Archive

Dive into a collection of past posts and rediscover timeless content.

College Football

Baylor's Boosters Wrote the Checks. Now Aranda Says the Money Is the Problem.

Jul 24, 2026

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16 min read

Baylor's Boosters Wrote the Checks. Now Aranda Says the Money Is the Problem.

Six years, 36-37, and one elite defense from a defensive genius. Plus the adjunct keeping your five-star eligible for $3,498 a course, and the cap that turns out to be a floor.

Mark Haines

NILonomics

Save Your Tears for the Fired Coach. He Cashed the Check.

Jul 21, 2026

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14 min read

Save Your Tears for the Fired Coach. He Cashed the Check.

A guest deep dive from NILnomics on why getting fired became the best-paid day of a coach's career, plus the Michigan investigation that cost twelve million and found no one in charge, and a Senate cap that fences nothing.

Mark Haines

Michigan

Arkansas State Has Never Had a Tidier Football Team

Jul 17, 2026

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12 min read

Arkansas State Has Never Had a Tidier Football Team

Butch Jones commits the fewest penalties in program history and has been outscored in every one of his five seasons. The school just signed him through 2029.

Mark Haines

College Football

Dabo Swinney Is Doing Just Fine, and That's the Problem

Jul 14, 2026

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14 min read

Dabo Swinney Is Doing Just Fine, and That's the Problem

The coach you ask us about more than any other, in a special Tuesday issue. He turned nine NFL draft picks into seven wins and the lowest-rated team of his eighteen years, and the buyout means none of it has to change.

Mark Haines

Wisconsin

Jul 10, 2026

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13 min read

At Cincinnati, Luke Fickell Made the Playoff. At Wisconsin, He Made the Worst Offense in the Power Four.

He buried the Air Raid the fans blamed, and the throwback offense scored 12.8 points a game, dead last in the Power Four, while a third straight transfer quarterback went down hurt. The talent is finally here, and the schedule is the softest in the Big Ten. On the thermometer, it reads "Structural Trend," and it is the hottest honest seat on the board.

Mark Haines

College Football

Lance Leipold Raised the Floor at Kansas. Now He Can't Clear It.

Jul 3, 2026

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12 min read

Lance Leipold Raised the Floor at Kansas. Now He Can't Clear It.

He dug Kansas out of 0-9 and built it to 9-4, and back-to-back 5-7 seasons later the reward is a warm seat. The offense is real, the run defense is not, and the trend is bending the wrong way.

Mark Haines

College Football

Florida State Graded Its Own Coach as Failing, in Writing, and Kept Him

Jun 30, 2026

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14 min read

Florida State Graded Its Own Coach as Failing, in Writing, and Kept Him

Mike Norvell went 0-4 in one-score games and 0-5 on the road, so he took back the one job that was never the problem: the play sheet.

Mark Haines

Big Ten

Maryland fired Mike Locksley in November, except they didn't.

Jun 26, 2026

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14 min read

Maryland fired Mike Locksley in November, except they didn't.

The fake report still pulled two million views, because the seat is that hot

Mark Haines

College Football

Preseason 2026 Coaches' Hot Seat® Rankings

Jun 23, 2026

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12 min read

Preseason 2026 Coaches' Hot Seat® Rankings

Ten coaches, ranked by the heat they feel right now, not by who gets fired in a month where nobody gets fired. Fair warning: a few of these are going to make you mad.

Mark Haines

Archive

Dive into a collection of past posts and rediscover timeless content.

Baylor's Boosters Wrote the Checks. Now Aranda Says the Money Is the Problem.

Save Your Tears for the Fired Coach. He Cashed the Check.

Arkansas State Has Never Had a Tidier Football Team

Dabo Swinney Is Doing Just Fine, and That's the Problem

At Cincinnati, Luke Fickell Made the Playoff. At Wisconsin, He Made the Worst Offense in the Power Four.

Lance Leipold Raised the Floor at Kansas. Now He Can't Clear It.

Florida State Graded Its Own Coach as Failing, in Writing, and Kept Him

Maryland fired Mike Locksley in November, except they didn't.

Preseason 2026 Coaches' Hot Seat® Rankings

Coaches Hot Seat®