CFB DeptHITS: Friday, January 24

Let's get a look at the news from the past 24 hours around college football. Includes transfer news, coaching moves and the return of "quick hits" for all the other stuff...

Jan 24, 2025

Today, we’ll get you all caught up starting with the moves that impact depth charts and on-field performance, such as impact coaching movement. Then, we’ll bring back the “quick hits” — which is just further reading that you may find (or at least we did) interesting on the sidelines of this great game. Enjoy!

|||||| THE HITS

Washington ::: The Huskies have landed former Penn State WR Omari Evans [12.4]. Evans wasn't a huge part of the Lions offense in 2024 and the passing game as a whole was underutilized. He finished this season with 38 targets, 21 catches for 415 yards and five scores. His 20.8 yards per target shows his ability to get down the field and stretch things a bit. He heads to Seattle to try to find more passes thrown his way in his final season of eligibility.

Notre Dame ::: Two more Irish offensive linemen have announced they are entering the portal. Starting right guard Rocco Spindler [13.9] is leaving as a graduate transfer and former four-star recruit Ty Chan [10.8] is also leaving the program. Spindler played in all 16 games this season but will look to play elsewhere in 2025. Chan didn’t see much of the field at all. These two join starting center Pat Coogan and contributing left guard Sam Pendleton as offensive linemen in the portal following the run to the National Championship game.

Kansas State ::: The Wildcats land Ohio State transfer OL George Fitzpatrick [13.8] to play any number of positions in 2025. He was a 4-star prospect in the class of 2022 but has not broke through into the starting lineup for the Buckeys, so it's time to move on. He holds two years of eligibility and is likely to earn that role next season.

Baylor ::: Former top-100 recruit and now former Ohio State CB Calvin Simpson-Hunt [12.8] heads to Waco to join the Bears. He didn't see much of the field in the loaded Buckeyes rotation, so he heads out to try to show what he can do with Baylor. He has plenty of time (three years) left to do so.

Louisville ::: The Cardinals acquire former ODU starting center Michael Flores [10.7]. With starter Pete Nygra and backup Victor Cutler both out of eligibility, the Cards need a new one (or two) and while Flores has experience, the player-level data suggests he is a replacement level player and may be a bit overwhelmed in the ACC. We'll see if head coach Jeff Brohm grabs another before the season starts.

Old Dominion ::: WR Myles Alston [11.0] is hitting the portal (again) after a season for the Monarchs that had him as their third most productive wide receiver, catching 23 of 50 targets (just a 46% catch rate) for 246 yards and no touchdowns. He came to ODU from Pitt, where he signed as a 3-star recruit in the class of 2021. He has one year left.

Alabama ::: LB Deontae Lawson [15.5] will miss all of the spring activities after an lower-body injury in week 13 cut his season short. The plan is that the lone returning captain will return for fall camp and be a full-go for the regular season.

Minnesota ::: The Gophers are staying in house and promoting 32-year old Danny Collins as their new defensive coordinator. Collins has been around the program since 2017 when we came over from Western Michigan with Fleck, where he was a Defensive Graduate Assistant. His most recent role was as the Safeties/Defensive Pass Game Coordinator, a role he's held since 2023. This position opened after Miami poached Corey Hetherman from the Gophers after one season as the play caller in Minneapolis.

|||||| QUICK HITS

Here are a few fun notes that may not be as impactful to the depth charts themselves, but still worth mentioning as we head into this “off-season.”

Mohamed Ibrahim has re-surfaced as the new running backs coach at Kent State. He was a star at Minnesota, running for 4,668 yards and 53 touchdowns in his fantastic career with the Gophers. He didn’t make it in the NFL for a few reasons; but his legend will remain as one of the best backs in the college ranks. He reunites with former Minnesota coach Kenni Burns at one of the most challenging jobs at the FBS level.
Take a look at some of his best runs here »
Notre Dame transfer offensive lineman Sam Pendleton [12.6] is visiting Tennessee and it is expected that he signs with the Vols in the coming days.
Another Irish transfer is apparently garnering a lot of attention as On3 reports there are quite a few SEC, Big Ten and ACC schools vying for WR Jayden Thomas [12.6].
More Notre Dame news as head coach Marcus Freeman wins the 2024 Bear Bryant Coach of the Year Award.
The state of North Carolina has an open records law that allow us to get a glimpse into new head football coach Bill Belechick’s contract. Interestingly, his “base salary” is $1 Million and then he’ll earn “supplemental income” of $9 Million to get to $10 Million annually. He also has some performance incentives that could get it up even higher.
Coach Prime’s loose lipped “Coaches Show” has led to a six minor violations that were self-reported by Colorado. There are minor punishments for these minor violations — and they happen more often than they are reported. However, as usual, anything surrounding Coach Prime gets more attention. If you’d like to learn more, check out this article from Football Scoop »
Yesterday, we received the numbers from the National Championship game which captured the attention of 22.1 Million viewers — surprisingly down 12% from the Washington/Michigan title game a year ago. Football Scoop’s Zach Barnett compiled a list of the 100 most watched games of 2024 if you have any interest, check that out »