Liliia

Georgia linebackers Chris Cole and Darren Ikinnagbon were arrested on misdemeanor charges of speeding at maximum limits and other traffic-related charges.

Four-star quarterback Gunner Rivers, son of NC State legend and eight-time NFL Pro Bowler Philip Rivers, has committed to the Wolfpack.

Former Purdue and NFL wide receiver Rondale Moore died Saturday at the age of 25, according to the Minnesota Vikings.

USC landed a top in-state target in four-star wide receiver Quentin Hale, who is ranked No. 58 in the 2027 recruiting class by ESPN.

After leading Indiana to the national title, coach Curt Cignetti has finalized a contract with the school that will pay him an average of $13.2 million through the 2033 season, a source confirmed to ESPN.

Reigning Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza is betting on himself before he ever takes an NFL snap. The former Indiana quarterback has decided not to throw at this week's NFL Scouting Combine and will instead wait for more familiar surroundings at his pro day in April. FOX Sports lead college football analyst Joel Klatt joined Colin Cowherd on Tuesday's edition of "The Herd" to discuss Mendoza’s future and break down the first edition of his newly released mock NFL draft. "I think he's absolutely going to succeed in the National Football League," said Klatt, who's unbothered by Mendoza’s decision. "I'm a huge believer that … [quarterbacks have] to own the game from the pocket. You have to do that in the National Football League. You cannot run yourself into a Super Bowl. … When you look at Mendoza and his best performances and his most clutch performances in the most important parts of the season, what was he doing? Making huge throws from the pocket … late in the game, late in the down sequence. "I think he's accurate. He's a leverage thrower. … The best quarterbacks never throw 50/50 balls. They're always putting the percentage in the wide receiver's advantage because of the leverage that they throw with from a ball position and ball placement standpoint. … [Mendoza] does that. … For those two reasons — owning it from the pocket in big moments and being an anticipatory, leverage thrower — I think that this guy … is absolutely going to succeed." It’s nearly a foregone conclusion that the Las Vegas Raiders — a franchise whose identity has historically been deeply rooted in its head coach and quarterback, which they're currently in desperate need of — will select Mendoza with the first overall pick, according to Klatt and many others. Mendoza checks all the boxes after leading the Hoosiers to a perfect 16-0 record and a national title this past season. "There's this line [with] all players, but more specifically for a quarterback," Klatt added. "Does he translate, regardless of fit? … I think it's incredibly difficult to find those players, and it's more specifically difficult to find them at the quarterback position. … Mendoza doesn't quite cross that line, which is fine. … I think that fit still matters." Second-year Raiders general manager John Spytek recently said that he and new head coach Klint Kubiak, who takes over for Pete Carroll after a disappointing three-win season, are looking for a quarterback who's "a leader, tough as hell … a maniacal preparer … somebody that … loves to play football [and] will give everything to their teammates." Raiders minority owner Tom Brady attended the 2026 College Football Playoff National Championship alongside fellow owner Mark Davis. In January, Brady described Mendoza as "a very mature young man" with "a bright future." Mendonza is the first player off the board in Klatt's first mock draft. Likewise, Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti is listed as the No. 1 coach on Klatt's recently released list of the best coaches in college football.

INDIANAPOLIS — Fernando Mendoza firmly established himself as the top quarterback prospect in the 2026 NFL Draft months ago, winning the Heisman Trophy and leading Indiana to a national title. But if Mendoza opted not to transfer from Cal to Indiana last winter and entered the NFL Draft instead, would he have been as highly touted a prospect in the 2025 NFL Draft? One longtime NFL scout believes so, telling me that Mendoza would've been drafted by the Tennessee Titans with the No. 1 overall pick instead of Cam Ward. "I still think Ward will struggle overall for a while," the scout told me. "I don’t see an elite processor with him, even though he’s got the arm traits." While other league sources I spoke with agreed that Mendoza would have been at the top of last year’s quarterback draft class, not everyone fell in line with that thought process. "He would have been No. 3 for me last year behind Jaxson Dart and Cam Ward," an NFL personnel executive told me. "He’s a pocket QB with quick eyes and a quick release. He processes coverage and pressure at a high rate. Good arm strength and excellent accuracy. He’s tough and shows poise in high-stress situations. Excellent make-up. NFL starter." Mendoza will be front and center as the NFL community descends on Indianapolis for the NFL Scouting Combine this week. Even though Mendoza has said he will not throw on the field at Lucas Oil Stadium on Saturday, coaches and scouts will get a chance to interact with Mendoza this week, and he’s expected to hold a traditional media session with reporters. FOX Sports draft analyst Rob Rang praised Mendoza for the gutsy way he played late in games on his way to leading the Hoosiers to an undefeated 16-0 season and the national title, displaying an ability to throw with accuracy and anticipation in critical moments of the game. "A lot of times you get quarterbacks who don’t have enough courage to throw the ball with anticipation and just trust that they have enough velocity and accuracy to make the throw," Rang told me. "And he does. … But I do think you need to surround him with some legitimate playmakers to guarantee he’s going to be successful." Rang said he would have ranked Mendoza as his top quarterback in last year’s draft. "I wasn’t a big Cam Ward guy, at least not as much as everyone else," Rang said. "And I’ve been very impressed by some of the backyard plays that he was again able to make in the NFL, just like he did at Miami and WSU. "Mendoza maybe isn’t the trick shot artist [that Ward is], but he also isn’t as likely to have the peaks and valleys in his game as Cam Ward had. And certainly, Mendoza is a more gifted passer than Shedeur [Sanders], and I’m not at all surprised he had some success with the Browns. I had Shedeur as the top quarterback last year and had to eat a lot of humble pie when he fell as far as he did. To me, last year, Mendoza would have been the first pick had he played this well a year ago." NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah said he’d have Mendoza a tick over C.J. Stroud and Bryce Young from the 2023 draft. However, he would put Mendoza behind Caleb Williams, Drake Maye and Jayden Daniels from the highly-touted 2024 draft. "I gave him the same grade that I gave Cam Ward," Jeremiah said in a conference call last week. "So, you cannot be more polar opposite as players. With Cam Ward, it was kind of the off-schedule magic that he had, to go along with a loose, fluid motion. Everything he did was smooth. He could kind of fade away and throw the ball wherever he wanted. "Whereas Mendoza is a little more robotic in his movement than Cam, but still has a strong arm. I think he does a really good job of protecting the football. Both of them excelled in the RPO game. I think you want to have that element in your offense if your [Las Vegas Raiders head coach Klint] Kubiak, just because he’s so comfortable and is a great decision maker there." Along with his decision-making, poise and toughness made Mendoza the clear No. 1 quarterback in this year’s class, the longtime NFL scout told me. "I saw him live vs. Oregon in season," the scout told me. "I like what I’ve heard about him character-wise; he’s built for both success and adversity. I liked his processing and decisions. There’s a huge learning curve coming his way, but he can handle it. "He has to be at the top of this class, I would think, having seen Carson Beck and Cade Klubnik."

This is college football. At some point, the games pause, but the news and drama never does. Here's an offseason tracker for buzz across the college football landscape. Philip Rivers' son commits to NC State Quarterback Gunner Rivers has committed to NC State — his father's alma mater — he announced on Feb. 23. Rivers is a four-star quarterback at St. Michael Catholic in Fairhope, Alabama. His father coached his high school team as well, doing so before he made his return to the NFL in 2025. The younger Rivers threw for 2,813 yards, 44 touchdowns and five interceptions this season, leading his high school to the state title game. Tennessee QB Joey Aguilar denied sixth season Aguilar's injunction for a sixth season of eligibility has been denied, and he will now go pro, per ESPN. Aguilar was previously granted a temporary restraining order in his lawsuit against the NCAA as he sought an extra year of eligibility, which would've enabled him to continue playing for the Volunteers this fall. Aguilar played the first two seasons of his collegiate career at Diablo Valley (2021-22), followed by two seasons at Appalachian State (2023-24) before transferring to Tennessee for the 2025 season. Indiana HC Curt Cignetti gets a raise The Hoosiers have raised their head coach's salary to $13.2 million through the 2033 season, per ESPN. This deal comes in the wake of Indiana winning its first national championship in program history in January and already raising Cignetti's salary to $11.6 million in October 2025. Moreover, this raise makes Cignetti the second-highest paid coach in college football. Since Cignetti took over in Bloomington for the 2024 season, the Hoosiers are a combined 27-2, highlighted by going 16-0 en route to winning the national championship last season. North Illinois head coach Thomas Hammock leaving for NFL Hammock is leaving NIU to become the running backs coach for the Super Bowl-champion Seattle Seahawks, according to CBS Sports. Over Hammock's seven seasons as NIU's head coach (2019-25), the Huskies went a combined 35-47, a stint highlighted by three bowl game appearances and a win at South Bend against Notre Dame in 2024. Hammock, who played running back at NIU, was previously a running backs coach for the Baltimore Ravens from 2014-18, among other assistant coaching stints. Four-star prospect de-commits from Michigan Peter Bourque, a four-star quarterback out of Massachusetts in the 2027 class, reopened his recruitment on Feb. 17. Bourque had been verbally committed to Michigan in Aug. 2025 under previous head coach Sherrone Moore. Michigan finds its DT coach The Wolverines are hiring Vanderbilt defensive line coach Larry Black to be new head coach Kyle Whittingham's defensive tackle coach, per ESPN. Black was Vanderbilt's defensive line coach from 2022-25 and previously held the same role at Toledo from 2019-21. In other news, Michigan has reportedly parted ways with general manager Sean Magee. Michigan is also expected to part ways with Sam Popper, its director of recruiting, and Albert Karschnia, its director of player personnel. SEC cuts massive checks to its members The SEC is distributing more than $1 billion to its 16 universities for the 2024-25 fiscal year, which ended last August. The total distribution jumped more than $200 million from the previous year. The current total includes $37.4 million retained by universities that participated in the College Football Playoff and bowl games. The amount distributed from the conference office, including bowl revenue retained by participants, averaged $72.4 million for schools with full year financial participation. Oklahoma and Texas, which joined the conference in July 2024, received distributions of $2.6 million and $12.1 million, respectively, related to CFP and bowl participation and designated NCAA funds. The $72.4 million average per school is approximately $18.6 million above the 2023-24 average of $53.8 million for full members. The payout for the 14 schools receiving a full share consists of revenue generated from television agreements, postseason bowls, the CFP, the SEC title game, the SEC men's basketball tournament and NCAA championships. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

If you somehow didn't know by now, coaches are pretty important in football — just look at their vastly increasing salaries. Yet, FOX Sports lead college football analyst Joel Klatt has never ranked the best coaches in the sport … until now. In the most recent episode of the "Joel Klatt Show," Klatt ranked the top 10 coaches in college football for the first time. A big reason why he's finally doing a top-10 head coach ranking has to do with the fact that we now have more clarity as to how which coaches have adapted the best to the introduction of name, image and likeness (NIL) and the transfer portal. "The eras of college football are now substantially different and we're in a very new era," Klatt said of how he determined his list. "With the NIL, transfer portal era, I think the coaches on this list have excelled in the modern era. "You have to have excelled post-COVID and more specifically in the last two, three, four years." So, let's not wait any further and take a look at Klatt's top 10. Honorable mentions: Kalen DeBoer, Alabama; Rhett Lashlee, SMU; Joey McGuire, Texas Tech; Mike Elko, Texas A&M; Dabo Swinney, Clemson 10. Lane Kiffin, LSU While Kiffin received a lot of scrutiny for how he handled his departure from Ole Miss, Klatt said that the new LSU head coach's résumé is too strong to leave off the list. "Listen, whatever you want to think of all of that, the guy can coach college football. This list would not be complete without him on it. I know the exit was messy from Ole Miss, but think about what he built at Ole Miss. I know he's had growing pains throughout his career as a head football coach," Klatt said. "But what he built at Ole Miss was really special. That was part of the reason why I argued that he should've stayed there. They had a great chance at a national championship this past year if he would've just stayed." Klatt added that he feels Kiffin's ability to coach an offense is incredibly strong, saying his teams are guaranteed to have a top-10 offense in the nation. Kiffin's coaching ability on that side of the ball helped develop Jaxson Dart into becoming a first-round pick and Trindidad Chambliss into one of the nation's top quarterbacks despite his lack of FBS experience. In turn, that helped Ole Miss become an SEC contender during Kiffin's time there. "He took Ole Miss to a sustained level of excellence that they really had never seen before," Klatt said. "We had seen some jumps, but they had four 10-win seasons over the last five years. Only Kirby, Ryan Day and Kalen DeBoer had more wins over the last five years than Lane. That's very incredible." 9. Mario Cristobal, Miami (Fla.) Klatt admitted that the College Football Playoff catapulted Cristobal into the top 10. However, he thinks Miami's run to the national championship helped disprove a pair of the biggest doubts about Cristobal. "He knocked off two giant stigmas this year that had been plaguing him throughout his career as a head coach," Klatt said. " The first was he doesn't win big games. Well, he won big games this year and it started all the way back in Week 1, when they toppled Notre Dame. That was a huge win and it started this trajectory of things that we haven't seen him be able to do that this year he was able to do. "The second thing was winning big matchups down the stretch. We knew his record in November wasn't what we wanted it to be." Now, Klatt believes Miami is in a good spot to compete on an annual basis moving forward. "I gotta tip my cap to what Mario Cristobal's built at Miami," Klatt said. "If the [Darian] Mensah transfer works for them, they'll be back in this capacity. Maybe not all the way to the championship game, but they're going to be a very good football team because that's what he builds." 8. Kalani Sitake, BYU Klatt knows that this one might "surprise some people," but he wants you to consider this: only two head coaches have more wins than Sitake since 2020. "I'm a huge fan of Kalani Sitake," Klatt said. "Penn State wanted Kalani Sitake and almost got him earlier in this offseason because they see what I see: a phenomenal football coach and a guy that builds a team in his own image. The team takes on the character of their coach in so many ways — outplay, work, out-physical teams. You can see that at BYU. Would it surprise you to find out that only two head coaches have more wins than Sitake since 2020? Those two are Kirby Smart and Ryan Day. Sitake has 57 wins since 2020. "Sitake is a phenomenal coach and every single year, he builds the same caliber of team, particularly at the line of scrimmage." 7. Kyle Whittingham, Michigan Klatt admitted that this might be another addition on the list that could surprise some. However, he also wants everyone to understand what he did at Utah in his 21 seasons as its head coach. "You have to understand where he brought Utah from," Klatt said. "That was a very good job after Urban Meyer and they were on the national stage, but he's the one that took them from the Group of 5 into the Pac-12 and Big 12. He did a lot of things at Utah and made them a perennial top-15, top-10 team in the country and he did so without the best talent in the country. His teams play exceptionally hard, they're physical, they're sound and they're well-coached." Utah went 177-88 during Whittingham's tenure, logging five 10-plus-win seasons after the Utes made the jump from the Mountain West to the Pac-12. 6. Steve Sarkisian, Texas Klatt shared that he contemplated placing Sarkisian higher and lower, wanting to reward him for bringing stability back to Texas while recognizing that the Longhorns underwhelmed this past season. "I thought this was a good middle ground," Klatt said. "As much as I think we, and certainly the Texas fanbase, believe that you can roll the helmets out there and Texas is just going to win 10 games, that's just not the case. We saw that for at least a decade." Prior to Texas' underwhelming 2025 campaign, Sarkisian led the Longhorns to two straight semifinal appearances in the College Football Playoff. So, Klatt thinks that's too big to ignore, but also thinks that Sarkisian might need to make a sacrifice in order to help Texas get over the hump. "Steve has solidified Texas," Klatt said. "I think he's one of the great game planners of college football. I think he's one of the great playcallers in college football. You could make the argument that he might need to give up playcalling duties at some point if he wants to achieve what he ultimately wants, which is a national championship. That's really hard for a guy at that level. Ryan Day gave up playcalling duties and won a national championship." 5. Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame When Brian Kelly left Notre Dame for LSU at the end of the 2021 season, some thought that the Fighting Irish could no longer attain the talent needed to compete for a national championship. But after Notre Dame made it to the title game in the 2024 season, Klatt believes that's not the case. Klatt pointed to Freeman as the big reason why Notre Dame seems to be a perennial national title contender. "He's elevated the talent in South Bend," Klatt said. "There's a reason the NFL's been sniffing around on this guy. There were talks that the Giants wanted Marcus Freeman at one point. Notre Dame was smart to redo his deal back in December. He's just 40. The guy, to me, is class, integrity, toughness and his teams are physical. I think he's learned along the way." 4. Dan Lanning, Oregon Lanning is the highest-ranked coach on this list who has yet to win a national championship, but Klatt believes that he'll break that glass ceiling soon. "I've said for a long time that if I had to buy stock in a coach, it would be Dan Lanning. I still feel that way," Klatt said. "Oregon is a perennial national championship contender under Lanning. He's elevated them above what they were before he got there. He's a phenomenal coach. "Here's the deal: He's 48-8 at Oregon, and six of his eight losses are against teams that reached the title game. Four of those losses were to the eventual national champ. He's lost five games in the last three seasons and every single one was against a team that reached the national championship game. You do not beat Oregon unless you're one of the best teams in college football. And he's gaining on those teams." 3. Kirby Smart, Georgia You can probably guess which coaches are in the top three by this point. While Smart is one of two active college football coaches to have won multiple national championships, Klatt admitted that he put a greater significance on the recency of the national championships won by the coaches ranked in the top two. "It hasn't been as good in the last two years, but that's obvious with those back-to-back national championships. It seems like a dip, but that's because their standards are high," Klatt said. "They've won the SEC the last two years and three of the last four. The only year in the last nine seasons that Georgia wasn't in the SEC Championship Game was the 2020 COVID season. That's ridiculous consistency in a really tough conference. Georgia's the standard in the SEC." 2. Ryan Day, Ohio State At this point, Day's record is pretty self-explanatory. He's gone 82-12 in seven seasons as Ohio State's head coach, leading Klatt to say that Day has Ohio State at its zenith, which is saying something for a program that's won nine national championships. "Day has the Buckeyes at the top every single year," Klatt said. "He's reached the top two in the AP Poll at some point in every single season that he's been a head coach. He's never lost more than two games in a season. He got his national championship in 2024. He had the No. 1 team in college football for most of the season this last year, until they ran into Indiana. Ohio State is the most consistent program in college football, and we're seeing one of the great eras of Ohio State." 1. Curt Cignetti, Indiana After Cignetti turned the losingest program in college football history into a national champion in two years, he doesn't want to hear any argument for another head coach to be placed in this spot. "You can't put anybody else there. He's earned this spot," Klatt said. "When you take the losingest program in the history of the sport and in two years, you win the national championship with that team, it's not up for debate. He's No. 1, and it has to be him. "You can make arguments that guys should be higher or lower and maybe there should be guys incorporated on this list. You might be right. But the one that you can't argue with is Curt Cignetti. He's proven to be the best talent evaluator in this era of college football."

February is a month filled with hope across college football. It's a time for fresh starts at programs that have hired new coaches, for exhales at schools where existing coaches barely held on after dodgy seasons and to dream about what might be possible with a new batch of recruits and an arsenal of incoming transfers. At this point in the year, almost everyone still believes. Reality lurks somewhere beneath the surface. Waves of optimism and possibility can only do so much to obscure the cold, hard truth: There are plenty of coaches that will enter the 2026 season with seats that are somewhere between warm and scalding, and there are plenty of new hires who need strong starts to justify the choices their athletic directors made during the coaching carousel. Our panel of experts cuts through the noise to examine which individuals have the most to prove this fall: Which coach is under the most pressure heading into the 2026 college football season and why? Michael Cohen: Luke Fickell, Wisconsin Widely viewed as a strong hire by athletic director Chris McIntosh following the shocking decision to fire head coach Paul Chryst partway through the 2022 season, Fickell has been unable to replicate the remarkable success he enjoyed at Cincinnati. From 2018-22, Fickell won an incredible 53 games with the Bearcats, who were part of the American Athletic Conference at that time, and even guided them to the College Football Playoff in his penultimate season. Few young coaches, if any, were held in higher regard than Fickell when he accepted the job at Wisconsin. Since then, though, almost nothing has gone according to plan for Fickell, who needed a public vote of confidence from McIntosh last fall amid widespread rumors about his job security. The Badgers finished 7-6 during Fickell's first season in 2023, but they've finished below .500 each of the past two years. Injuries and questionable talent identification at quarterback have paired with a revolving door at offensive coordinator to leave Fickell in a precarious spot entering the 2026 season. Laken Litman: Lincoln Riley, USC Riley is entering his fifth season in Los Angeles and doesn't have much to show for himself. No conference championships, no CFP appearances. Perhaps his greatest feat in his tenure thus far is that he coached Caleb Williams. There's a feeling that things have changed entering the 2026 season, though. USC has the nation's top recruiting class. This is huge considering the Trojans haven't claimed the No. 1 class since Pete Carroll was there. While some younger players from this freshman class might have opportunities to contribute early, Riley has veterans on both sides of the ball who he can rely on, which is also a plus. This includes starting quarterback Jayden Maiava, as well as running back King Miller. Regardless of the talent, though, Riley has to be the one to get his team into gear. Otherwise, his seat will really heat up. RJ Young: Deion Sanders, Colorado Sanders enters a year when he once again turned over the roster and lost good players to great programs — like offensive tackle Jordan Seaton to LSU and corner back DJ McKinney to Notre Dame. He retained former five-star quarterback Julian Lewis and added innovative offensive coordinator Brennan Marion to his staff, though. Those last two principals in the play might define Coach Prime’s season. Another losing season at Colorado might not be enough for athletic director Fernando Lovo to begin a search for a new head coach, but it isn’t going to do much to cool frustrations in Boulder. "Prime Time" needs a fast start because his program hasn’t won a single game since Oct. 11, 2025 — a ranked matchup against a depleted No. 22 Iowa State. Which first-year coach needs to get off to a strong start in the 2026 college football season and why? Litman: Pete Golding, Ole Miss This is his first head coaching gig, and he's following Lane Kiffin. Golding has already gotten a taste of what things are going to be like after stepping into the job early when he assumed the role during the Rebels' recent CFP run. Kiffin bolted for LSU right after the regular season, leaving Golding to figure things out when the lights were brightest. Ole Miss has a tough 2026 schedule — and hosts Kiffin and LSU in Oxford on Sept. 19. Winning that game will be crucial in keeping fans happy. One massive edge Golding has in his first full season as the program's head coach is that star quarterback Trinidad Chambliss will return after receiving an injunction to play a sixth season, as will star running back Kewan Lacy and a loaded transfer portal class. They'll need a strong start to the year to prove Ole Miss is still a top program without Kiffin running things. Young: Lane Kiffin, LSU Kiffin left a program he led to its first CFP appearance — and arguably its best modern season — to take a job at a rival that had just fired its head coach and athletic director within three months of each other. LSU then paid Kiffin bonuses for each of Ole Miss’ CFP wins in 2025 while making him the second-highest-paid coach in the sport. Finally, the Tigers opened their checkbook to assemble the most expensive transfer portal class money could buy, highlighted by offensive tackle Jordan Seaton (Colorado) and quarterback Sam Leavitt (Arizona State). Opening with a record short of 4-0 — which would feature wins against Clemson, Louisiana Tech, Ole Miss and Texas A&M — is his only option. Cohen: Alex Golesh, Auburn At 41 years old, Golesh is certainly one of the fastest-rising coaches in the profession given the work he did as head coach at South Florida from 2023-25, a three-year run that included 23 victories at a school that only won four games over the preceding three seasons combined. His 9-3 overall record and 6-2 conference mark this past fall meant that Golesh was always going to be a central figure in the coaching carousel — especially when considering he had the chance to bring star quarterback Byrum Brown with him to a new locale. Even with his rising stock, Golesh needs a strong debut at Auburn to placate a fan base that has been unhappy for nearly a decade. Five consecutive losing seasons under predecessors Hugh Freeze (15-19 overall) and Bryan Harsin (9-12 overall) were preempted by a noticeable decline across the back half of the Gus Malzahn era, which began bathed in glory courtesy of a national championship game appearance in 2013. Given his youth and relative inexperience (he's only been a head coach for three seasons), Golesh will need to start quickly to get the fans on his side. In Let’s Debate, our experts tackle and explain the hot-button issues fans care about.

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