College Football News

President Donald Trump has asked his aides to begin researching the creation of an executive order to better control the name, image and likeness landscape in college sports, The Wall Street Journal reported.

His directive came after a meeting on Thursday with former Alabama football coach Nick Saban in Tuscaloosa, Ala., where Trump was the school's commencement speaker.

Since 2021, and under pressure from states and the courts, the NCAA has allowed student-athletes to profit from their name, image or likeness. It is too early to know what a Trump executive order would entail.

Saban has been critical of the NIL funding in the past, largely because he was concerned about the effect on college football. The NIL era also has brought a rise to the transfer portal era, with thousands of students across all sports seeking to move schools -- some of them for bigger paydays.

"Each year, it's gotten a little worse," Saban said last December on "The Pat McAfee Show" on ESPN. "The first year we had name, image and likeness four, five years ago, we had a $3 million [roster], and everybody was happy. Then the next year it was $7 million, then the next year it's $10 million. Then this year it's $13 million. Now they're looking at $20 million. I mean, where does it end?"

A Houston Chronicle report earlier this week projected the Texas Longhorns would have a budget of $35 million to $40 million for its 2025 football roster.

Trump also has discussed NIL funding with Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), the former head football coach at Auburn.

Saban has previously said the current model is unsustainable for college sports, and Trump apparently agreed.

The NCAA declined to comment to The Wall Street Journal on a potential executive order.

After 134 games in a Clemson basketball jersey, power forward Ian Schieffelin is changing uniforms. But not schools.

Schieffelin announced Friday he has taken Tigers football coach Dabo Swinney up on his offer to play tight end on his team.

The 6-foot-8 Schieffelin posted a photo on Instagram that showed him clad half in a basketball jersey, half in a football one, with the caption, "Next chapter."

He wasn't a major NBA draft prospect -- an overseas team or the G League was more likely -- so he decided to see where football could take him.

"I've been just training for basketball, getting ready for the next level," Schieffelin told ESPN. "Dabo just walked me through the opportunity he was willing to give me, and it all sounded great, something I wanted to jump on. It really just sparked my interest in wanting to try, and being able to put on a Clemson jersey again was very enticing to me. To be able to be coached by Dabo and (tight ends coach Kyle) Richardson is just a huge opportunity I couldn't pass up."

For the Tigers in 2024-25, Schieffelin averaged 12.4 points and 9.4 rebounds per game last season. He started all 70 games he played in over the past two seasons.

"I'd never rule out me going back to basketball," Schieffelin said. "I'll see how these next six months go, see how development goes, see if I really like playing football. But I think this is a good opportunity for the next six months."

Most famously, Antonio Gates transitioned from playing basketball at Kent State to becoming a Pro Football Hall of Fame tight end for the San Diego Chargers. Schieffelin told ESPN he spoke with Indianapolis Colts tight end Mo-Alie Cox, who played four seasons of basketball at VCU, about the opportunity.

Swinney apparently has thought about the idea for a while. In a news conference in the fall that coincided with the start of the college basketball season, he was asked whether Schieffelin could play football -- a sport Schieffelin gave up early in high school. The answer was an enthusiastic yes.

"He could play tight end, D-end. He could play whatever he wanted to play. He'd be an unbelievable left tackle," Swinney said. "I'll definitely have a spot. We have a lot of rev share ready too if he wants to pass up wherever he's going (after basketball)."

Schieffelin is in training and excited to see what the future holds.

"Maybe I'll be really good, maybe I'll be really bad. It's something that was worth a shot. And being able to put a Clemson jersey on again is really special to me, and to do it this time in Death Valley is going to be amazing."

Former Colorado cornerback Colton Hood announced on Friday that he is transferring to Tennessee.

Hood had been expected to take over for Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter in the Buffaloes' secondary.

He had 24 tackles and two interceptions in 13 games in his lone season playing for coach Deion Sanders in 2024.

Hood, a native of Georgia, played his freshman season at Auburn, appearing in four games in 2023.

Hood told On3.com Friday that he liked the "culture and history" at Tennessee and the "genuineness" of Volunteers head coach Josh Heupel.

"They basically said I can come in and play and be a big factor of what they got going on immediately," Hood said. "So I think that's big, too."

He also said he is excited to play closer to home and test his skills against Southeastern Conference opponents.

"That's really big because I was just at Colorado, which is really far, really, really far from home," Hood said. "So being able to come closer to home is big for myself.

"It is appealing going against the best. I pride myself on competitiveness, so that is very appealing."

Coming off a 10-3 season, Tennessee kicks off the 2025 campaign against Syracuse on Aug. 30 in Atlanta.

Coveted quarterback prospect Trae Taylor is still months away from becoming eligible to actually put pen to paper, but he announced his verbal commitment to the Nebraska Cornhuskers on Thursday.

One of the top passers in the 2027 recruiting class, Taylor cannot formally sign with Nebraska until the early signing period in December 2026. However, that did not stop the 6-foot-3, 185-pound QB from pledging his allegiance to the Cornhuskers.

Taylor broke out as a sophomore at Carmel Catholic High School in Illinois last fall, throwing for 3,061 yards and 20 touchdowns against seven interceptions. The four-star prospect is the No. 35 recruit in the country, No. 3 quarterback and No. 2 player in Illinois, according to the 247Sports composite rankings for the Class of 2027.

In an interview with ESPN, Taylor said he has been recruited since sixth grade and received a scholarship offer from Maryland the following year. Taylor also said he will not visit campuses other than Nebraska, which he opted for over Illinois, LSU and Texas A&M.

"Sitting down with (Nebraska coach Glenn) Thomas and getting into the offense, seeing how he coaches (starting QB) Dylan (Raiola) and how he can prepare me for the next level -- I really just can't wait," Taylor told ESPN. "For me, it's kind of hard committing too early because I have to wait so long to get there."

Blue-chip offensive tackle Keenyi Pepe from IMG Academy announced Thursday that he will play his college football at the University of Southern California.

"Coming Back Home," the Class of 2026 prospect posted to social media platform X.

Home is Long Beach, Calif., and he is a student at IMG in Bradenton, Fla. The 247Sports composite ranks him as a four-star prospect but the No. 6 player at his position in the 2026 class and No. 68 player overall.

ESPN, however, lists him as a five-star commit who is the No. 3 offensive tackle and the No. 17 overall prospect in the class.

Keenyi chose the Trojans over Florida, Georgia, Miami and Texas.

He measures 6-foot-7 and 320 pounds.

His older brother, defensive tackle Kobe Pepe, will be a redshirt senior for the Trojans in 2025. The elder Pepe played in high school at local powerhouse St. John Bosco in Bellflower, Calif.

CharMar Brown, who ran for more than 1,100 yards in 2024 for FCS national champion North Dakota State, is transferring to Miami.

The 247Sports transfer portal list was updated with the move Wednesday afternoon.

Brown ran for 1,181 yards and 15 touchdowns. He carried the ball 244 times in 16 games, including the playoffs.

The 5-foot-11 Brown, a Nebraska native, won the Jerry Rice Award, given each year to the top FCS freshman. He had four 100-yard games.

At the running back position, Miami returns Mark Fletcher and Jordan Lyle. Fletcher ran for 607 yards and nine TDs last season, with Lyle contributing 400 yards and four touchdowns. Leading rusher Damien Martinez, who had 1,002 yards and 10 scores, was selected by the Seattle Seahawks in the seventh round of the draft last weekend.

The Hurricanes finished the 2024 season with a 10-3 (6-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) record. They open the new season Aug. 31 at home against Notre Dame, who lost to Ohio State in the College Football Playoff championship game.

Plans for the cameras to roll at North Carolina for the first-ever college season of "Hard Knocks" were called off over worries about the involvement of coach Bill Belichick's girlfriend.

That is according to The Athletic, which reported Wednesday that 24-year-old Jordon Hudson wanted to be heavily involved in the production.

Backed by documents, The Athletic said NFL Films was set to start taping March 1 on campus in Chapel Hill, N.C., to document Belichick's first season with his team. However, two days later, North Carolina's lawyers received an email from Jessica Boddy, the NFL's vice president for commercial operations and business affairs that the project was off.

"The conversation took a turn we were not comfortable with," Boddy wrote in the email, according to The Athletic. She also is an executive producer of "Hard Knocks."

The university said it was not a decision by its staff to nix "Hard Knocks" and added it was more appropriate for the production company to comment. The NFL, which oversees the show, declined to comment, and Boddy and Hudson did not respond to messages left, per The Athletic.

Hudson and Belichick, 73, reportedly have been in a relationship since early 2023, People reported.

But it is the question of how they met that put Hudson squarely in the spotlight this week.

In an interview that aired Sunday on "CBS Sunday Morning," Belichick discussed his new book and more. But when CBS' Tony Dokoupil, who described Hudson as a "constant presence" during the interview, asked how the couple met, she balked.

"We're not talking about this," Hudson said.

Hudson apparently has moved right in as first lady of Tar Heels football. Reporting over the past few weeks said she is being copied on emails and other communications to Belichick from UNC staff, and she has appeared on the practice field. She lists herself on emails as chief operating officer of Belichick Productions, though The Athletic said it couldn't find any registered business in that name.

The Athletic reported that Belichick himself wanted the "Hard Knocks" gig, and North Carolina stood to be paid $200,000 in fees for the five-part series to run on HBO.

The show was supposed to be announced during the NFL Scouting Combine.

Players who were coached by Belichick during his career as a six-time Super Bowl winner with the New England Patriots are taking sides in the saga.

Speaking on their "Dudes on Dudes" podcast, retired Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman and tight end Rob Gronkowski defended Belichick and his partnership with Hudson.

"People are giving an unfair reality of what's going on," Edelman said, contending Hudson was serving as Belichick's "representative" during the CBS interview and that she interrupted the conversation "just like any PR person would jump in when there's an unnecessary question that probably [they] didn't go over in the pre-production meeting."

Retired linebacker Ted Johnson, who played for New England from 1995 to 2004, had a much different take when he spoke to Boston radio station WEEI on Tuesday. He said Hudson was a source of embarrassment to Belichick and suggested her presence had cost him a chance at an NFL coaching job after he and the Patriots split after the 2023 season.

"I hold college coaches to a higher standard than I do NFL coaches when it comes to morally, they are supposed to leaders of men, set a good example that kind of thing," Johnson said, according to transcription of his comments by the New York Post. "I'm surprised UNC never called Atlanta on why they passed on hiring Bill Belichick. My feeling is that the Atlanta Falcons are kinda looking at the UNC and going, ‘You should have called us.'

"I say all that to say this: I think the ... Tar Heels should consider firing Bill Belichick. They should consider letting him go at this point. It's a lot of money and they're deep into, obviously, their preparation for next year, but I look at Bill Belichick and I wonder if he's fit to coach an NFL team, let alone fit to coach a college team which, again, I put more onus on the character and personality and just overall character, if you will, of a college coach than I do a pro coach. I'm worried that Bill Belichick just isn't fit to coach college kids and UNC should consider cutting ties with Bill Belichick."

In January, Belichick signed a five-year contract with North Carolina. Only the first three years are guaranteed with $10 million per year in salary and $3.5 million in bonuses possible.