Bruce Feldman

’s as its is the most fascinating assistant coach move of the offseason. Ryan Day has a remarkable record in Columbus of 56-8 overall and 39-3 in the Big Ten, and he’s never lost more than two games in five years as a head coach. But the Buckeyes lost their last two games in 2023 and are on a three-game losing streak against hated arch-rival . Day has made a big shift to turn over play-calling duties on offense, while the program has gone all-in on NIL and the roster is loaded, even by Ohio St…

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — football’s coaching carousel took another turn on Monday evening with a reshuffling on defense. Former linebackers coach Christian Robinson will replace William Inge as Alabama’s outside linebackers coach, according to sources close to the hire. Inge, who was slated to join Kalen DeBoer’s staff, is leaving for the linebackers coaching position at Tennessee. Tabbing Robinson as a replacement took a matter of minutes after Inge’s departure, and Alabama’s staff is full with 10…

With the Scouting Combine kicking off this week, a jaw-dropping show is expected in Indianapolis. The combine also serves as a great window to look back at . In recent years, some under-the-radar players from the list have lit up the combine. corner (No. 6 on the 2021 Freaks List) ran a 4.26 40-yard dash and recorded a vertical jump of 42 inches after measuring in at over 6-4 and 205 pounds. Woolen would make the Pro Bowl as a rookie. Last year, Michigan cornerback (No. 31 on the 2022 Freaks…

The process is always fascinating, but when you have this deep of a quarterback crop, that’s when things get juicy. I have never been this curious to see how things unfold as I am with this quarterback class. I spent five days in Indianapolis last week and had many conversations with coaches, scouts, other media folks and the quarterbacks. It seems like almost all of them are polarizing to one degree or another. Maybe that’s just the times we’re in, but I feel like it’s different than most year…

For years, it was essentially a given that the No. 1 slot on my annual college football coach rankings would go to Nick Saban, but in the wake of his retirement there’s a new — and obvious — top choice. And with Jim Harbaugh leaving for the after winning the national title, another head coach who would’ve been in my top three is off the list. College football has undergone massive change in recent years with the portal, NIL and widespread conference realignment, among other things. For those re…

In Kalen DeBoer, landed perhaps the ideal coach to replace Nick Saban. DeBoer took over a 4-8 team at Washington and, without a big roster overhaul, promptly went 25-3 over two seasons and 10-1 against Top 25 teams. His career record as a head coach is an absurd 104-12. Few coaches are as respected by their peers as DeBoer, whose teams play fearlessly and thrive in tight games. But the job DeBoer just accepted, going into the SEC and replacing the greatest college coach of all time, is a differ…

Having spent much of the past six weeks speaking to dozens of college football coaches and sources, I put together my fourth annual first-round mock draft based on all that intel, as well as team needs. The evaluation process is always an inexact science. My aim with this project is to provide unique insight directly from the rival coaches who have scouted, game-planned for and then faced each of these prospects. Those sources, granted anonymity to speak freely about the prospects, know exactly…

I had planned on leading The Athletic’s annual confidential with the quarterback intel I’ve gathered; after all, this is the exact kind of quarterback crop that makes the so fascinating: star power, intrigue and a half-dozen potential first-rounders. But after speaking to more than a dozen coaches and scouts over the past month, I needed to audible. That’s what I realized after several interesting conversations about the receivers. Advertisement I came away from the Scouting Combine thinking…

is expected to hire former Iowa offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz as an analyst for the Terps, a program source told The Athletic on Friday. The 41-year-old, a former New England Patriots assistant, spent a decade working at Iowa, initially as the offensive line coach and later served as the Hawkeyes offensive coordinator from 2017-2023. He also coached tight ends, running backs and quarterbacks there. Advertisement Ferentz has had an up-and-down coaching career. He was tight ends coach with…

After dozens of phone calls and texts with coaches and scouts throughout the 2024 NFL Draft process, here are my dozen takeaways on this year’s picks: 1. I am so intrigued to see how things play out in Chicago. We know the have had an of drafting quarterbacks, from Cade McNown to Rex Grossman to Mitch Trubisky to Justin Fields. None of those four had the hype of but none had the same tools in terms of arm talent, escapability and playmaking. Advertisement I’d be super excited if I was a fan…