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.

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Big 12 Releases Full 2025 Schedule

The Big 12 has released its full schedule for the 2025 college football season, with the full list available here or seen in the picture above.

Louisville Names Deion Branch New WRs Coach

Louisville is expected to hire Deion Branch as the program’s new WRs Coach according to Jody Demling and confirmed by Pete Nakos.

Coach Branch was most recently the team’s Director of Player Development and also spent time as the interim Head Coach in 2022 after the departure of Coach Scott Satterfield before Jeff Brohm arrived. The Cardinals won the Fenway Bowl in Coach Branch’s lone game as a Head Coach.

Robb Smith Returning to Rutgers as Co-DC for 3rd Stint in Scarlet

ESPN’s Pete Thamel is reporting that Robb Smith is returning to Rutgers as the Co-DC for his 3rd stint with the Scarlet Knights program.

Coach Smith was with the program for 4 years from 2009-12 and then another 2 from 2020-21. Coach Smith also has some experience defensive coordinating at Arkansas from 2014-16, Minnesota from 2017-18, and Duke in 2022. He spent 2023 and 2024 with Penn State as a defensive analyst.

Coach Smith is replacing Joe Harasymiak, who is now the Head Coach at UMass, and Coach Smith is sharing the DC duties with Zach Sparber, who also coaches LBs.

3-Star CB Onis Konanbanny Flips from Tennessee to Florida

3-Star CB Onis Konanbanny flipped from Tennessee to Florida yesterday after having committed to Tennessee back in late August.

For Konanbanny, he shared that it was the second visit that really changed things for him: “when I went back a couple of weeks later, I listened to the people at Florida more and I got a better feel for what the program is above. It came down to their honesty, how the relationships grew so fast and the vibe there with the coaches.”

Konanbanny ranks as high as 159th nationally and 16th at the CB position (Rivals), but the On3 industry composite ranks him 412th nationally and 42nd at the CB position.

For Florida, this is the 26th commitment for the 2025 class, a class which ranks 11th nationally and 8th in the SEC. For Tennessee, the Volunteers’ 2025 class still sits at 25 commitments for a class which ranks 10th nationally and 7th in the SEC.

LSU Naming JR Belton its New Director of Football Ops

According to a report from CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz, LSU is set to name JR Belton its new Director of Football Operations.

Belton joined LSU in 2021 as its Director of Scouting and has been the program’s Director of Recruiting since 2022.

According to the school’s website, Belton’s new position will have him overseeing the day-to-day operations for the LSU football team and staff, and he will work closely with GM Austin Thomas on various projects as it relates to building a championship program.

In his time in the college game, he has also been a regional scout for Virginia and was a recruiting intern for the Louisiana Tech football program.

USC Hiring Wisconsin’s GM to Personnel Position

USC is set to hire Wisconsin GM Max Stienecker to its personnel department as reported by On3 and, believe it or not, confirmed by CFB Roundup.

Stienecker was the youngest GM in the Power 4 this year, rising to the position after just two seasons as the Director of Player Personnel for Wisconsin. He got to Wisconsin having come to Madison with Coach Luke Fickell from Cincinnati.

Now, he heads to USC with Chad Bowden, who was just hired away from Notre Dame, and Stienecker will be the Trojans’ Executive Director of Player Personnel.

While both at Cincinnati, Bowden and Stienecker worked together before their paths diverged as Marcus Freeman brought Bowden with him to Notre Dame.

Miami is Hiring Jacksonville State’s Terry Jefferson to Work with DBs

Per Gaby Urrutia, Miami is hiring Jacksonville State’s Terry Jefferson to work with defensive backs.

Coach Jefferson has some experience working with Miami, having worked with the DBs in 2022 after having spent two seasons with Miami’s recruiting and personnel department. Coach Jefferson also has worked with the Hurricanes football operations department.

In his two seasons with the Gamecocks, Jacksonville State had a combined 28 interceptions, a high number the Hurricanes are hoping Coach Jefferson can help replicate at Miami.

This is not the first new staff member brought in for Miami for the position group, as Miami hired Zac Etheridge, who spent 2024 as Houston’s DBs Coach.

Johntay Cook Arrested on Multiple Charges

Former Texas, Washington WR Johntay Cook was arrested yesterday on multiple charges.

According to the inmate logs in Tarrant County, TX, Cook was booked early yesterday morning on a pair of misdemeanors of theft and interfering with public duties. There has yet to be an amount of bond posted for him.

Cook is a former five-star prospect that spent the past two seasons with Texas, catching 16 passes for 273 yards and 2 touchdowns across his 2 seasons. He entered the transfer portal after mutually parting with Texas during the 2024 season and was committed to Washington for a few weeks before another mutual parting of ways.

He still remains in the portal, but now there is obviously a new set of concerns to worry about for him.

On3’s Top 25 Head Coaches in 2025

Ari Wasserman of On3 attempted to rank his Top 25 CFB Head Coaches in 2025:

1. Kirby Smart, Georgia

2. Ryan Day, Ohio State

3. Dan Lanning, Oregon

4. Steve Sarkisian, Texas

5. Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame

6. Dabo Swinney, Clemson

7. Deion Sanders, Colorado

8. Kyle Whittingham, Utah

9. Kalen DeBoer, Alabama

10. Josh Heupel, Tennessee

11. Mario Cristobal, Miami

12. Curt Cignetti, Indiana

13. Kenny Dillingham, Arizona State

14. Lance Leipold, Kansas

15. James Franklin, Penn State

16. Brian Kelly, LSU

17. Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss

18. Bret Bielema, Illinois

19. Sherrone Moore, Michigan

20. Kirk Ferentz, Iowa

21. Bill Belichick, North Carolina

22. Lincoln Riley, USC

23. Brent Venables, Oklahoma

24. Kalani Sitake, BYU

25. Matt Campbell, Iowa State

Preseason Win Totals for Some Programs Already Available

Using preseason win totals from FanDuel, we’re able to see that there is expected to be quite a bit of parity once again after a fairly even 2024.

Of the ones that are available:

10.5: Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State, Notre Dame

9.5: Clemson, Georgia, Texas, Tennessee

8.5: Louisville, Miami, Michigan, Indiana, Alabama, LSU

7.5: North Carolina, Iowa State, Kansas, USC

6.5: Colorado, Iowa, Florida

Other Commitments/Decommitments

3-Star (88) OT Cameron Gorin commits to Purdue

2026 3-Star (87) EDGE Jonathan McKinley commits to Cal

3-Star (86) DL Jadyn Ramos commits to USC

3-Star (86) IOL Denell Nix Jr. commits to App State

3-Star (86) LB Dinos Drosses commits to UMass

2026 3-Star (85) ATH Sharroid Whitehead commits to Sacramento State

2026 3-Star (85) QB Kaneal Sweetwyne commits to BYU

3-Star (84) S Nevada Miller commits to Northern Arizona

3-Star (84) S Braylon Henry commits to UVA Wise (D2)

3-Star (83) RB Jaylon Nichols commits to North Carolina

3-Star (82) CB Josiah Young commits to South Dakota State

3-Star (82) WR Talan White commits to Indiana State

2-Star (77) IOL Michael Dziadula commits to Grand Valley State (D2)

Unrated ATH Maxwell Barbee commits to Purdue

Unrated IOL Trevor Bigelow commits to West Virginia

2026 Unrated S Jaidon Windom commits to Cincinnati

2026 Unrated OT Cian Mahoney commits to Northern Illinois

2027 Unrated ATH Wesley Winn commits to Boston College