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.

TODAY’S SCHEDULE:

Betting Information as of time of writing

FAU Firing Head Coach Tom Herman

FAU announced yesterday that it was firing head coach Tom Herman during his second season.

Herman is set to be paid a $4.1M buyout, though, FAU has some particular clauses in its contracts to receive the full buyout, including being reassigned to the Facilities Department for some time. If Herman chooses to not do that work, he will not receive the full buyout.

The news also broke recently that Herman had been looking for a Power 4 Offensive Coordinator position in the previous couple of weeks.

FAU went 4-8 (3-5) in Herman’s first season, and has followed it up with a 2-8 (0-6) record this season, bringing Herman’s record at FAU to 6-16 (3-11).

Associate Head Coach, Special Teams Coordinator, and TEs Coach Chad Lunsford is taking over as interim head coach for the final two games.

Charlotte Firing Head Coach Biff Poggi

Charlotte is set to fire Head Coach Biff Poggi, according to reports.

Poggi was in his second season with the 49ers where he was 3-9 in his first year and was 3-7 thus far in his second season, missing out on a bowl after a 59-24 loss to USF last weekend. Charlotte owes Poggi a $1.3M buyout.

Prior to being the head coach at Charlotte, Poggi was the Michigan Associate Head Coach. Once he took the Charlotte job, he told Sports Illustrated that he was planning on donating $500,000 to the program.

Charlotte’s program was restarted in 2013 and only has one winning season in that time (7-6 in 2019 under Will Healy).

Tim Brewster will serve as the interim head coach for the final 2 games.

UMass Firing Head Coach Don Brown

UMass has decided to make a change, firing Head Coach Don Brown following the Minutemen’s 35-34 overtime loss to Liberty to fall to 2-8 on the season.

This was Brown’s second stint with the Minutemen program, going 6-28 from 2022 through 2024, with his best winning percentage coming in 2023 (3-9, 25%).

Brown was first with UMass from 2004-08 where he was 43-19 and made an appearance in the FCS National Championship once.

Offensive Coordinator Shane Montgomery will serve as the interim coach for the final couple of games, with the next game being a road game against Georgia before finishing the season at home against the rival UConn Huskies.

Lane Kiffin: Some SEC Coaches Would Rather Not Play in SEC Championship

Ole Miss Coach Lane Kiffin recently went on the record sharing that some SEC coaches would rather not play in the conference championship due to the potential repercussions it could have on qualifying for the playoff.

There are currently six SEC teams (Ole Miss, Texas, Texas A&M, Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee) with legitimate claims to be one of the 7 at-large CFP spots, and one of them is going to lose in the SEC championship.

In theory, the Committee is not supposed to ‘punish’ the loser of a conference championship for earning the right to play a 13th game against a top opponent. However, it is impossible to ignore what a 13th data point could represent. And Coach Kiffin shared that he’s “talked to other coaches, so I’ll just kind of give you the feeling from some other coaches that they don’t want to be in [the SEC Championship]. You know, the reward to get a bye [in the CFP] versus the risk to get knocked out completely. I mean, that’s a… that’s a pretty big – that’s a really big risk.”

Coach Kiffin also shared, “I think it has ended up being a very unique situation of all postseason sports, the way that system is set up there. How you could go to [the SEC Championship] and get knocked out [of the CFP race]? [But] if you don’t go [to the SEC Championship game], you’re in.”

Josh Heupel: Winning in the SEC is Not Easy

Tennessee Coach Josh Heupel also shared some of his thoughts on the CFP Rankings recently. When asked where he believes Tennessee standings in the playoff picture, Coach Heupel said, “I have no idea, man. All I know is this league is as good as it gets. Like, it is. Teams get beat on the road sometimes. It’s hard to win, man, in this league.”

Coach Heupel also shared, “it’s a good football team that we just played (Georgia). Lost a couple of close ones on the road against good football teams (also, Arkansas). Had turnovers in that game. It’s a good football team. We’re a good football team, too.”

Tennessee has a couple of losses between the Georgia and Arkansas game. But does have a win over a team like Alabama, which will likely help bolster the Volunteers’ CFP bid.

Jackson Arnold on Future at Oklahoma: I’m Just Taking it Week by Week

Oklahoma QB Jackson Arnold was benched in favor of true freshman Michael Hawkins, but since got the job back and has remained the starter since then.

However, there has been some talk about what Arnold might do, including the possibility of him transferring after the season somewhere that might be less likely to bench him.

Arnold shared, though, that he doesn’t listen to that chatter: “I mean, I don’t look at anything ever. I stay in my lane. I stay focused… I talk to my friends, talk to my family, call them and talk to my girlfriend. But other than that, I don’t go into any social media. Regarding my future, I just – we’ve got two great teams left that we’ve got to go against. I’m just taking it week by week.”

Arnold has thrown for 1,234 yards and 12 touchdowns to only 3 interceptions this season in 8 of Oklahoma’s 10 games.

4-Star S Ivan Taylor Flips Commitment from Michigan to Alabama

Consensus 4-star S Ivan Taylor flipped his commitment from Michigan to Alabama yesterday after committing to Michigan back in July.

Taylor shared that he’s excited about the fit he is going to be with Coach DeBoer and the rest of the Alabama defense. Taylor also shared that based on the relationships he’s made with the Alabama staff, he’s comfortable with the distance he’s going to be away from his family for.

Taylor ranks highest according to 247Sports, where he ranks 41st nationally and 2nd for his position. However, the On3 industry composite ranks Taylor 63rd nationally and 7th at his position.

For Alabama, this is their 17th Blue Chip commitment and 21st commitment overall for a 2025 class which ranks 2nd nationally and 1st in the SEC. For Michigan, the Wolverines are now down to 11 Blue Chip commitments and 18 commitments overall for a 2025 class which ranks 12th nationally and 3rd in the Big Ten.

4-Star EDGE Zahir Mathis Decommits from Ohio State

4-Star EDGE Zahir Mathis announced his decommitment from Ohio State yesterday after originally committing to the Buckeyes back in January.

Mathis did share that even though he was decommitting from Ohio State, they were still a top school for him.

Mathis is considered to be the top player from the state of Pennsylvania according to ESPN and Rivals. He ranks as high as 41st nationally and 2nd at his position according to Rivals. According to the On3 industry composite, Mathis ranks 95th nationally and 10th at his position.

Even without Mathis, Ohio State still has 20 Blue Chip commitments and 25 total commitments for a 2025 class which ranks 1st nationally and in the Big Ten.

Brian Kelly: LSU Accomplished Too Much to Fire Coordinators or Bench Starters

LSU’s Brian Kelly recently went on The Paul Finebaum Show and spoke on why it’s important to not catastrophize or overreact to losses.

Coach Kelly shared, “when you don’t have the outcomes that everybody wants, the first reaction is, ‘how do we change it? What do we do to change it?’ Because they don’t have the inside information on the day-to-day of what’s going on here, so they think the best way to change it is to get rid of people. Get rid of the coach, get rid of the play-caller, bench the player. But there’s so much more to that. Clearly, in this instance, we’ve done too many good things in building this football program that we’re not going to panic. We’re going to stick to our process. We’re going to get better at the things that I’ve mentioned to you in our conversation.”

LSU fell to 6-4 after a loss to Florida this past weekend, as the rest of the season includes games against Vanderbilt and Oklahoma, a pair of very capable teams.

Steve Sarkisian: No Idea if Quinn Ewers is Playing in Final Home Game Saturday

Texas QB Quinn Ewers has eligibility for next season if he wants to come back, and when asked if Ewers is playing in his final home game on Satutday, Head Coach Steve Sarkisian shared that he has “no idea.”

Coach Sarkisian did not explain if he and Ewers had discussions regarding his future, and if it involves going to the NFL, coming back to Texas, or transferring to another program to play out his eligibility as Arch Manning is waiting in the wings for the Longhorns.

Coach Sarkisian also provided no other context other than those two words: “no idea.”

Ewers has thrown for 1,898 yards and 21 touchdowns with 6 interceptions in his 8 games that he’s been healthy after missing two games with an injury.

Other Commitments/Decommitments

2026 4-Star (90) WR Jaeden Ricketts commits to Ohio State

3-Star (89) DL Stephon Shivers commits to Florida

2026 3-Star (89) TE Lincoln Keyes commits to Georgia

3-Star (88) DL Cash Jacobsen commits to USC

3-Star (88) LB Myron Robinson commits to Arizona

3-Star (88) S Davin Chandler commits to Vanderbilt

2026 3-Star (88) ATH Terrance Saryon commits to Washington

3-Star (87) TE Joeseph Skipworth flips from Kansas to Mississippi State

3-Star (87) DL AJ Prim commits to NC State

3-Star (87) EDGE Evan Ward decommits from USF

3-Star (87) RB Quaid Carr decommits from San Diego State

2026 3-Star (87) ATH Kaprice Keith commits to Iowa State

3-Star (86) IOL Bubba Craig commits to Arkansas

3-Star (86) LB Austin Howard commits to Vanderbilt

3-Star (86) WR Harry Hassmann commits to Arizona State

3-Star (86) RB Justin Thurman flips from Notre Dame to Kansas

3-Star (86) WR Arrion Concepcion decommits from NC State

3-Star (86) ATH TJ Tillman commits to UTEP

3-Star (85) WR Jemyri Davis commits to Kansas State

3-Star (85) WR Denver Haper decommits from Cornell

3-Star (85) S Dylan King decommits from Temple

3-Star (84) EDGE Aidan Wright decommits from Memphis

3-Star (82) ATH Isaiah Jordan flips from Air Force to Nevada

3-Star (82) LB Martin Rhyne decommits from Georgia State

3-Star (82) Andrew Hines decommits from USF

3-Star (81) EDGE Kaleb Pleis commits to Cal Poly

2-Star (77) TE Ben Verges commits to Coastal Carolina

Unrated DL Michael Bruggers commits to Air Force

Unrated OT Zane Panchula commits to Bowling Green

Unrated EDGE Ike Ackerman commits to Ohio

Ball State EDGE Danny Royster enters transfer portal

Kennesaw State EDGE Jamar Rucks enters transfer portal

West Florida RB Jamontez Woods enters transfer portal

Kennesaw State LB Garland Benyard enters transfer portal

Kennesaw State CB Jayven Williams enters transfer portal

Kennesaw State QB Earl Woods III enters transfer portal

Maryland TE Leron Husbands enters transfer portal

Penn State WR Feyisayo Oluleye enters transfer portal

Kennesaw State IOL Mason Bowers enters transfer portal

Kennesaw State TE Gatlin Hancock enters transfer portal

Kennesaw State IOL Ethan Newman enters transfer portal