CFB DeptHITS: Wednesday, March 11
The DeptHITS is designed to get you a 'what you need to know' look at the complicated and ever-evolving world of college football.
Today, we’ll get you caught up on a big-name head coach hire, some portal news, and what we are hearing from those open spring camps going on around the country.
|||||| THE HITS
Bowling Green ::: The Falcons have their next head coach, and you have likely heard of him. NFL great and now former Tennessee State head coach Eddie George has agreed to become the next head coach in Bowling Green, Kentucky. This materialized quickly, and word is that former Bowling Green head coach Urban Meyer played a key role in connecting the coach with the school and vice versa. It has all come together, and George will take over in 2025.
Tennessee ::: RB DeSean Bishop [15.3] is healthy entering spring workouts. His '24 season was cut short, and there wasn't much information about the injury's severity. It's great to see him back and at full strength. He will figure into a likely committee approach for the Vols in 2025.
Nebraska ::: Former QB Heinrich Haarberg is officially moving to tight end for the 2025 season. He played 117 snaps there a year ago after Dylan Raiola was well-established as the starting quarterback for the Huskers. Head coach Matt Rhule says that he could play at the next level at the position. We'll see him getting a good shot to earn a starting role here, with both Thomas Fidone and Nate Boerkircher moving on.
Updated Nebraska ‘State of the Chart’ update — thanks to Jordan (X: JKru23) for the heads up on this one:
Illinois ::: RB Kaden Feagin [15.1] was hurt in week five last season after being the lead back, receiving 13+ carries per game at that point. He will miss spring practices as he recovers from the injury but is fully expected back. He is also likely to jump back up to the top spot, but others showed well in his absence, including Josh McCray and Aidan Laughery, and will factor into the mix. The Illini are well equipped at running back heading into 2025.
Another North Alabama defensive back is hitting the portal. S Edwin White-Shultz [10.5] has announced his intention to hit the portal and looks to level-up to the FBS. He projects, based on the player-level data, to be a potential role player at a group of five school.
|||||| QUICK HITS
2026 4-star quarterback recruit Brady Smigel decommitted from Florida State back in January. On3’s Steve Wilfong and Chad Simmons have placed a new crystal ball prediction for him to land at Washington with Jedd Fisch.
The other recent North Alabama defensive back hitting the portal, CB Ashaad Williams, is said to be visiting Arkansas coming soon. 247Sports has him as the top available cornerback.
East Carolina is hiring Lance Ware to become their director of player personnel. He has coached at Appalachian State (tight ends) and was a successful high school coach in North Carolina, winning eight state titles at Shelby High School, just outside of Charlotte.
|||||| SUGGESTED FURTHER READING
This is a cool story of how Florida quarterback DJ Lagway is spending his NIL dollars to support women’s sports. Full article here »
Former Texas A&M quarterback Conner Weigman, now the expected starter at Houston, revealed how injured he really was last season, and how he is now healthy and ready to lead the Cougars. Chris Hummer at CBS Sports provides a more in-depth look at Weigman’s journey home to Houston »
Zach Barnett at FootballScoop provides a detailed look at the dysfunctional ‘search’ to ultimately led to Bill Belechick’s hiring at North Carolina »
|||||| STATE OF THE CHART™ UPDATES
We have been rolling through our ‘off-season’ updates for each of the squads and hit a milestone of making it through the SEC and Big Ten conferences last week. We have moved into the Big XII and will continue throughout this time to get you up to speed on everything happening with each school. The goal is to get you a recap of the 2024 season and a look ahead based on the player/coach movement thus far in the off-season. These will lead to the release of our first-ever State of the Chart digital magazine — scheduled for a July launch. This will be the full preview for each team, which will include projected depth charts, playing time, and other team/player projections. If you’d like to know more and maybe shoot us your e-mail to get on the list for updates as we roll through the ‘slow’ season, please visit here »
Here are the teams we have completed thus far…get caught up!
Southeastern Conference (SEC)
2/1: Alabama Crimson Tide
2/3: Georgia Bulldogs
2/4: LSU Tigers
2/5: Auburn Tigers
2/6: Arkansas Razorbacks
2/7: Florida Gators
2/8: Ole Miss Rebels
2/10: Tennessee Volunteers
2/11: Missouri Tigers
2/12: Texas A&M Aggies
2/13: Oklahoma Sooners
2/14: Texas Longhorns
2/15: South Carolina Gamecocks
2/16: Vanderbilt Commodores
2/17: Mississippi State Bulldogs
2/18: Kentucky Wildcats
Big Ten Conference
2/19: Ohio State Buckeyes
2/20: Michigan Wolverines
2/21: Penn State Nittany Lions
2/22: Indiana Hoosiers
2/23: Wisconsin Badgers
2/24: Northwestern Wildcats
2/25: Oregon Ducks
2/26: Nebraska Cornhuskers
2/27: Minnesota Golden Gophers
2/28: Iowa Hawkeyes
3/1: Michigan State Spartans
3/2: Maryland Terrapins
3/3: Purdue Boilermakers
3/4: Rutgers Scarlet Knights
3/5: Illinois Fighting Illini
3/6: Washington Huskies
3/7: USC Trojans
3/8: UCLA Bruins
Big 12 Conference
3/9: TCU Horned Frogs
3/10: Baylor Bears
3/11: Oklahoma State Cowboys
Thank you for following along and subscribing to our publication. More content coming your way!