Good morning, and welcome back to CFB Roundup from CFB Home – the first daily newsletter that’s all college football, all the time with no bias, no slant, and no fluff.

ACC Presidents Looking to End Lawsuits with Florida State, Clemson with Changes to Conference

Yahoo’s Ross Dellenger is reporting that ACC presidents have “examined” a proposal to adjust the revenue distribution in the conference in an effort to resolve the litigation the conference currently has with Florida State and Clemson.

It is unclear what the specifics of the deal would be, but the reports from Dellenger are that this could provide a level of stability to the conference, especially if/when the litigation ends.

Ultimately, though, if the restructuring of the revenue distribution is done in an effort to preserve the membership of Florida State and Clemson, it is likely that there will be an uneven distribution of the revenues which favors Florida State and Clemson compared to the rest of the conference.

Another change referenced by Dellenger would be a shortening of the Grant of Rights which currently runs through 2036. It is unclear how much shorter the Grant of Rights would be, but that will be something to keep an eye on, as that is, for the most part, the focus of Clemson and Florida State’s litigation.

Dellenger specifically stated that “nothing is imminent and particulars of the deal remain mostly private,” so there likely will not be substantive updates for the foreseeable future, but the fact that this was leaked and reported is potentially a good sign for the ACC’s health and long-term viability as a conference.

Report: Florida Lacking Urgency Fans Have for Firing Billy Napier

ESPN’s Pete Thamel is currently reporting that, while Florida fans want Coach Billy Napier fired as soon as possible, the Florida administration lacks that same urgency.

Thamel specifically stated on College Football Live, “from calling around and talking to different people, there does not appear to be the same urgency at Florida that there is maybe in the fan base right now to fire Napier. Part of that is Napier has the locker room. This isn’t a completely undisciplined team or a team that’s tuned him out. And the other part is that if you’re going to make a change in your coach this early in the season, you’d better have some sort of obvious upgrade or a capable coach on the staff. There’s nobody on the Florida staff right now that would be an obvious target to be an interim coach.”

If Florida were to fire Napier, it would owe him nearly $27 million. But who would make the call to fire him is also of note. Athletic Director Scott Stricklin’s status with the University is also up in the air as his football coach hires of Dan Mullen and Billy Napier might be the only two the University wants to let him make. Paraphrasing Cover 3’s Bud Elliott, AD’s may get to make one bad hire at football coach and try again, but they don’t get to hire a third coach, especially not at a program like Florida.

Tennessee Adding 10% Fee To Give Money to Players

Tennessee Athletic Director Danny White has shared that the University of Tennessee is planning to add a 10% surcharge to all season and single-game ticket sales to afford the value going to the players that seems inevitably in short order following the settlement of House v. NCAA.

If the settlement is approved by Judge Wilkins, schools would be allowed to pay roughly $22 million per year to athletes starting as early as next year – the 2025-26 academic year. Based on other settlement terms – namely, increasing the scholarship amounts – the expected cost to each athletic department is roughly $30 million per year. Through this 10% surcharge, Tennessee is hoping to recoup roughly one-third of that, or $10 million.

To hopefully smooth over frustration from Tennessee fans, who are also projected to see their ticket prices rise roughly 4.5% to cover increasing costs, White believes that fans will embrace it due to them ultimately understanding it’s going directly to the student-athletes and is essentially a “talent fee.”

Kirby Smart: Guys Continue to Make Poor Decisions

Georgia DB Daniel Harris was arrested last week for driving over 100 MPH in a 65 MPH zone, which was yet another instance of a driving infraction for a Georgia program which has become synonymous with driving infractions.

Coach Kirby Smart was recently pressed on why these sorts of issues keep happening, to which Smart said, “because we continue to have guys make poor decisions, you know? It’s very unfortunate. I know that our staff, myself, continue to drive home the sensitive nature of it. It’s certainly a deadly speed you’re talking about the speed that [Harris] was traveling at. … You want [the players] to grow up and make good decisions and learn from others’ mistakes. … We obviously continue to talk to them, but it hasn’t stopped them.”

Mario Cristobal: Hoping Players Are Not Buying Into Hype From Former Naysayers

The Miami Hurricanes look as strong as they have at any point in recent memory, and Coach Mario Cristobal wants his team to retain their focus instead of letting outside noise distract them.

Specifically, Cristobal has pointed out that he especially hopes those who were previously critical of the team are not getting through to his players now that they are hyping up the same players.

Cristobal said, “They’re very well aware of the same people that are giving them praise and showering them with all the good stuff were the same ones throwing dirt on them when things were being built piece-by-piece.”

Through the first 2 seasons under Cristobal, Miami was 12-13, but now the Hurricanes are 3-0 with an average final score through 3 games of 53 to 8.67 and a ranking in the AP Poll of #8, the highest ranking for the program since early October of 2020.

Mike Norvell: I Know My Capabilities

Mike Norvell and Florida State have started out poor, there’s no nice way to put it. But despite this, Norvell still is confident that he and the program can turn fortunes around.

Norvell admitted that he does not believe the team is good enough right now, but he is confident in his and his staff’s ability to figure things out. According to Norvell, the biggest issue is a lack of an identity, especially on offense. But Norvell also said, “I am ultimately confident in the ability of, you know, what I see, what I believe, you know, what we can do, and you know, helping put guys in a better position. My confidence is not wavering when it comes to that, but it’s still about the execution. … You know, for however it sounds, I know my capabilities as well and, you know, I’m very confident in what that will be.”

Kirby Smart: Some People Are Promising NIL Spending Beyond Their Ability

Georgia’s Kirby Smart recently shared some of his thoughts on NIL and his approach to the promises that his program can make, but he also shared that not every program is as forthcoming or truthful in terms of what it can actually offer a player.

For Smart, he said that “it’s all about what you have available. Some people are willing to spend beyond their ability to raise it. Unfulfilled promises. We’re not going to have unfulfilled promises where guys reach back and out say, “they said they could do this and they didn’t. They said they would do that and they didn’t.”

Smart also shared that he’s lost some recruits to other schools because he didn’t want to make any promises he wasn’t sure he (or the program) could keep. The subtext of what Smart said, without needing to more directly allude to it, is definitely Florida’s NIL collective, who made headlines after it was shared that they had originally agreed to give QB Jaden Rashada (who is now at Georgia, funnily enough) $13.85 million over four years including a $1 million payment upon signing his letter of intent, a payment which was never made, resulting in a lawsuit against the university and Coach Billy Napier.

Mack Brown Plans to Play Both Conner Harrell and Jacolby Criswell at QB for UNC

North Carolina’s Mack Brown recently shared that quarterbacks Conner Harrell and Jacolby Criswell will be seeing the field for the Tar Heels.

Harrell has received the starts this season after QB Max Johnson suffered a season-ending injury, but Criswell received 55 of the 75 snaps the two combined for against FCS North Carolina Central. In those snaps, Criswell was 14-for-23 passing for 161 yards and a touchdown.

Brown said, “the plan at quarterback will be to continue to play both of them because they have different skill sets, and we’ll just watch them as we go.”

Harrell is considered more of a dual-threat, while Criswell has impressed the staff with his arm talent. North Carolina goes up against James Madison this weekend, so it will be of note to see how the Tar Heels utilize each quarterback and for how many snaps.

Rhett Lashlee on Importance of the “Iron Skillet” Rivalry

SMU and TCU play this weekend for the 104th time, but it will likely also be the second to last time for awhile that the two teams meet.

After the 2025 matchup in Fort Worth, the series will go on a hiatus, largely due to TCU’s disinterest in keeping the game going to free up one more game in the non-conference slate. Worth noting, since the announcement was made that TCU was looking to schedule more home matchups to increase value for season ticket holders, TCU has only added one-off games with a pair of Sun Belt teams: Arkansas State and Texas State.

SMU Coach Rhett Lashlee was asked about it, and he pointed out the history and the uniqueness of the two programs being so close in proximity. He also shared some of his past experiences in big rivalry games, coaching in games like the Iron Bowl and Florida State vs. Miami.

Coach Lashlee is optimistic in the long-run that the Iron Skillet will be played again, citing the Texas and Texas A&M rivalry as a game that temporarily wasn’t played but is now going to start being played again.

Lane Kiffin on RB Ulysses Bentley’s Usage in the Offense

Ulysses Bentley IV spent three seasons with SMU, two as a starter, where he averaged about 15 touches and almost 100 yards per game with 17 total touchdowns.

He has since spent 2022, 2023, and now 2024 with Ole Miss and his usage has been spotty and inconsistent, to say the least. In a similar number of games with Ole Miss, he’s averaged closer to 6 touches and 30 yards per game with only 9 total touchdowns, with only 3 out of 22 games resulting in at least 10 carries.

Coach Lane Kiffin spoke on Bentley’s usage, and how he’s still very high on Bentley: “there’s nothing negative about Bentley. I think there’s some of that in our program. We have a really good roster. I’ve told our players it’s a cost and benefit in everything. … The cost is everybody doesn’t get to play as much as they’d like, and that’s happening all over the place.”

Even compared to this year and last, Bentley’s carries are down almost 40% from around 7.3 to 4.6 despite Ole Miss winning its first three games by a combined score of 168-9.

“This is not anything Bentley’s done and the other two guys have played extremely well,” Kiffin said. It will be interesting to watch to see if the veteran, explosive running back gets a chance to make a difference for a Top-5 Ole Miss team which is centered around an explosive offensive attack.

Other Commitments/Decommitments

3-Star (89) OT Jack Shaffer flips from Iowa State to Washington

3-Star (83) OT Weston Hancock commits to Northern Arizona