2025 NCAA Football Thread

[Hongbit]

2 hours ago, Motor City Sonics said:

Yes, the coach of the Dolphins.       

Mike MacDonald  would not want it, and Michigan would be absolutely tone deaf to hire anyone who has anything to do with Jim Harbaugh.   Not saying they wouldn't, but it would be a very stupid move.  They need to completely cut ties to Jim Harbaugh - COMPLETELY.    (And I guess, in a strange way, Stephen Ross owns the Dolphins and he basically bankrolled Harbaugh's nonsense, so McDaniel could be out). 

They could end up with Biff for a year.    He's basically the modern take on Steve Fisher. 

 

I do think Michigan is going to go young with the next coach, unless they just can't find anyone

 

Uncertainty with the AD doesn't help.      But they also have an interim president.  What a ****in' mess. 

Why would Stephen Ross fire the coach to the team he owns only to hire him on the other team he owns?   

[gehringer_2]

34 minutes ago, Deleterious said:

Jake Butt is really pushing Pogi.  

the devil you already know

[Motor City Sonics]

1 hour ago, Hongbit said:

Why would Stephen Ross fire the coach to the team he owns only to hire him on the other team he owns?   

Not fire him, but just move him to a different situation.     He might be better-suited as a college coach. 

 

Michigan - a Top 5 job in the country?>     I'm not so sure about that anymore.       Michigan wants you to believe that, but there's a lot of things they want you to believe that simply aren't true and haven't been since Lloyd Carr retired.   

 

          

 

[romad1]

8 minutes ago, Motor City Sonics said:

Not fire him, but just move him to a different situation.     He might be better-suited as a college coach. 

 

Michigan - a Top 5 job in the country?>     I'm not so sure about that anymore.       Michigan wants you to believe that, but there's a lot of things they want you to believe that simply aren't true and haven't been since Lloyd Carr retired.   

 

          

 

Yeah, it is literally impossible to win a natty at Michigan and we can't recruit any talent.  Money situation is desperate.  We keep losing NIL battles to...who exactly? 

[buddha]

1 hour ago, Motor City Sonics said:

Not fire him, but just move him to a different situation.     He might be better-suited as a college coach. 

 

Michigan - a Top 5 job in the country?>     I'm not so sure about that anymore.       Michigan wants you to believe that, but there's a lot of things they want you to believe that simply aren't true and haven't been since Lloyd Carr retired.   

 

          

 

you need to relax.

[MichiganCardinal]

I see college football programs in tiers.

Michigan isn't a Tier 1A school where you're born on third base, but that's probably limited to Alabama, Ohio State, and Georgia. Those three have the infrastructure in place where I think most warm bodies could be the head coach and go 10-2 or better. It's just a machine in need of a figure head. They should compete for a national championship in the 12-team format every single year.

But I would put Michigan in the next tier, 1B. The infrastructure and money is in place where you should be very competitive every single year. 9-3 should be the floor, and it shouldn't happen in back-to-back years. And you should probably seriously compete for a national championship at least once every 3-4 years. In the modern format, this probably means qualifying for the playoff at least every other year and advancing to the semifinals every four years. I'd also put schools like Texas, USC, Notre Dame, Oregon, LSU, Texas A&M, and Oklahoma into this category. Clemson will probably eventually get here too.

And then below that is Tier 2, who should have a legitimate shot at a national championship once a decade, but whose realistic ceiling year-in and year-out is probably 9-3 or 10-2. This is where I would put places like Ole Miss, Florida, Auburn, Missouri, Tennessee, Florida State, Miami, Penn State, Michigan State, Washington, and Utah. Maybe Iowa, Wisconsin, and Nebraska too, though all three of them are weird in their own ways.

Tier 3 encompasses the programs that can maybe catch lightning in a bottle, but probably don't have the institutional supports in place to sustain it over a longer term. Most of the ACC and Big 12 fits this mold, along with places like Vanderbilt, Kentucky, Illinois, and Minnesota. You get the idea, it gets worse from there.

I think there are a'plenty of coaches that would gladly take a promotion from Tier 2 or Tier 3 programs to Tier 1B. Likewise, in a vacuum, Michigan is arguably a better job than say LSU or Texas A&M, who is Tier 1B but thinks they should be 1A. In the same way Washington and Utah are probably better jobs than Penn State and Miami, who are Tier 2 but think they should be 1B.

But people don't exist in a vacuum. Kenny Dillingham may prefer to stay home at Tier 3 Arizona State. LSU may back up a Brinks truck to hire whoever their donors want. [Insert Candidate Here] may not love not knowing who the AD and President will be in year two, even with a Tier 1B school... And Michigan is not going to poach someone from an equal or greater-footing school (i.e., Freeman or DeBour) unless extraneous factors make it possible (i.e., folks with torches outside DeBour's house, instability in South Bend).

[Deleterious]

 

[romad1]

8 hours ago, MichiganCardinal said:

I see college football programs in tiers.

Michigan isn't a Tier 1A school where you're born on third base, but that's probably limited to Alabama, Ohio State, and Georgia. Those three have the infrastructure in place where I think most warm bodies could be the head coach and go 10-2 or better. It's just a machine in need of a figure head. They should compete for a national championship in the 12-team format every single year.

But I would put Michigan in the next tier, 1B. The infrastructure and money is in place where you should be very competitive every single year. 9-3 should be the floor, and it shouldn't happen in back-to-back years. And you should probably seriously compete for a national championship at least once every 3-4 years. In the modern format, this probably means qualifying for the playoff at least every other year and advancing to the semifinals every four years. I'd also put schools like Texas, USC, Notre Dame, Oregon, LSU, Texas A&M, and Oklahoma into this category. Clemson will probably eventually get here too.

And then below that is Tier 2, who should have a legitimate shot at a national championship once a decade, but whose realistic ceiling year-in and year-out is probably 9-3 or 10-2. This is where I would put places like Ole Miss, Florida, Auburn, Missouri, Tennessee, Florida State, Miami, Penn State, Michigan State, Washington, and Utah. Maybe Iowa, Wisconsin, and Nebraska too, though all three of them are weird in their own ways.

Tier 3 encompasses the programs that can maybe catch lightning in a bottle, but probably don't have the institutional supports in place to sustain it over a longer term. Most of the ACC and Big 12 fits this mold, along with places like Vanderbilt, Kentucky, Illinois, and Minnesota. You get the idea, it gets worse from there.

I think there are a'plenty of coaches that would gladly take a promotion from Tier 2 or Tier 3 programs to Tier 1B. Likewise, in a vacuum, Michigan is arguably a better job than say LSU or Texas A&M, who is Tier 1B but thinks they should be 1A. In the same way Washington and Utah are probably better jobs than Penn State and Miami, who are Tier 2 but think they should be 1B.

But people don't exist in a vacuum. Kenny Dillingham may prefer to stay home at Tier 3 Arizona State. LSU may back up a Brinks truck to hire whoever their donors want. [Insert Candidate Here] may not love not knowing who the AD and President will be in year two, even with a Tier 1B school... And Michigan is not going to poach someone from an equal or greater-footing school (i.e., Freeman or DeBour) unless extraneous factors make it possible (i.e., folks with torches outside DeBour's house, instability in South Bend).

Coaching and culture matters more at the lower tiers to get to 9 win seasons.  Eventually a coach and culture can move a program into the higher tiers.   If the rich demi-god (maybe an Emir's son from the Persian Gulf, maybe one of Musk's kids) decides he wants to go to the University of Neverwin and that demi-god decides that Mount Olympus should imbue the program with resource, well the opportunity now is wide open for that to happen.  It probably needs to be reigned in to produce a sustainable system.  Its broke now though. 

[buddha]

8 hours ago, MichiganCardinal said:

I see college football programs in tiers.

Michigan isn't a Tier 1A school where you're born on third base, but that's probably limited to Alabama, Ohio State, and Georgia. Those three have the infrastructure in place where I think most warm bodies could be the head coach and go 10-2 or better. It's just a machine in need of a figure head. They should compete for a national championship in the 12-team format every single year.

But I would put Michigan in the next tier, 1B. The infrastructure and money is in place where you should be very competitive every single year. 9-3 should be the floor, and it shouldn't happen in back-to-back years. And you should probably seriously compete for a national championship at least once every 3-4 years. In the modern format, this probably means qualifying for the playoff at least every other year and advancing to the semifinals every four years. I'd also put schools like Texas, USC, Notre Dame, Oregon, LSU, Texas A&M, and Oklahoma into this category. Clemson will probably eventually get here too.

And then below that is Tier 2, who should have a legitimate shot at a national championship once a decade, but whose realistic ceiling year-in and year-out is probably 9-3 or 10-2. This is where I would put places like Ole Miss, Florida, Auburn, Missouri, Tennessee, Florida State, Miami, Penn State, Michigan State, Washington, and Utah. Maybe Iowa, Wisconsin, and Nebraska too, though all three of them are weird in their own ways.

Tier 3 encompasses the programs that can maybe catch lightning in a bottle, but probably don't have the institutional supports in place to sustain it over a longer term. Most of the ACC and Big 12 fits this mold, along with places like Vanderbilt, Kentucky, Illinois, and Minnesota. You get the idea, it gets worse from there.

I think there are a'plenty of coaches that would gladly take a promotion from Tier 2 or Tier 3 programs to Tier 1B. Likewise, in a vacuum, Michigan is arguably a better job than say LSU or Texas A&M, who is Tier 1B but thinks they should be 1A. In the same way Washington and Utah are probably better jobs than Penn State and Miami, who are Tier 2 but think they should be 1B.

But people don't exist in a vacuum. Kenny Dillingham may prefer to stay home at Tier 3 Arizona State. LSU may back up a Brinks truck to hire whoever their donors want. [Insert Candidate Here] may not love not knowing who the AD and President will be in year two, even with a Tier 1B school... And Michigan is not going to poach someone from an equal or greater-footing school (i.e., Freeman or DeBour) unless extraneous factors make it possible (i.e., folks with torches outside DeBour's house, instability in South Bend).

i wouldnt put texas a&m, oregon, or clemson as tier 1 football programs.  tier 1 is for blue bloods who are still successful and well heeled.  i would rank penn state above all those schools.

[Deleterious]

 

[gehringer_2]

3 minutes ago, Deleterious said:

 

Undersized but calls a good game?

[Tiger337]

On 12/7/2025 at 9:20 PM, buddha said:

such bull**** favortism for notre dame.  why should they be guaranteed anything?

join a conference or stfu.

The conferences are stupid now.  Some of them are so big that teams don't even play half the other teams in their conference.  Giving one team an automatic bid is stupid too though.  Maybe give an automatic bid to the top four conference champions plus an automatic bid to the highest ranked team that doesn't qualify on that basis.  That would give Notre Dame and teams from Atlantic Ten, MWC and the new PAC whatever conference next year a chance to get into the playoffs without guaranteeing that some two-loss team from a crappy conference gets in.  

[Motor City Sonics]

1 hour ago, Tiger337 said:

The conferences are stupid now.  Some of them are so big that teams don't even play half the other teams in their conference.  Giving one team an automatic bid is stupid too though.  Maybe give an automatic bid to the top four conference champions plus an automatic bid to the highest ranked team that doesn't qualify on that basis.  That would give Notre Dame and teams from Atlantic Ten, MWC and the new PAC whatever conference next year a chance to get into the playoffs without guaranteeing that some two-loss team from a crappy conference gets in.  

Go to a four-conference set up.  20 teams in each conference.   MAKE IT REGIONAL.   East/Central/West/South.  (let them all keep their silly names ACC/BIG 10/SEC/Big 12 or PAC).   However the individual conferences decide their championship games - that's the first round of the playoffs.  8 teams.  If you didn't get to your conference championship, you have no gripe.      Notre Dame - join a conference or go pound sand.   Nobody cares anymore.   To Hell with the Big Ten.  To Hell with the SEC and To Hell with Notre Dame.    

Just go ahead and start treating this like a minor league for the NFL since that's what it is now.   Enough with this bullspit altruistic lie about "STUDENT ATHLETES".   They're paid employees now.  

 

The other "Group Of Five" or whatever they are called can have their own playoff system so they can play for a title on their level rather than go to the big playoff and be a sacrificial lamb.    James Madison and Tulane deserve to play for some sort of title but they are going to get brutalized in this playoff.    This isn't like basketball where some small school can shoot the lights out for a couple of games and get into the Sweet 16.   These big conference schools can come at the smaller school with wave after wave of playerscch

 

How come a stupid cartoon by a couple of very very smart, but immature yuck ups like Matt & Trey can paint it so clearly but the rest of us can't?

 

 

Edited yesterday at 05:46 PM by Motor City Sonics

[Tiger337]

30 minutes ago, Motor City Sonics said:

Go to a four-conference set up.  20 teams in each conference.   MAKE IT REGIONAL.   East/Central/West/South.  (let them all keep their silly names ACC/BIG 10/SEC/Big 12 or PAC).   However the individual conferences decide their championship games - that's the first round of the playoffs.  8 teams.  If you didn't get to your conference championship, you have no gripe.      Notre Dame - join a conference or go pound sand.   Nobody cares anymore.   To Hell with the Big Ten.  To Hell with the SEC and To Hell with Notre Dame.    

Just go ahead and start treating this like a minor league for the NFL since that's what it is now.   Enough with this bullspit altruistic lie about "STUDENT ATHLETES".   They're paid employees now.  

 

The other "Group Of Five" or whatever they are called can have their own playoff system so they can play for a title on their level rather than go to the big playoff and be a sacrificial lamb.    James Madison and Tulane deserve to play for some sort of title but they are going to get brutalized in this playoff.    This isn't like basketball where some small school can shoot the lights out for a couple of games and get into the Sweet 16.   These big conference schools can come at the smaller school with wave after wave of playerscch

 

How come a stupid cartoon by a couple of very very smart, but immature yuck ups like Matt & Trey can paint it so clearly but the rest of us can't?

 

 

If you want to make it logical, then make it 8 conferences of 10 teams each and they each play every team in their conference.  Notre Dame doesn't play in a conference because it makes more money that way.  The rest of the teams play in super conferences because they make more money that way.  There is nothing noble about playing in these huge conferences containing teams from all over the country just like there is nothing noble about Notre Dame being independent.  If you are trying to get the best 12 teams in a playoff, it shouldn't be about what conference you're if in you aren't playing half the teams in your conference.  

[Motor City Sonics]

37 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

If you want to make it logical, then make it 8 conferences of 10 teams each and they each play every team in their conference.  Notre Dame doesn't play in a conference because it makes more money that way.  The rest of the teams play in super conferences because they make more money that way.  There is nothing noble about playing in these huge conferences containing teams from all over the country just like there is nothing noble about Notre Dame being independent.  If you are trying to get the best 12 teams in a playoff, it shouldn't be about what conference you're if in you aren't playing half the teams in your conference.  

Let's be honest.  The way the two power conferences want it  - it should be 24 teams in 2 conferences and half the teams make the playoffs.   That's what it feels like with the SEC and Big Ten stranglehold on everything.  

 

Oh, and nice move Diego Pavia.  Class act.   Did you not know you weren't going to win going in?   Complete jackass. 

[Deleterious]

Translation: The extension number wasn't high enough.  So I'm going to be a bit more ambiguous to try and get it up to a more acceptable number.

 

[Mr.TaterSalad]

On 12/15/2025 at 3:00 PM, romad1 said:

A real out-of-left-field name would have been Steve Kemp. 

Chances are he would have gotten to coach at least one of his 100 or so kids. Oh sorry, I read that as Shawn Kemp.

[romad1]

1 hour ago, Mr.TaterSalad said:

Chances are he would have gotten to coach at least one of his 100 or so kids. Oh sorry, I read that as Shawn Kemp.

Steve Kemp's unshaven baseball card picture fit the mental model I always had of LFers that I got from some comedic Baseball Digest article in my distant youth.

Not athletic enough to be in CF.  Don't have the arm strength to be in RF.  Basically, a lazy under-achiever. 

[Deleterious]

At 3PM Fisch was the leader on Kalshi at 37% and has since dropped all the way down to 15%.  There are some fringe social media types saying the search firm found something on his background check they didn't like and he is out of the running.  

More likely scenario, someone is manipulating the Kalshi odds.  

[romad1]

6 hours ago, Deleterious said:

At 3PM Fisch was the leader on Kalshi at 37% and has since dropped all the way down to 15%.  There are some fringe social media types saying the search firm found something on his background check they didn't like and he is out of the running.  

More likely scenario, someone is manipulating the Kalshi odds.  

too much foolish wagering going on in this society.  When  you give people incentive to manipulate these odds...

[Mr.TaterSalad]

Don't lie and say you wouldn't be happy if it actually happened. Hiring the coach is only 50% of the equation because they still must fire their AD and bring someone else in. But this guy has a proven track record of not only changing a team's on-field performance, but changing an organization culturally as well. And he has seemingly done so without scandal, major issues, or multiple recruiting violations. He's a guy that can both make Michigan and a winner and work alongside a new AD to clean up the culture in the program.

Edited 2 hours ago by Mr.TaterSalad

[Mr.TaterSalad]

In all seriousness, I know the Curt Cignetti to Michigan discussion is really a moot point. I'm 99% certain, like most, that he isn't leaving a nearly $12 million/year salary and the chance to retire as King of Indiana. He's got it made, he's making a ton of money, and he has a lot less stress to perform at Indiana than he would at Michigan. He can win 7-8 games or more a year and the university and fans will love him no matter what. Cignetti is still far and away my top choice. I would still call him up with an aggressive offer and even allow him to be a significant part of the search for a new AD, promising to fire Warde if he signs here.

With the Cignetti talk out of the way, this is probably my ranking of potential next coaches at Michigan. Keeping in mind that hiring a coach is only half the problem, we must fire Warde if we want to bring real, meaningful, ethical changes to this scandal-ridden athletic department.

#1: Kenny Dillingham/Arizona State HC: He has built a real nice program at Arizona State. They are a non-traditional winner within the power 5 schools. Outside of that year they had jake Plummer back in the 1990s, they have had little success/. He has manages to recruit a solid foundation of good college players and a few NFL players. He's built the program up to a CFB Playoff contender in the NIL and portal era.

#2: Jesse Minter/LA Chargers DC: The reasons to want him and not want him are obvious. It may be that the university wants to move completely past the Harbaugh era that was ridden with scandal. if they do, I can certainly understand why. I can also see the university being arrogant about it and trying to deflect and deny there was ever a problem at all. That said, if Minter's hands are clean of any of the recruiting violations, Connor Stalions cheating, other issues, I'd consider him for sure. He may be waiting for an NFL job though.

#3: Jedd Fisch/Washington HC: I am both hot and cold on Fisch. He hasn't exactly lit the world on fire as a coach, but did have nice, sustained success at another hard to recruit and win at school in Arizona. He has the Michigan ties too, which always seems to be a benefit for coaching candidates. I like the guy well enough that I would feel satisfied if he was our hire.

#4: Joe Brady/Buffalo Bills OC: The architect of the 2019 LSU offense and the current OC for the Buffalo Bills. He’s young, a brilliant offensive mind, has college coaching and recruiting experience, and is due for a big head coaching job somewhere.

#5: Glenn Schumann/Georgia DC: The most coveted defensive assistant in the country. He has been the right-hand man to Kirby Smart for years at a power 5, SEC school. I would presume that he also understands how to recruit and manage a roster full of 5-star talent, high-paid players, and big egos coaching at Georgia. He's only 35 I believe and has no midwest ties, so those are strikes against him. Also, if you're looking to change the culture, I don't know that hiring a Georgia HC is going to do it, given their problems down there.

#6: Jason Eck/New Mexico HC: One of the big up and coming coaching names. He has midwest ties having played at Wisconsin.

#7: Bryant Haines/Indiana DC: The secret weapon behind Indiana's historic 2024-2025 run. His man-match schemes have shutdown high-powered Big Ten offenses all year. Look what they did to Ohio in the Big Ten Championship game, they completely neutered them.

#8 Jim Leonhard/Broncos Defensive Assistant and former Wisconsin DC: Probably the guy Wisconsin should have fired instead of my boy Luke Fickell. Leonhard has the midwest recruiting and Big Ten coaching experience you might want in a hire. He is also one of the younger names out there too, with a lot of room to grow. His coaching and recruiting experience in minimal, but not that much less so than some of the others on people's lists.

And then there's John Harbaugh/Ravens HC: If and only if he gets fired, he is my instant #2 choice behind Cignetti. If he were to get fired and Michigan still hasn't found its coach, I would immediately call Harbaugh. He probably says no and would almost assuredly get another NFL job. But I think this is another example where you have to make the call.

Edited 2 hours ago by Mr.TaterSalad

[MichiganCardinal]

I think Dillingham is my #1 choice. He's 35, energetic, and doing more with less at a place like Arizona State where football goes to die.

[buddha]

Deboer

Dillingham

Fisch

no other option is realistic, imo.

[Tigeraholic1]

No way Cignetti leaves Indiana for the train wreck of Michigan. Crazy that Indiana has become the best team in Big 10 spending a small fraction of money Michigan has pissed away. No regent issues, no AD issues just winning.