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.

Report: Stanford Coach Troy Taylor Accused of Bullying and Belittling Female Staffers

ESPN’s Xaun Thai is reporting that Stanford Coach Troy Taylor has been investigated multiple times, received training, and has had several complaints filed from multiple Stanford employees for alleged “hostile and aggressive behavior.”

In February of 2024, following the first investigation, Coach Taylor signed a warning letter, in which he acknowledged he could be fired if his conduct continued. ESPN is reporting that there are documents which show another investigating ending in July 2024.

Both of these investigations follow KWP Consulting and Mediation coming in to investigate in the Spring of 2023. There was a second investigation that summer, which cited evidence that said, “this is an ongoing pattern of concerning behavior by Coach Taylor.”

One source shared with ESPN that Coach Taylor is an “equal opportunity a-hole,” and that he targeted his behavior towards women. Coach Taylor released a statement through Stanford, in which he said he complied with the investigations and is taking the recommendations which came from them as a learning opportunity:

“I willingly complied with the investigations, accepted the recommendations that came out of them, and used them as a learning opportunity to grow in leadership and how I interact with others. I look forward to continuing to work collaboratively and collegially with my colleagues so that we can achieve success for our football program together.”

Stanford also released a separate statement: “Stanford believes in upholding the highest standards of behavior in the workplace. The University received complaints regarding Coach Taylor and a third party investigated the matter thoroughly. Last summer, the University took appropriate measures, Coach Taylor received coaching, and he has committed to nurturing the respectful working environment that is essential to the success of all our athletics programs.”

Marcus Freeman Confirms Notre Dame Will Have Spring Game in 2025

Notre Dame Coach Marcus Freeman shared yesterday that Notre Dame will have a spring game in 2025:

“We moved spring back. I think when I first put our spring practice calendar, it was last year sometime, when we decided when the Spring Game was going to be. So, I decided after the season that we had to move Spring practice about two weeks. The reality is, I did not want to cheat strength and conditioning phase or the development phase of our team. I think it’s really important and there was an integration of different guys based on how many plays they played last year in terms of when they started that strength and conditioning phase. So, that’s why I decided to push it back two weeks to get started.”

Coach Freeman continued, “we will have a Spring Game. It will be a version of a Spring Game. Again, it’s important to me to use that as an opportunity to let our players perform in front of our fans but two, it’s a chance to really integrate our community and our fans with this football program. I think it’s so important to me is to give the opportunity to fans that maybe typically don’t get the opportunity to come to a Notre Dame game or, if they do, to give them another opportunity to come and engage with our players. I don’t want to take away from that. There’s a lot of pros and cons for each decision, but that one, to me – my decision of keeping our Spring Game was I want to use this opportunity for our team and our football program to make sure that we are really interacting with our fans.”

South Carolina Injury Update: Multiple Players Out for Spring

Coach Shane Beamer shared recently what the injury status of the Gamecocks is as spring practices unfold.

TE Michael Smith, DL Caleb Williams, OL Ryan Brubaker, and OL Damola Ajidahun are all going to miss the spring.

Coach Beamer is optimistic they will all be back soon, though, sharing “they all will be [back before the season begins]. Optimistic that maybe a couple of guys will be able to do a little bit more towards the end of spring practice. But right now, they won’t start with us and we’ll see how it goes as we go through the spring. But other than that, everybody is in good shape.”

Virginia Tech QB Kyron Drones Health Update

Virginia Tech QB Kyron Drones missed the final 3 games for Virginia Tech with injury, but Coach Brent Pry had some good news on Drones’ health.

“Physically, he looks back to form. In these winter workouts, we do a lot of competitions, and he was very tough to beat. Didn’t matter who I put him against. Sled push, agility drills. We challenged him each and every morning – he was hard to beat. He’s one of our best workers and probably had the highest win percentage. So I think he’s back in form, I think he’s confident again. Largely because he’s healthy. I think it will be key for us, obviously, is for Kyron to play well and be more polished, be more balanced. Throw the ball downfield a little bit better. So, I’m excited about that. I think Kyron has all the potential to do that. And I think Coach Montgomery has us in the right direction.”

Mississippi State QB Blake Shapen Health Update

Mississippi State QB Blake Shapen suffered a season-ending injury during 2024, but he is coming back for 2025 and has recovered well, according to Coach Jeff Lebby.

“He feels great,” Coach Lebby shared, “he got all the reps with the ones today. He’ll continue to work and put himself in a position to play at a really high level. Blake is light years ahead of where the other guys are at. Because of the reps that he’s gotten and the work that he’s had and the experience that he has. So, again, he’s a guy that’s got great command of what we want. He’s the healthiest and the biggest and the strongest he’s ever been in his career being at 210 lbs. That was key for us. It’s a key for him. Again, it’s a credit to him because he spent the time.”

Texas A&M WR Micah Hudson No Longer with Program, Plans to Re-Enter Portal

WR Micah Hudson transferred from Texas Tech after this past season, seemingly landing at Texas A&M. Hudson is once again on the move, though, as On3’s Pete Nakos and Coach Mike Elko shared that Hudson was re-entering the portal after no longer being with the team.

Nakos has already reported that a return to Texas Tech is a possibility. He was a Top 10 player in the transfer portal this past offseason.

With Texas Tech, Hudson finished with 8 catches for 123 yards as a true freshman.

5-Star WR Tristen Keys Commits to LSU

5-star WR Tristen Keys committed to LSU yesterday over Miami, Tennessee, Alabama, Texas A&M, and plenty of others.

Keys shared that the LSU WR history is a huge selling point for him, as well as the relationship he has with the coaching staff.

Keys is ranked as the top WR in the nation by On3 and 247, as well as the On3 industry composite. Nationally, Keys ranks 3rd according to the On3 industry composite.

With the commitment, LSU is now up to 6 Blue Chip commitments and 7 total commitments in 2026. More importantly, LSU now jumps USC and Oregon to have the top ranked class in the Class of 2026.

3-Star WR AJ Logan Commits to Boise State

3-star WR AJ Logan committed to Boise State yesterday over a dozen other offers, including Boise’s biggest competition for Logan, Arizona.

Logan shared with On3 that his quick connection with the staff really stood out to him. The competitive environment and results on the field were also a big part of it for Logan.

The On3 industry composite ranks Logan 725th nationally and 118th at the WR position.

Tennessee State DL Eriq George Enters Transfer Portal, Following Dad to Bowling Green?

Tennessee State DL Eriq George is entering the transfer portal, according to On3’s Pete Nakos.

The son of Eddie George, former Tennessee State Coach and new Bowling Green Coach, has been incredibly productive at Tennessee State.

In 2023, as a true freshman, George finished with 25 tackles, 6 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, and a fumble recovery. In 2024, he had 57 tackles, 12.5 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks, and a forced fumble.

Coming out of high school, Eriq did have an offer from Marshall, his lone FBS offer. He did have other FCS offers: Dartmouth, Eastern Kentucky, UT Martin, Southeast Missouri State, Northern Arizona, and Furman.

3-Star CB Traeviss Stevenson Commits to Georgia Tech

3-Star CB Traeviss Stevenson committed to Georgia Tech yesterday over offers from UCF, Vandy, Pitt, Stanford, a couple dozen more.

Stevenson said that his decision came down to the education, the coaching staff, the culture, and other things that he loves about Georgia Tech, including how straightforward Coach Key is. Georgia Tech was pretty much the only school he was considering, as he shared, “I didn’t commit to Georgia Tech over any other schools because they were the school always in my heart.”

On3 and ESPN do not have a rating on Stevenson yet, and he is not ranked on the On3 industry composite, but he rates as an 88 on 247, which is a pretty high 3-star.

For Georgia Tech, this is the first commitment of the 2026 class, which is a somewhat slow start for the Yellow Jackets, especially considering the momentum Coach Key and the rest of the Georgia Tech staff looked to be building in the 2025 class. It will be interesting to keep tabs on their 2026 class to see if they can build off what they built last year.

Other Commitments/Decommitments

3-Star (88) LB Carson Crawford commits to Texas State