest, though the goal then was to take advantage of the power vacuum among east coast FCS schools.
“I think a lot of people wondered if we’d missed the window,” Skolnick said. “But at that time, the goal was to win as many FCS national championships as we can and resource our teams to be able to compete.”
Delaware football did compete, earning a spot in the FCS playoffs in four of the past six seasons, but another national title eluded the program, and by 2022, with rival James Madison moving up to the Sun Belt, then-AD Chrissi Rawak began to test the waters of a jump to FBS.
The school partnered with consultants who studied the economics of a move, both for the athletic department, which stood to see a $3 to $4 million increase in annual revenue, and for the state, which could enjoy a 50% uptick in economic impact from football alone. Meanwhile, Delaware looked at each FCS school that had made the leap up to FBS in the past 10 years to see how the Hens might stack up. What did Skolnick say the school found? Programs that had already been investing, had a solid recruiting footprint and were committed to football had success.
“We started to check a lot of boxes,” Skolnick said.
There were concerns, of course. The landscape of college football was roiling, and the expense of running a successful program seemed to grow by the day. But the opportunity to generate more revenue was obvious.
In the playoff era, 10 schools have made the leap from FCS to FBS, and nearly all have tasted some level of success. Overall, the group has posted a .548 winning percentage at the FBS level, and seven of the 10 have had seasons with double-digit wins. James Madison, who went from an FCS championship to the Sun Belt in 2022, is 28-9 at the FBS level and enters the 2025 season with legitimate playoff aspirations.
That success, however, is the result of a decades-in-the-making plan, said former JMU athletic director Jeff Bourne. The Dukes kicked the tires on an FBS move as early as 2012 but held steady as the program grew its infrastructure and, when the time came to make a move in 2022, it was ready.
“Before we made that decision, we wanted to prove to ourselves that we could support it financially,” Bourne said. “You had to have the fan base and donor base grow, have our facilities in a place so we could recruit. Looking at it from a broad perspective, it made our move not only prudent but ultimately helped us be successful.”
Off the field, the move has proved equally fortuitous. In JMU’s final year at the FCS level, the athletic department had 4,600 total donors, according to the school. For the 2025 fiscal year, JMU had nearly 11,000. The Dukes have sold out season tickets for three straight years, and high-profile games, including two bowl appearances, have been a boon for admissions.
So, when Conference USA approached Delaware with a formal invitation to join in November 2023, the choice seemed obvious.
“It was pretty clear that, as a flagship institution in our state, we wanted to be aligned with schools that look like us,” Skolnick said. “We want to align our athletic aspirations with our academic ones. Academically we’re one of the best public institutions in the country. Athletically, we’ve had all these incredible moments of success — but they’re moments. They’re spread out. So we felt like this was an opportunity to bring all of it together in a way that will show people — the best way to give people a lens into how special Delaware is, is for our athletic teams to be really successful and create more visibility.”
Brey remembers reading the news of Delaware’s decision to make the jump, and he couldn’t help but think back to his conversations with Raymond nearly 30 years ago. This had been a long time coming, he thought, and yet it still seemed hard to believe.
“I was shocked,” Brey said. “Little old Delaware is finally going for it.”
THERE ARE AMPLE lessons Delaware and Missouri State administrators have learned in the past few months as they’ve worked to ramp up staffing and budgets and add scholarship players for the transition. But if there’s one piece of advice Skolnick would share with other schools considering a similar process, it’s this: Find a time machine.
Delaware announced its intention to jump to FBS in November 2023. Just weeks earlier, the NCAA, in an effort to stem the tide of FCS departures, made changes to the requirements for moving up that, among other things, increased the cost of doing so from $5,000 to $5 million, and Delaware would be the first team to pay it.
That was not a budget line the Blue Hens had accounted for, meaning the school had to raise funds to cover that cost on a tight timeline.
“We had six months to do it,” Skolnick said. “Fortunately, we had people who were really excited about this transition.”
Ransdell took over as AD at Missouri State in August of 2024, just months after the Bears announced their plans to move to Conference USA, and he inherited a budget that wasn’t remotely ready for FBS competition.
“We had to change some things, do some more investing,” he said. “We weren’t really prepared to be an FBS program with the budget I inherited.”
In other words, the buzzword at both schools is the same as it is everywhere in 2025: revenue.
But if budgets have to be stretched with a move up to FBS, there are benefits, too.
Ransdell said Missouri State has sold more season tickets than any year since 2016, buoyed by a home game against SMU on Sept. 13.
Delaware had faced hurdles selling tickets in recent years, thanks in part to a slate of games against opponents its fans hardly recognized. That has changed already, with ample buzz around future home dates with old rivals UConn, Temple and Coastal Carolina. Crook said membership in the booster club is up 10-15% after years of steady declines. This season, Delaware travels to Colorado, and Crook said a caravan of Blue Hens fans will tag along.
On the recruiting trail, Delaware coach Ryan Carty said the conversations are completely different than they were a year ago, and the Hens have been able to add a host of new talent. The Hens’ roster includes 14 transfers from Power 4 programs this year, including Delaware native Noah Matthews, who arrived from Kentucky.
When Matthews was being recruited out of Woodbridge High School, about an hour’s drive down Route 1 through the middle of the state, he never heard from Delaware. It’s not that his home-state school didn’t want him. It’s that, no one on staff believed the Hens had a shot to land a guy with offers in the SEC.
Four years later though, Matthews is back home, and there’s nowhere he would rather be.
“I wanted to come back and show people, this is what Delaware does,” Matthews said. “We can play big-time football, too. After this year, they’ll know exactly who we are.”
For all the hurdles to get their respective programs in a place to compete at the FBS level, the costs are worth it, Ransdell said.
Need proof? Look no further than Sacramento State, a school that has all but begged for an invitation from the Pac-12 or Mountain West, even dangling a supposedly flush NIL fund with more than $35 million raised. And yet, no doors have been opened for the Hornets.
Still, the old guard around Delaware might not be so easily swayed.
Brey has kept a beach house in Delaware since his time coaching in the state, returning the past couple of years to serve as a guest bartender at the popular beach bar The Starboard to raise money for the Blue Hens’ NIL fund. This summer, he was strolling the boardwalk in Rehoboth Beach, chatting with the locals and getting a feel for how fans felt about this new era of Delaware football.
Most were excited, he said, but one — a longtime season-ticket holder — had a different perspective.
“On the first day of fall camp,” the fan told him, “we always knew we could play for a national championship in [FCS]. That’s not possible anymore.”
In other words, Delaware sold its championship aspirations for an admittedly more financially prudent place near the bottom of FBS. And who’s to say FBS football even remains viable as power players in the SEC and Big Ten move ever closer to creating “super leagues?”
“There very well could be a super league,” Bourne said. “There are signs that could happen. But I think when you look at it from the standpoint of your peer group, it’s to be competitive with them. There’s probably going to be a day where there’s a shake-up and you have some existing [power conference] schools that end up being more aligned with [Group of 6] than they are with the upper tier.”
Brey recalls his old friend Bob Hannah, the former Delaware baseball coach who had long been a progressive among the school’s traditionalists, wondering if the Hens might have been a fit in the ACC, had the school just pursued athletics growth in the 1970s and 1980s. The irony, Brey said, is these days, with even power conferences struggling to keep pace with the rapid change and financial strains of modern college sports, that doesn’t seem like such a long shot.
For Skolnick, that’s a worry for another day. Getting Delaware ready for its chance to shine on some of the sport’s biggest stages in 2025 is the priority. Delaware — the school and the state — hasn’t had many of these moments, and it’s an opportunity the Hens don’t want to miss.
“We’ve got to be ready for what we’re moving into, but everyone in college athletics is dealing with change,” Skolnick said. “That part is comforting. It’s more of an opportunity for us to do it our way. We’re too great of a historical and successful and traditional team to not be part of the conversation.”
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