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Trends and Loose Talk in the World of College Football

The End of an Era: Oklahoma AD Joe Castiglione to Retire

Joe Castiglione is stepping down.

After the longest tenure of any current AD in major college sports, Oklahoma's athletic director will retire from his full-time role this year. He'll transition to athletic director emeritus once his successor is named.

The interim AD who cleaned up Rutgers' mess just walked out the door

Ryan Pisarri is leaving to become AD at Tufts after 14 years at Rutgers, including 11 months cleaning up the mess his predecessor left behind.

Here's what makes this brutal: Pisarri spent nearly a year putting out fires and navigating the chaos of college athletics. He had the institutional knowledge. He knew where all the bodies were buried.

And now? Rutgers has to start over with someone who doesn't know the building, the people, or the problems.

Sometimes, the best person for the job is the one who's already doing it.

The Mountain West fast-tracked its newest member.

Grand Canyon is joining the conference this fall—a full year ahead of schedule. They'll start appearing on MWC schedules for the 2025-26 season.

Here's what's interesting: conferences don't usually accelerate timelines unless there's an urgent need involved.

The Mountain West needed Grand Canyon more than they were willing to admit.

Minnesota announced that head football coach PJ Fleck has signed a contract extension, keeping him with the Gophers through the 2023 season.

Fleck is 56-39 in eight seasons in Minnesota, going 6-0 in bowl games. The Gophers had a Fleck-best 11 wins back in 2019, winning a share of the then-Big Ten West Division.

DEEP DIVE

SEC Football Team Previews - Week 3

The SEC is about to expose which programs have been building something real versus which ones have been living off hype, and these six teams are walking into 2025 carrying championship expectations they either earned or inherited.

South Carolina Gamecocks

The Championship Window Is Wide Open

• LaNorris Sellers is about to become the most valuable quarterback nobody saw coming — The $2.7 million NIL quarterback who rejected massive offers from playoff contenders to stay home went 6-0 in his final six starts with 1,917 total yards, proving he doesn't just play better under pressure—he dominates when everything is on the line.

• Dylan Stewart might be the most destructive force in college football. This unanimous Freshman All-American recorded 48 quarterback pressures (21 more than any other true freshman in America) with 6.5 sacks. When asked which QB he wants to sack most in 2025, his answer was perfect: "Everybody. I like to play football. I like to hit people."

• Shane Beamer turned the transfer portal into his personal weapon — Instead of chasing stars, they surgically added 10 defensive transfers to replace NFL departures while completely ignoring their weakest position group (receivers), betting everything on Nyck Harbor, Mazeo Bennett Jr., and incoming speedster Malik Clark developing into game-changers.

• This brutal schedule isn't a problem—it's exactly what championship teams need — Seven top-25 opponents, including revenge games against Oklahoma and Alabama at home, plus road tests at LSU, Ole Miss, and Texas A&M that will either validate their championship aspirations or expose them as frauds who got lucky in 2024.

• South Carolina has everything required to shock college football again — No more sneaking up on anyone, no more moral victories—every opponent will bring their best shot, but the Gamecocks have Sellers threading passes and Stewart terrorizing quarterbacks, which is exactly the foundation that builds College Football Playoff teams.

Ole Miss Rebels

Lane Kiffin's Playoff Dream Is Finally Within Reach

• Austin Simmons isn't just replacing Jaxson Dart—he's upgrading the position — The 6-foot-4 redshirt sophomore who "reclassified in high school to get to Ole Miss faster" completed 19 of 32 passes for 282 yards and two touchdowns while earning Eli Manning's endorsement: "I've been impressed so far with what he's doing."

• The offensive explosion everyone is predicting is about to become reality — Lane Kiffin didn't become an offensive mastermind by depending on any single player, so losing Tre Harris (1,030 yards) and Jordan Watkins (906 yards) means nothing when Charlie Weis Jr.'s system produced 526.5 yards and 38.6 points per game with transfer De'Zhaun Stribling joining the party.

• Pete Golding's defense became elite when nobody was paying attention, allowing just 14.4 points and 80.5 rushing yards per game at 2.3 yards per carry with future NFL first-rounder Suntarine Perkins and defensive tackle Walter Nolen leading a unit that added Clemson transfer Tavoy Feagin to an already loaded secondary.

• The schedule is setting up perfectly for something special: Four straight home games to open including Georgia State, Kentucky, Arkansas, Tulane, and LSU before the season-defining October road trips to Georgia and Oklahoma that will determine whether Ole Miss makes the playoff or watches from home again.

• This is the year Lane Kiffin either breaks through or proves he can't win the big one: After five years building the most talented roster in school history, with the expanded 12-team playoff creating multiple pathways to success, there are zero excuses left if the Rebels don't finally deliver the breakthrough season Oxford has been waiting for.

Texas A&M Aggies

Mike Elko's Make-or-Break Season Has Arrived

• Marcel Reed is the most important player in Texas not named Arch Manning The polarizing sophomore went 4-0 against mediocre competition but 0-4 against quality opponents, completing just 27.8% of passes over 20 yards downfield, meaning the vertical passing game development literally determines if A&M wins 10 games or struggles to reach a bowl.

• This roster continuity is unprecedented in modern college football: Returning the sixth-most production in FBS with 70% of the offense and 73% of the defense back, including all seven of their best offensive linemen and healthy Le'Veon Moss (765 yards despite injuries), creates the foundation that championship teams are built on.

• The national respect is real, and the numbers prove it: ESPN's Football Power Index ranking them eighth nationally isn't hype when they were the highest-scoring SEC team in conference games (29.4 points per game), exceeding 30 points in five of eight SEC contests while consistently dominating inferior competition.

• Mike Elko is building something sustainable, not just hoping for a lightning strike: The No. 6 nationally ranked 2025 recruiting class featuring five-star receiver Jerome Myles and tackle Lamont Rogers, plus 2026 momentum with five-star cornerback Brandon Arrington, proves this isn't a one-year window—it's program transformation.

• The schedule either validates everything or exposes the ceiling — Three consecutive home SEC games against Auburn, Mississippi State, and Florida could build unstoppable momentum leading to their first trip to Austin since 2010. Still, Reed's development and the defense's ability to handle elite competition will determine if they're playoff-bound or headed for another eight-win disappointment.

LSU Tigers

Brian Kelly's Last Chance to Prove He Belongs at LSU

• Garrett Nussmeier isn't just returning, and he's arriving as a legitimate championship quarterback: The redshirt senior threw for 3,738 yards and 26 touchdowns while leading LSU's final three wins, including dominant victories over Oklahoma (37-17) and Baylor, proving he can handle pressure and deliver when championship expectations are on the line.

• Kelly went all-in on the transfer portal because his job depends on it: Landing the nation's No. 1 transfer class with 18 elite additions including 8 of the Top-100 players, wasn't roster management—it was championship construction, headlined by Patrick Payton (16 sacks, 32 TFL at Florida State) and elite cornerback Mansour Delane from Virginia Tech.

• The offensive transformation addresses every weakness that cost them in 2024: Barion Brown from Kentucky and Nic Anderson from Oklahoma join Aaron Anderson (884 yards) and Kyren Lacy (866 yards) to create the SEC's deepest receiver room while interior linemen finally fix the rushing attack that averaged a pathetic 116.4 yards per game.

• The championship pressure couldn't be more explicit or unforgiving: ESPN listed Kelly among coaches facing make-or-break seasons, and analysts are brutally clear: "With Garrett Nussmeier, a guy I think will be the No. 1 pick in next year's draft, Kelly has got to get it done this time around, or he's going to be on the hot seat by November."

• LSU's season-opener nightmare could destroy everything before it starts: Five straight season-opening losses since 2020 isn't just a statistic; it's a psychological burden that could shatter confidence, and the August 30 opener at Clemson represents Kelly's final audition with a $50+ million buyout protecting him from immediate firing but not from crushing expectations.

Missouri Tigers

Eli Drinkwitz Just Made the Boldest Promise in College Football

• While other coaches lower expectations during rebuilding years, Drinkwitz is doing the exact opposite: He's openly targeting Missouri's first SEC championship and College Football Playoff berth while pursuing a third consecutive 10-win season, something "that's never been accomplished at the University of Missouri," proving he believes this foundation is championship-strong.

• The $1.5 million Beau Pribula gamble changes everything about their ceiling: The Penn State transfer's NIL package puts him on par with starting SEC quarterbacks. Still, he's competing with redshirt junior Sam Horn (who missed all of 2024 with Tommy John surgery), meaning Missouri won't name a starter until August. Everything depends on who masters the system fastest.

• Twenty-six transfer portal additions executed the most surgical roster reconstruction in college football: Ranked as a top-10 portal class nationally, they replaced 29 departures with targeted solutions like Ahmad Hardy (1,300+ yard rusher from Louisiana-Monroe) and Kevin Coleman Jr. (All-SEC slot receiver from Mississippi State) that directly address their biggest weaknesses.

• Missouri's schedule is the definition of perfect timing for a reloading team: No road games until Week 8 means hosting their first six contests including cupcakes against South Dakota, Eastern Michigan, and Boston College before welcoming Alabama to Columbia, providing invaluable time for new starters to develop chemistry without hostile environments.

• Vegas set their win total at 7.5 games, and they're about to be embarrassingly wrong: FOX's Joel Klatt sees "a team that could go 10-2" because oddsmakers don't understand Drinkwitz's proven quarterback development, strategic portal targeting, and cultural foundation that's been five years in the making—this isn't hope, it's systematic excellence.

Georgia Bulldogs

The Ultimate Test of Kirby Smart's Championship System

• Gunner Stockton isn't just replacing Carson Beck; he's stepping into the most pressure-packed situation in college football: The redshirt junior from Tiger, Georgia, completed 67.8% of passes for 939 yards with 9 touchdowns including the clutch SEC Championship overtime performance against Texas, following Smart's proven track record of turning first-year starters into championship quarterbacks.

• The nation's No. 2 recruiting class proves championship windows don't close at Georgia: Twenty-eight commitments with an 82% blue-chip ratio, including five-star defensive tackle Elijah Griffin (the first No. 1-ranked DT prospect to choose Georgia under Smart), plus five-star receiver Talyn Taylor create immediate impact talent that reloads rather than rebuilds.

• The defensive foundation never breaks because Smart doesn't let it: The unit that allowed just 20.6 points per game returns safety Malaki Starks (77 tackles), linebacker Jalon Walker (11 TFL, 6.5 sacks), and emerging KJ Bolden, creating the veteran leadership and elite young talent combination that defines championship defenses.

• The schedule flip creates the perfect storm for another championship run: The same eight SEC opponents but with home/away flipped means Texas makes its first-ever trip to Athens (November 15) and Alabama visits for the first time since 2015, while road games go to manageable Tennessee, Auburn, Mississippi State, and Florida.

• Smart has built something that doesn't depend on individual players: His proven track record of reloading rather than rebuilding, combined with the 12-team playoff format providing margin for error, creates systematic excellence that produces championship contention even with massive NFL departures—because great programs don't rebuild, they reload with better players.

The 2025 SEC season is about to reveal which programs have been building championship foundations versus which ones have been getting lucky, and every single one of these teams is about to find out exactly where they stand.

THAT’S A WRAP

The SEC coaching carousel is about to get very interesting.

While these six programs determine whether they're championship contenders or pretenders, their head coaches are dealing with pressure that ranges from "prove it again" to "win or get fired." Some coaches like Kirby Smart have earned the benefit of the doubt. Others like Brian Kelly are coaching for their careers. And a few are sitting on seats so hot they might not make it to Halloween if things go sideways early.

Tuesday's special edition reveals our SEC Coaches Hot Seat Rankings—because in this conference, championship expectations don't just apply to players.

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