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.

Georgia’s Kirby Smart Pushes Back on Lack of GM

Many programs are starting to add GMs to their ranks to help with roster construction and managing the new salary cap era of college football, but Georgia’s Coach Kirby Smart shared with reporters yesterday why he doesn’t plan on hiring a GM:

“We’ve got a lot of people in charge of roster management – including myself, including our football ops staff is involved, our operations/player development, player personnel staff. Everybody gets involved in that. It’s a team effort. We’ve reorganized and restructured some things in terms of what falls under whose duty and whose aspects. But at the end of the day, I’m not ready to run off and go hire somebody that’s just going to make all the decisions for what goes on and off the football field. I think I’ve got to stay involved in that heavily.”

This comes while programs like USC poached Notre Dame’s GM for over a salary of over $1M, Oklahoma made a splashy hire by hiring the Senior Bowl’s Executive Director, or North Carolina’s Bill Belichick building his front office staff around former NFL GM and podcaster Michael Lombardi.

Consensus 4-Star IOL Esun Tafa Commits to USC

Consensus 4-star IOL Esun Tafa committed to USC yesterday over offers from Utah, UCLA, Washington, Texas A&M, and others.

Tafa shared with On3, “I love California. My mom was born and raised in Tustin/Santa Ana, Orange County, so I’ve grown to love it as we’ve visited over the years. USC is the school my family are big-time fans of since they’re from Cali. USC’s culture and tradition to me is next level, and I just want to be a part of rebuilding the winning tradition.”

Tafa ranks 223rd nationally and 15th at the IOL position according to the On3 industry composite.

For the Trojans, this is the 9th Blue Chip commitment and 14th commitment total, for a class which currently ranks 1st nationally and the Big Ten.

Texas’ Steve Sarkisian on QB Arch Manning’s Progression

Texas’ Steve Sarkisian shared in a recent press conference a little bit about QB Arch Manning and the progress that the young QB has shared:

“Thing about Arch is this, from the day he arrived, there’s been a real sense of humility about him. If you didn’t know his last name and didn’t know the face, and just looked at the body of work, the teammate that he is, the work ethic that he has, his commitment to his craft, his commitment to his teammates, this process has been underway for a couple of years. Now that we’ve kind of embarked on the 2025 season, I just continue to see a guy that’s taken it and is really trying to really go for it. … He’s working so hard in the offseason conditioning runs. He’s now setting up those voluntary throwing sessions with the receivers during the week or on the weekend. He’s breaking the team down. All those natural things that a quarterback has to do to instill belief in his teammates, to instill belief in the staff, he’s doing it.”

4-Star WR Trent Mosley Commits to USC

4-star WR Trent Mosley committed to USC yesterday over his Top 3 of Notre Dame and Stanford, among other offers.

Mosley visited with the staff at USC last month, and shared, “I really enjoyed spending time with the coaches and hearing more about the vision. It feels like they are close to building something special.”

Mosley ranks as high as 105th nationally and 11th at the WR position (247), but the On3 industry composite ranks Mosley 180th nationally and 30th at the WR position.

As mentioned above, USC currently has 14 commitments, 9 of which are Blue Chip commitments, in the class of 2026, a class which ranks 1st nationally.

Kentucky’s Mark Stoops on QB Battle Between Zach Calzada and Cutter Boley

Kentucky’s Mark Stoops was on Kentucky Sports Radio (KSR) yesterday when he spoke on the QB battle between incoming transfer Zach Calzada and Cutter Boley.

Coach Stoops shared, “I think you, you know – obviously, it’s an open competition.” Coach Stoops also shared, “yes, (they are both taking starting reps), yeah, definitely.”

To contrast the two, Calzada started his career with stops at Auburn and Texas A&M across 3 seasons and then spent another 2 seasons with Incarnate Word. For his final season, he transferred back to the SEC. For Boley, he just wrapped up his true freshman season, where he made four appearances. He finished with a completion percentage of just 49.1% and threw for 338 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 4 interceptions.

Coach Stoops shared, “if you go to the quarterback position, you have Cutter coming back, who we have great faith in. But, you know, let’s be honest, that was only one on campus. Beau Allen decided to come back. We love that, to have that depth and experience and a guy like that. But there wasn’t much on campus, right. We were bringing in two freshmen. You bring in Zach Calzada, he’s a sixth-year guy, so I love the experience of that. Here’s a guy that has played a lot of football. You know, with Zach, you see a guy that has played a ton of football.”

3-Star S Kaden Gebhardt Commits to Clemson

3-Star S Kaden Gebhardt committed to Clemson over offers from Ohio State, Notre Dame, Penn State, and plenty of other offers.

Clemson continues its massive stretch in recruiting this past week, with Gebhardt sharing, “I just got that feeling where I knew it was where I wanted to be, and I love it. I love Coach Conn, Coach Allen, Coach Swinney, and the whole staff. I knew after my first visit that it was the school that fit me best. Where they see me dominating in their defense, I absolutely love and can’t wait. I’m very blessed to be a Clemson Tiger. I’m all in.”

Gebhardt rates as a 4-star according to 247 and Rivals, ranking as high as 15th at the safety position (247). The On3 industry composite, however, ranks Gebhardt 411th nationally and 36th at the S position.

Clemson is now up to 12 commitments for the 2026 class, a class which ranks 7th nationally and 1st in the ACC.

Florida LB George Gumbs Jr. On Planting Flag at FSU: I Would Do It Again

Florida LB George Gumbs Jr. shared after spring practice yesterday that he would plant the flag again at midfield of Florida State’s Doak Campbell Stadium.

Gumbs Jr. planted the flag this past season in Florida’s 31-11 victory over the rival Seminoles. Florida State Coach Mike Norvell took exception to the action, and Florida Coach Billy Napier called the entire incident embarrassing.

This was spurred on, in part, after Florida State cut up and took sod from Florida’s field the year prior.

Gumbs Jr. shared, “leading up to the game, I knew Florida-Florida State was a big rivalry. I’d seen it on TV plenty of times when I was younger. … Then, like, that week I was just seeing all the things they did to our field the previous year before I was there, I’m like, ‘OK, I don’t like that, I don’t like that one bit.’ So, after everything was said and done, and I made a couple plays on the field, I was like, ‘OK, let me just stamp this game.’ I found a flag and I was on the sideline on the 50, right there waiting. As soon as the clock hit zero, ran out there and planted that thing.”

3-Star WR Tayshon Bardo Commits to Wisconsin

3-Star WR Tayshon Bardo committed to Wisconsin yesterday after visiting Madison, WI this past weekend. He committed to Wisconsin over his other top programs, Michigan State, Cincinnati, and USF.

Bardo shared with On3, “I had a great time in Madison over the weekend with my brothers and the coaches. Consistency with me is what stands out, along with the brotherhood and how they me like one of their own.”

Bardo ranks 593rd nationally and 92nd at the WR position according to the On3 industry composite.

For Wisconsin, this is just the 2nd commitment of the 2026 class, which means the Badgers do not yet have enough commitments to be ranked on the On3 composite, but the Badgers’ average rankings of players (84.146) would put them in the mid 40s nationally.

West Alabama Hires Former Alabama TE OJ Howard as Director of Player Development

West Alabama announced yesterday that OJ Howard is being brought in as the new Director of Player Development.

Fans will remember Howard from being a star TE on a few Alabama teams.

The connection here being that West Alabama recently hired Scott Cochran to be the Head Coach, and he was the former Strength and Conditioning Coach with Alabama, including during Howard’s time with the Tide.

Howard spent 4 seasons with the Tide, including when Alabama won the National Championship in 2015. With Alabama, he finished with 114 catches for 1,726 yards and 7 touchdowns. He then went on to be drafted in the first round in the pros. He spent 6 seasons in the pros, finishing with 129 catches for 1,882 yards and 17 touchdowns.

Coach Cochran shared, in part, in a statement, “we’re thrilled to welcome another Alabama Football legend and NFL Champion, OJ Howard. OJ was an outstanding athlete at Alabama, earning a first-round NFL Draft selection, but what truly set him apart was his leadership. He is a leader of men, and that’s exactly why he’s the perfect fit for this role. …”

Other Commitments/Decommitments

3-Star (84) CB Isaiah Lucero commits to San Diego State