@thehoosierhuddle Its even crazier than that. LSU also fired their AD (who has a $7m buyout), and they are now claiming that he didnt have the authority to fire Kelly, and that Kelly was only actually fired recently. LSU is not a serious program, they dont have the money. They will be able to get out of the AD buyout, but there is no way they can get out of paying Kelly.
I was just reading an article on how Maryland admin plans on turning around football, was interesting to see how Indiana came up in it - they were not referring to the Cignetti hire, but how IU started investing in football 4 years ago which created the conditions for Cignetti to even happen. IU is now the "blueprint" for how to run a football program, how the tables have turned
@hoosierdaddy Nothing in college football is crazy to me anymore, because it is so crazy.
Yeah, I have give Dolson a lot of crap, but he was made for the NIL Era and did a lot of work in the background to get this program up and running and from what I have heard is here to stay.
As far as Maryland goes, they are in a weird spot. I firmly believe moving to the Big Ten hurt more than helped. For 100 years they had rivalries with Duke, UNC, UVA and that's what fans care about. They don't want to watch Maryland play Purdue or Iowa. Now, it's cool for the first 2 times to play Ohio State and Michigan, but that luster wears thin.
I always said this about IU and I'll say it about Maryland. There is no reason they should be this bad at football.
IU invested and found Cignetti. Maryland has not and has stuck with Locksley.
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I wrote a "predictions" article on the carousel for SportsGrid...Predicting Every CFB Power Conference Hiring and Firing
Let me know if you have any thoughts, disagreements, etc. this stuff is really fun (if IU is not involved!).
Locksley is locked in for ‘26.
https://footballscoop.com/2025/11/16/mike-locksley-announces-maryland-decision
@tjinman1987 Ive got quite a few disagreements lol
Franklin is going to sign with Virginia Tech, they were talking about it on GameDay yesterday
I dont see Kenny Dillingham leaving ASU
I dont see Fische to Florida, I think Florida fans would hate that and he would be a expensive hire between buyout + pay raise
FSU waits till next year, too late to jump into this cycle
I like the Grubb prediction, if Fische does leave Washington that would be a great hire by them
Im starting to think Penn State might have ruined their program by firing Franklin with no contingency plan in place. Their 2026 class is on track to be completely empty. Throw in a couple dozen guys graduating, handful of other guys transferring out, and they will need to portal in a UNC/Colorado level number of players just to fill out the roster
There are not "Cignetti" type coaches available this cycle in the sense that they can bring a bunch of talented players who can start at the level of play PSU demands. Drinkwitz seems like the only guy who could bring a reasonable number of B1G caliber players with him. I like Eric Morris and what he is building, but his team doesnt have the trench players to make that kind of jump.
PSU has on paper one of the easiest conference schedules you can get next year and its going to be wasted. Throw in their former coach is expected to be at Virginia Tech, where the recruiting pipelines overlap with PSU's target areas
Im still worried they might hire Haines.
They may have struck out, and have no choice but to go with a very young coordinator. And pretend that was their master plan all along.
I'm dreading when Bryant takes a HC gig. But I think PSU may be too big of a job to start out -- at this point that's a big program rebuild, which ain't easy. He's not on the board for any of the betting markets for the PSU job, which I guess is good.
If they go coordinator route it will likely be Hartline. His ability to recruit in top talent will be a major factor.
ESPN is reporting that James Franklin is finalizing a deal with Virginia Tech.
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Things are starting to get a little awkward with Lane and Ole Miss.
Word is members of Lane's family have visited Gainesville and Baton Rouge.
Basically, Ole Miss wants an answer.
Edit: I didn't see this until now. Definitely heating up!
https://twitter.com/Brett_McMurphy/status/1990529595599433798?s=20
Franklin to Virginia Tech makes a lot of sense...I thought Arkansas was going to step in and grab him but Franklin with the Hokies is a smart move for both sides. Bob Chesney to UCLA seems to be gaining momentum.
Rumors from message boards (take these with a HUGE grain of salt)...LSU is attempting to poach Heupel from Tennessee and there is a growing belief that Kalen DeBoer is uncomfortable as a cultural fit and with the pressure in Tuscaloosa and the Penn State job could be a welcome off-ramp for him.
It should be a fascinating couple of weeks.
@tjinman1987 If so, we know Lane would take Bama, if Bama wants Lane.
Heupel from Tennessee? Sheesh. He's okay but...
@tammany those would be the dominoes, yes...if DeBoer actually wanted to leave Alabama and bolt for Penn State (I'd be stunned, unless he lost to Auburn. If that happened, all bets are off) then Alabama would grab Lane Kiffin immediately, I imagine. I don't see him leaving for Penn State as reality and I don't see LSU thinking Josh Heupel is a great fit.