In partnership with

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.

The Daily Newsletter for Intellectually Curious Readers

If you're frustrated by one-sided reporting, our 5-minute newsletter is the missing piece. We sift through 100+ sources to bring you comprehensive, unbiased news—free from political agendas. Stay informed with factual coverage on the topics that matter.

Join for free today!

Oklahoma RB Coach DeMarco Murray Emerges as Top Candidate for Penn State RB Coach Job

There are growing rumors that Oklahoma RBs Coach DeMarco Murray and Penn State have been in communication about the vacancy the Nittany Lions have at the RB Coach position.

This past weekend, former Penn State RBs Coach Ja’Juan Seider took over at Notre Dame for its RB Coach opening.

It certainly would not be a bad job for Coach Murray to take over, as Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen are both returning after being one of the top running back rooms in 2024.

It would likely be a tough decision emotionally for Coach Murray, as he was obviously a huge part of 3 Big 12 Championships when he ran for 3,685 yards and 65 touchdowns in his time with the Sooners.

4-Star TE Xavier Tiller Decommits from Texas A&M

4-Star TE Xavier Tiller decommitted from Texas A&M yesterday after committing to A&M back on November 4th.

His decommitment comes after a visit to Auburn for Auburn’s big recruiting weekend. Auburn is likely the program to watch for Tiller’s commitment.

Tiller ranks as high as 70th nationally and 2nd at the TE position according to ESPN, but thanks to a modest 3-star rating from Rivals, the composite 4-star ranks 133rd nationally and 8th at the TE position.

Texas A&M may have lost a Blue Chip commitment yesterday, but the Aggies still have 7 4-star commitments for the 2026 class which has 9 total commitments. Texas A&M also ranks 4th nationally and 2nd in the SEC for the 2026 class, as of now.

Texas Has Minor Schedule Change for 2025 Season, Extra Week Before SEC Play Begins

Texas Athletic Director Chris Del Conte announced a minor scheduling change for the 2025 football season: the non-conference matchup against Sam Houston State has been moved up one week.

By moving the game against Sam Houston State up one week, this creates a free week before the Longhorns travel to Gainesville for the opening of SEC play against Florida.

The schedule now opens with a road game to Ohio State and then three home games against San Jose State, UTEP, and Sam Houston State. Then there will be a bye before kicking off SEC play on the road at Florida.

Reports Emerging About Fraud in Pipeline of Australian Punters

An exclusive from FOX-29 (San Antonio, TX) has reportedly found alleged fraud involving Australian punters and kickers coming to the U.S., specifically from Prokick.

This report suggests some Australian kickers and punters were potentially ineligible to receive college scholarships, and in some cases, ineligible to receive student visas, which would be a violation of NCAA regulations.

An anonymous college coach told FOX-29, “the injustice is there are players that are doing it the right way, Australian and international players, American players that are doing it the right way, that have legit transcripts.”

This anonymous coach also shared that there was an Australian player who was being “re-represented as a four-year eligible freshman by the Australian company Prokick. He had started working with Prokick, and they were these coaches that I was talking to who were under the impression that he had four years to play. He had never been to college, and I said, that’s not what I discovered when I was recruiting him, he had three years to play.”

Prokick is the same entity that helped seven current pro punters get into major colleges, including Texas’ Michael Dickson, Ohio State’s Cameron Johnston, and Utah’s Mitch Wishnowsky.

FOX-29 partnered with Ken Gamble, chairman of international intelligence firm IFW International, who shared, “these students that we’ve investigated have attended university full-time, and we don’t believe that it was disclosed. If there has been a misrepresentation of their educational standards, then this is not only a violation of the NCAA eligibility rules, but it’s also fraud in their visa documents.”

An anonymous trainer and recruiter also shared with FOX-29 several transcripts that were potentially altered by Prokick, sharing, “there was a kid that actually outed himself. He sat down with his advisor and said, ‘oh, you need to take these classes and these classes’ And then he was like, ‘No, no, I already took that in university.’ And they said, ‘What?’ They did some research. And they said, ‘You’ve already gone to uni? You’ve got, you know, two weeks to pack your bags and get out of here.’”

Mike McCabe, owner and founder of One-On-One Kicking shared that there has been a 54% decrease in American-born punters. “I think the whole country pretty much knows, in our industry and kicking, what is going on. When you see a certain company that guarantees that you are going to have a full scholarship no matter where you go or if you come there to train there, that’s a big red flag. If you’re coming from a different country, you’d have to alter your visa just to be able to get into the United States. So you know that there is, is, is a big no-no.”

3-Star QB Kane Archer Lists Top 7 Schools

3-Star QB Kane Archer shared with On3’s Hayes Fawcett that he is down to his top 7 schools.

For Archer, he’s narrowed his list down to SMU, UCF, Louisville, App State, Missouri, Arkansas, and Ole Miss.

He ranks particularly highly on On3’s rankings, ranking 151st nationally and 10th at the QB position. The On3 industry composite has him lower, though, at 407th nationally and 26th at the QB position.

The On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine seems to think Arkansas (61.8%) and SMU (19.2%) are really the two main contenders here, but that could very easily change as Archer takes more visits.

Consensus 4-Star CB Khary Adams Has 5 Official Visit Dates Locked In

Consensus 4-star CB Khary Adams has his top 10 schools, but now he’s also choosing his official visit destinations.

His Top 10 includes Oregon, LSU, Notre Dame, USC, Maryland, Michigan, Auburn, South Carolina, Penn State, and Syracuse. The corner out of Maryland has already planned OVs to Auburn, South Carolina, Penn State, Notre Dame, and Oregon.

As for the remaining schools, scheduling an OV with USC has been a priority, with discussions with LSU also possibly leading to an official visit.

“These official visits will be a factor in my decision for sure. On these official visits, I will look at the facilities, learn about the scheme and how I fit into it and just get a feeling around the program. My goal from here is to get out to a few visits in the spring, take my official visits, and make a decision. The relationships I have with coaches and what their plan for me is will be important when I commit later this summer. Good football and a good education are other things I’m looking for in a school.”

Georgia In Lead for Recruitment of 4-Star RB

Near consensus 4-Star RB Jae Lamar recently shared with On3 that Georgia was clearly in the lead of his recruitment.

“Georgia is still standing No. 1, and after that, there is no real list.”

He did visit Auburn (twice), Florida, and Miami, and shared that Miami surprised him by having more of a family-type feeling than maybe he was expecting. It does help Miami his cousin, Ny Carr, is currently a Hurricane. Auburn is another program he has his eyes on, but the RB really likes the idea of being developed and being around the great coaches at Georgia.

Lamar ranks as high as 89th nationally and 5th at the RB position (Rivals) and ranks 151st nationally and 14th at the RB position according to the On3 industry composite.

Kentucky’s Mark Stoops on Biggest Key to Bouncing Back from 4-8 Season

During an interview with ESPN’s Matt Barrie, Kentucky Coach Mark Stoops spoke on how he can turn around the Kentucky program from 4-8:

“The big thing is stick to who you are and that, for us, is always having an attitude of toughness and discipline. I wasn’t always proud of that last year. So, those are things we gotta get back to the foundation, the roots of who we are. Be tough, be physical, be accountable to each other. And I think it starts here.”

“When you look at it big picture, it can be overwhelming. We play six of the top 13 teams in the country. I’m not sure anybody else in college football will have that type of a schedule, but you can’t look at it that way. It has to be day to day. Going into my 13th year, what you do realize is the urgency that you know what needs to be done today. There is so much to do. We’re attacking it with our players. There’s weight lifting, there’s the mental toughness, there’s the fourth quarter drills coming up. But also, with our coaches, like, what are we doing, right? How can we continue to build on that? Where do we fall short? How do we get that corrected? There’s just a lot to do.”

Mark Stoops on Expectations of QB Transfer Zach Calzada

Kentucky’s new quarterback, Zach Calzada is no stranger to the SEC. Calzada is transferring in from Incarnate Word, but has made stops at Texas A&M and Auburn.

Calzada is the presumed starting QB, and Coach Mark Stoops made an appearance on SportsCenter to speak on his new QB and set the expectations for him.

“The first thing with Zach is the experience. We have a tremendously talented youngster in Cutter Boley that we believe in strongly, but I wanted to give it a good balance. With Zach, as you mentioned, he won eight games in this league, which is hard to do. He brings a wealth of experience, and he’s a guy who’s very mature, very tough, and so we have a lot of confidence in him.”

As for how he fits in the scheme with OC Bush Hamdan, Calzada shared the scheme “was one of the most important things on my visit. Me and Coach Bush sat down for a while, just going through his philosophy, his schemes, and what he wants to do on offense. I really, really liked it. It reminded me similar to Coach Fisher’s offense that we ran, just with regards to the thought that goes into it in the run game, the play-action passes, quick-game, drop back passes. It’s very much a pro-style offense. I think especially wanting to play at the next level, I think having success in this offense will check every box.”

UNLV Announces Passing of Football Player at Off-Campus Residence, Identity Not Shared Yet

UNLV released a tragic statement yesterday, that a student-athlete from the football team had passed away in their off-campus residence.

“UNLV Athletics was notified earlier today of the passing of a student-athlete who was a member of the football team at their off-campus residence. This is an extremely difficult day for our athletics department and the university community. Out of respect for the student’s family and pending formal notification of next of kin by the Clark County Coroner’s Office, the university has no further information to share at this time. The University is providing mental health and related support services to those in need. The cause of death will be released by the Clark County Coroner’s Office.”

Other Commitments/Decommitments

2-Star (74) QB Tommy Morris Commits to Wagner

Unrated RB Josiah Johnson commits to South Dakota State