In 30-plus years in the business, I haven't been more touched in writing a story than this one on brave little Landrey Eargle and her wonderful family, her family at home, her
@AustinPeayFB
family and her college football family.
#ForTheLoveOfLandrey
Veteran Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables has emerged as the top target for the
@OU_Football
head coaching job, and the two sides could finalize a deal as early as today. Ole Miss’ Jeff Lebby is Venables’ top choice as offensive coordinator, sources tell ESPN.
One of the greatest runs in college football history is over. Nick Saban informed his team today that he's retiring, sources tell ESPN. He won six national championships at Alabama and one at LSU.
Alabama QB Bryce Young and OLB Will Anderson Jr. have told Nick Saban they plan to play in the Sugar Bowl and Saban told ESPN that
@AlabamaFTBL
isn’t expected to have any opt-outs for the game.
Am I allowed to step away from college football for a moment? Rick Barnes has Tennessee's basketball team playing lights out. For a guy his critics claimed was looking for a place to cruise into retirement, he's building one heck of a program on Rocky Top.
#coachingmatters
Nick Saban will get an office in Bryant-Denny Stadium in his new support role for the university. But by the end of the day Thursday, his old office at the Mal Moore football complex had already been cleared out. He did hit a few golf balls at the golf facility before leaving.
Tennessee has reached out to David Cutcliffe about the Vols' head coaching job, but Cutcliffe informed UT officials that he wasn't interested and plans to finish his coaching career at Duke. The Blue Devils are bowl eligible for the 5th time in the last 6 years.
Sources tell me that
@RickBarnesUT
has decided to remain as
@Vol_Hoops
’ head coach after UCLA came after him with a lucrative offer that would have paid him $5 million per year. Barnes finalized his decision to stay at Tennessee on Monday after the Vols countered with a new deal.
Nebraska has zeroed in on former Carolina Panthers coach Matt Rhule as
@HuskerFBNation
’s next head coach, and the two sides hope to finalize a deal in the coming days, sources tell ESPN.
As
@HailStateFB
grieves Mike Leach’s death, interim AD Bracky Brett tells ESPN that the Bulldogs will play in their ReliaQuest Bowl game on Jan. 2 against Illinois. “The players are 100 percent behind playing this bowl game and doing what coach Leach would expect them to do.”
Vol legend Tony White, aka the Wizard, is fighting leukemia and doing so with
@Vol_Hoops
very near and dear to his heart. He sent this video to the team prior to the Vols’ Sweet 16 matchup with Purdue. Keep the Wiz in your prayers.
#51
🙏
Tee Martin is returning to Rocky Top. The former
@Vol_Football
quarterback has agreed to a deal to join
@CoachJPruitt
's staff and is scheduled to be on campus Tuesday, sources told ESPN.
Kalen DeBoer has agreed to a deal to replace Nick Saban as
@AlabamaFTBL
’s head coach, sources tell ESPN. DeBoer led Washington to a Pac-12 title and the CFP title game in his second season at UDub. He’s won 11 or more games in seven of his nine seasons as a head coach.
Don’t care who you root for. That’s heartbreaking to see
@henhook2
gingerly walking to the locker room. That kid is everything that’s right about college sports.
On this holiest of nights, I'm reminded that the message of Christmas has remained unwaveringly the same for 2,000-plus years. Even during a pandemic, His light burns as brightly as it ever did. From my family to yours, may Jesus' light shine in your life this Christmas season.
Something Saban told me last month rings pretty loud now: "Fourteen-hour days are a lot harder at 72 than they were at 62 when you want to make sure you're on top of everything, which is more difficult than ever now as a head coach with everything you have to manage ..."
Talk about being in the zone. Alabama defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt turned to me as he was walking off the field and asked, “Who won the other game?”
Not that anyone should be surprised, but
@henhook2
was at practice, crutches and all, today and yesterday to support his
@Vol_Football
teammates. He's kept a strong presence in the football building after getting the tough news Sunday that he was out with a torn ACL.
#leader
On his first day of retirement, Nick Saban did what he’s always done — go to the office.
“I want to be there for the players, for the coaches, anything I can do to support them during this transition,” Saban told ESPN on Thursday.
Sources tell ESPN that
@GeorgiaFootball
coach Kirby Smart has agreed to a new 10-year deal worth a total of $112.5 million, making him one of the highest paid coaches in college football.
Lane Kiffin has reiterated to
@OleMissFB
officials and staff members that his plan is to remain as the Rebels’ head coach and that he’s not going to
@AuburnFootball
, sources tell ESPN.
Jeff Brohm and
@LouisvilleFB
are in the process of finalizing a deal to bring Brohm back to his alma mater as head coach, sources tell ESPN. The deal would be for six years in the $35 million range. Brohm has been at
@BoilerFootball
the past six seasons.
Mario Cristobal continues to assemble an impressive staff at
@CanesFootball
. Sources tell ESPN that Charlie Strong, the former Texas, Louisville and USF head coach, is finalizing a deal to coach LBs at The U. Strong has deep recruiting ties in South Florida.
Kalen DeBoer's staff at
@AlabamaFTBL
is continuing to take shape. Ryan Grubb (OC), JaMarcus Shephard (WR) and Jerret McElwain (director of scouting) expected to follow DeBoer from Washington. Freddie Roach (DL) and Robert Gillespie (RB) expected to be retained.
Jeremy Pruitt already putting together Tennessee staff. As reported by Volquest, USC passing game coordinator and QBs coach Tyson Helton will join him along with Colorado State OC/OL coach Will Friend, Colorado State DB coach Terry Fair and Tennessee RB coach Robert Gillespie.
Kalen DeBoer has zeroed in on South Alabama head coach Kane Wommack to be
@AlabamaFTBL
’s DC and a deal is in the process of being finalized, sources tell me and
@ESPNRittenberg
. Wommack was previously the DC at Indiana.
“No amount of money could buy me away from Alabama and my legacy here.” — All-SEC guard Tyler Booker
The
@AlabamaFTBL
players who’ve stayed rally around Kalen DeBoer and his vision.
Nick Saban passed on responding to Jimbo Fisher's scathing comments today when I visited with Saban, but added, "A lot of people are silent (on using NIL to pay players to go to school.) But, you know, at this stage of my career, I’m not worried about what people think of me.”
Pete Golding is leaving
@AlabamaFTBL
to replace Chris Partridge as defensive coordinator at
@OleMissFB
, sources tell ESPN. Golding has been with Nick Saban at Alabama since 2018, the last four seasons as defensive coordinator.
Just filed to ESPN: Tennessee has parted ways with AD John Currie on the heels of what has been a disastrous Tennessee coaching search. He met with university officials on Friday morning, and the decision was made then.
Similar to what Bob Stoops did in his first season at
@OU_Football
when he brought in a cutting-edge offensive coordinator in Mike Leach, Brent Venables is following a similar model with his plans to bring in Jeff Lebby.
Bobby Petrino has agreed to return to
@RazorbackFB
as offensive coordinator and a deal is being finalized, sources tell ESPN. Petrino won 10 games in 2010 and 11 in 2011 as the Hogs’ head coach, but was fired following the motorcycle accident scandal.
That loss to South Carolina stung mightily at the time for
@Vol_Football
. But after seeing both USC and TCU lose in their conference championship games, gotta be nauseating on Rocky Top to see how much the pathway to the playoff has opened in the last two days.
A priority for new
@OU_Football
coach Brent Venables was bringing in
@Coach_Leb
as offensive coordinator. Oklahoma has finalized that deal, and sources tell ESPN that Lebby will earn in the $2 million range annually, making him one of college football's highest-paid coordinators.
Who would have ever thought that Phillip Fulmer, who reveled in beating Alabama and is despised by Alabama fans to this day, would turn to an Alabama native, Alabama grad and Alabama assistant coach to lead the Vols' program? Not sure this search could have a more fitting ending.
Twenty years after quarterbacking
@Vol_Football
to a national title,
@coachtee17
has agreed to return to his alma mater as an assistant coach, sources told ESPN. Contract details and his specific title are still being finalized. He had several other options, some in the SEC.
For Nick Saban to win 5 national titles in 9 years already tells you the caliber of coach he is, but to have the guts to play a true freshman QB — who hadn’t played any meaningful snaps all year — in the title game only cements his place as one of the greats to coach in any sport
My Thanksgiving prayer is simply that we do our best, even in the simplest of ways, to spread the light of Jesus Christ and that amid all the division, chaos and hate out there that we’re more consumed with making a difference than we are making a point. Grateful.
Jimbo Fisher is finalizing a deal to hire Bobby Petrino as
@AggieFootball
’s OC and Petrino will take over play-calling duties, sources tell ESPN. Petrino, one of the top offensive minds in football, was briefly OC at UNLV after spending last three seasons at Missouri State.
Lot of tears went into writing this with colleague
@aadelsonESPN
. There are those people in our lives who touch our hearts, but
@AschoffESPN
left an indelible mark on our hearts that we will cherish.
Closest thing I had to a baby brother in this business. I learned a lot more from
@AschoffESPN
than he ever did from me. What a light he was to all of us. God bless you ATL Kid.
As promised,
@will_levis
has game and vocals. The
@UKFootball
QB does a little Hall & Oates in an eighth-grade concert. The video was shot by his proud grandmother Barbara Kelley.
What a surreal day here on Tennessee’s campus. It was 9 years and 27 days ago to the date that Phillip Fulmer was pushed out as head coach, and now he’s back as AD at a time when his alma mater needs him in the worst way.
This will be the first time since 1985 that we’ll have a Final Four without at least one of these traditional hoops blue bloods — Duke, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisville, North Carolina or UCLA.
Happy dad and even happier son. Jalen Milroe and his father Quentin Milroe embrace after Jalen’s miraculous fourth-and-31 TD pass to beat Auburn in the Iron Bowl.
Former USC quarterback Jaxson Dart tells ESPN he will play at
@OleMissFB
next season and is enrolled in school. The 6-3, 215-pound Dart passed for 1,353 yards and nine TDs in six games as a freshman. He’s a great fit for
@Lane_Kiffin
’s system with his arm strength and mobility.
Bobby Petrino is returning to the FBS ranks as the offensive coordinator at UNLV under new coach Barry Odom, sources tell ESPN. Petrino was head coach at Missouri State the last three seasons. He’s widely regarded as one of the top offensive minds/play-callers in the game.
Travaris Robinson interviewed with new
@AlabamaFTBL
coach Kalen DeBoer for several hours Sunday for the defensive coordinator job, but has decided to remain at Georgia, sources tell ESPN.
At long last, the mother of all coaching searches is over. Tennessee has finalized the deal with Alabama defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt, and the Vols plan to introduce the 43-year-old Pruitt as head coach Thursday evening at a press conference, sources tell ESPN.
A decade later,
@Lane_Kiffin
's 13-month mini-odyssey on Rocky Top still resonates. As former defensive lineman Marlon Walls said, "It was a helluva ride, a short-lived one, but the most fun a lot of us have ever had playing football."
Still time before Heisman ballots are due, but few players have meant as much to their team as
@corral_matt
has to
@OleMissFB
. Only FBS player with more than 3,000 passing yards and 500 rushing yards entering this week, and Rebels have 10 regular-season wins for first time ever.
Talking with someone who knows Kalen DeBoer well, he's what you want in a modern-day coach in that he understands the challenges of maximizing the talent of today's players and has the ability to get those players to buy in. Important qualities because coaching has changed.
Deal should be finalized soon. DeBoer has won 11 or more games in seven of his nine seasons as a head coach. Was always right at the top of
@AlabamaFTBL
and AD Greg Byrne’s targets.
Josh Heupel, who led
@Vol_Football
to its first 11-win season since 2001, has received a new deal that will pay him $9 million a year and extend him through the 2028 season, sources tell ESPN.
It also shouldn't surprise anybody that Saban was working and interviewing potential assistants an hour before he told the team he was retiring. He told me last month: "I'll know when it's time, but I won't scale back. I only know one way to do it. I can't do it any other way."
There will be a lot of talk about Hugh Freeze’s missteps at Ole Miss, but everyone has a past. He’s coached in the SEC, recruited in the SEC and won in the SEC. He’s also beaten Nick Saban in back-to-back seasons. In other words, he checks a lot of boxes for
@AuburnFootball
.
Very few of us will ever make a dime playing sports, but I think God every day for having had the chance to play sports growing up and soak in the life lessons sports teaches us about team, selflessness, sacrifice and giving more than you take. God bless these kids.
A “toxic situation” behind him at Oklahoma, Spencer Rattler is on a mission to rewrite the final chapter of his college football career at
@GamecockFB
. “You can just feel it here, this community, this city, these fans. We’re on the rise.”
From 1985 to 2001, Tennessee won 5 SEC titles, 1 national title, won 9 or more games 13 times, recorded 13 Top-15 finishes in the polls, 10 Top-10 finishes, won 11 bowl games and were 44-28-5 vs. ranked opponents.
In this age of immediate gratification and bailing when things get rough, I give you Earl and Judy Brown, two of the most loyal fans on the planet. Earl attended his 274th straight
@TennesseeFB
game Saturday, one of the Vols’ biggest wins in years. True VFLs.
One of those days in college football (Jan. 10, 2024) people won't soon forget. Nick Saban, at his very core, was a teacher. He loved developing players. He loved the oneness of team. He adapted along the way, but never embraced the portal/NIL era of who could get biggest deal.
There have been two constants on
@AlabamaFTBL
’s staff during the Tide’s improbable run: Nick Saban and Jeff Allen. Their enduring relationship has been the “secret recipe.”
Not to be forgotten in this historic 10-win
@OleMissFB
season is the improvement of
@CoachDurkin
’s defense. Rebels’ defense held 9 of 12 opponents to 24 or fewer points. Lot of pride on that side of the ball. Ole Miss went from giving up 38.3 ppg a year ago to 25 ppg this year.
Make it two talented USC transfers headed to
@OleMissFB
. Tight end Michael Trigg joins quarterback Jaxson Dart in telling me today that he will be playing for the Rebels next season.
@Lane_Kiffin
is compiling one of the premier transfer portal classes in the country.
The Greg Schiano to Tennessee deal is dead. Following a public outcry among fans and state politicians, Tennessee backed out of a memorandum of understanding with Schiano that had been signed earlier in the day by both parties.
Kendal Briles will remain at
@RazorbackFB
as offensive coordinator, sources tell ESPN. Briles was a candidate for the
@CanesFootball
OC job. He’s been with Sam Pittman the last two years at Arkansas, and the Hogs led the SEC in rushing last season.
As the signees start to roll in for
@Vol_Football
, one of
@CoachJPruitt
’s biggest recruits was holding onto head strength coach
@UTCoachFitz
, who told Pruitt this morning he was staying at Tennessee after Maryland made a hard run at Fitzgerald.
What a ride for
@AlabamaFTBL
this year. Nick Saban’s best coaching job, and his players know it. In his talk Friday to the team, he delivered a passionate speech about how much he believed in them, and when he was finished, the players were up and clapping, which never happens.
College football is unpredictable, as we know. But it's really going to be hard to get the
@Vol_Football
fans back from this one. Even more pressing: Can
@CoachJPruitt
and the staff get the players back from one of the most inexplicable and damning losses in school history?
How long has it been? With its 40-13 rout of LSU,
@Vol_Football
moves to 5-0 and heads into the Alabama game unbeaten for the first time since the 1998 national championship season when the Vols finished 13-0.
Rick Barnes, eager to finish the final chapter of his coaching career at
@Vol_Hoops
, told me today: "There's no reason we can't keep this thing going, but also take it to another level."
Remember when the SEC -- and a lot of college football, for that matter -- hung its hat on smothering defense? Per
@ESPNStatsInfo
, the 52 points allowed by
@AlabamaFTBL
in its loss to
@Vol_Football
is the most Bama has given up in any game since 1907 against Sewanee (54 points).
Phillip Fulmer and Tee Martin spoke extensively by phone Tuesday morning, and sources close to Martin felt like it was a positive conversation moving in the right direction. Martin played under Fulmer and quarterbacked the Vols to the 1998 national championship.
Blessed to spend tonight watching the Tennessee-Florida game with my good buddy (and a guy who scored a few points in his day). Vol legend Tony White is back home for a while and eternally grateful for all of your prayers and support. 🙏
How good was the
@AuburnFootball
defense after Oregon went up 14-3? The Ducks had 12 more offensive possessions, and 11 of those ended in a punt, turnover, on downs, end of 1st half or end of game. The turnover led to an Auburn FG and Ducks managed just 13 rush yards in 2nd half.
Lane Kiffin told ESPN this morning he’s staying at
@OleMissFB
and signing an extension. “I had a meeting with the team and the staff and told them I was staying and it would be announced after the game. I didn’t want it to be about me staying before the game, but about the team.”
Sources tell ESPN that Tennessee is in the process of trying to finalize a deal with Alabama defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt after offering him the job earlier in the day. Vols also interviewed Auburn DC Kevin Steele and Georgia DC Mel Tucker.
Don’t tell FAU, UCF and South Florida it’s been a down year for football in the state of Florida. For the first time ever as FBS programs, they all won 10 or more games in the same season.
It's been a whirlwind last few days for Kalen DeBoer, but he's checked a lot of different boxes in assembling his
@AlabamaFTBL
staff -- sitting head coach as DC, bringing in Grubb as OC, retaining key people from Saban's staff -- and been very clear about his plan moving forward.
Over and above the championships, former Alabama president Robert Witt, who hired Nick Saban, once told me Saban was prouder of the program's academic record than anything. Alabama was tied for third nationally in NCAA's latest Academic Progress Rate data behind NW and Wisconsin.