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Wake Forest, Texas A&M, FSU, and More!
CFB Roundup – December 17, 2024
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
Away | Home | Time (ET) | Channel | Spread | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
#25 Memphis (10-2) | West Virginia | 9 PM | ESPN | MEM -4.5 | 58.5 |
Wake Forest HC Dave Clawson Stepping Down
A fairly surprising story emerged from Winston-Salem yesterday, as ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported that Wake Forest’s Dave Clawson is stepping down as the Head Coach.
Coach Clawson is expected to remain with the university in an advisory role, and it is being reported by Thamel that Coach Clawson’s decision to step down was his own.
In 11 seasons with Wake Forest, Coach Clawson was 67-69, including a 5-2 record in bowl games for a program that experienced basically no sustained success before he became the coach.
Thamel, nor anyone else, has reported any candidates for the now-vacant position.
Former Texas Tech WR Micah Hudson Commits to Texas A&M
Former 5-star recruit and Texas Tech WR Micah Hudson has committed out of the transfer portal to Texas A&M.
Hudson appeared in 8 games as a true freshman, finishing with 8 catches for 123 yards. As part of the 2024 class, Hudson was the #12 overall prospect and was the #4 WR in the country.
Florida State’s Mike Norvell Reportedly Restructuring Deal to Give Back $4.5M to FSU
Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger is reporting that Florida State’s Mike Norvell is giving back $4.5M of his salary this year to the university in a restructured contract.
Dellenger also shares that this is the third such public move from a coach as the college football world heads toward athlete revenue sharing.
Between the 2023 and 2024 seasons, Norvell received a new contract which brought him to nearly $10M annually, with an $11M salary by 2031.
LSU’s Brian Kelly also shared that he’d match donations to LSU’s collective, up to $1M, so some coaches are clearly trying to do whatever they can to allow them to retain as many advantages as possible.
Washington State QB John Mateer Expected to Hit Portal; Instantly Becomes One of the Top Names
Washington State QB John Mateer is expected to enter the transfer portal with 2 years of eligibility remaining.
Mateer is coming off of a season where he accounted for nearly 4,000 yards, and finished 5th in terms of total yards per game. After the season he had, plus the tools he clearly has, Mateer is going to be one of the top players in the portal, currently ranking in the top spot according to the 247 portal rankings.
Clemson Uses Portal for First Time; Former Southeast Missouri State WR Tristan Smith Transfers
Dabo Swinney has done it – Clemson has used the transfer portal.
Southeast Missouri State WR Tristan Smith becomes the first player, according to On3, to commit to Clemson from the portal.
And, despite SEMO not exactly being a big name, this is a solid pickup for the Tigers. Coach Swinney and Clemson are getting a guy who finished 2024 with 76 catches for 934 yards and 6 touchdowns.
Wide receiver has been a position that Clemson has been trying to address for a couple years now, so getting Smith surely should help, both at the WR position, and with showing that Clemson evidently is planning to use the transfer portal now.
Former Western Kentucky QB TJ Finley Signs with Tulane
According to On3’s Pete Nakos, former WKU QB TJ Finley has signed with Tulane.
Finley was named the starter for the Hilltoppers but suffered an injury to his leg, and never reclaimed the starting role.
Tulane is going to be Finley’s 5th team as he was previously with LSU, Auburn, Texas State, and then obviously, Western Kentucky.
His best season was 2023 with Texas State, where he completed 67.4% of his passes for 3,439 yards and 24 touchdowns. In his career, he’s thrown for 6,128 career yards, 37 touchdowns, and 20 interceptions.
Former Alabama DL Jehiem Oatis Commits to Colorado
Former Alabama transfer DL Jehiem Oatis has committed to Colorado after having spent 3 seasons with the Tide.
Oatis actually announced his intention to enter the portal back in October, to preserve his redshirt for this season. This way, he still has 2 years of eligibility remaining.
He has 57 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, and 5 passes defended in his career.
Former UNT QB Chandler Morris Commits to Virginia
Former UNT QB Chandler Morris is transferring to Virginia, in large part because of Morris’ love for Coach Tony Elliott:
“Coach Elliott is a guy I grew up admiring and could always see myself playing for. There are a lot of places you could just go and play one year of football, but I felt at Virginia I could make a real impact and help them take things to the next level.”
There’s a connection between Chandler Morris’ dad, Chad Morris, and Tony Elliott, as they both spent some time together on Clemson’s staff from 2011 to 2014.
Morris was previously at Oklahoma and TCU before spending a season at UNT, where he led the AAC in several passing statistics, including with 3,774 yards and 31 passing touchdowns.
Former USC WR Kyron Hudson Commits to Penn State
Former USC WR Kyron Hudson announced on Twitter yesterday that he was committed to Penn State.
Hudson has spent 4 years with USC, so he will be heading to Penn State for a fifth and final year of college ball. With USC, Hudson appeared in 39 games with a total of 57 catches for 655 yards and 5 touchdowns.
Most of that production came in 2024, when he finished with 38 catches for 462 yards and 3 touchdowns.
2026 Consensus 4-Star DL Vodney Cleveland Decommits from Alabama
Please respect my decision 🫡
— Vodney Cleveland (@Vodney_Clev)
3:20 AM • Dec 17, 2024
2026 consensus 4-star DL Vodney Cleveland decommitted from Alabama yesterday after committing at the end of October.
Cleveland is still considering Alabama, but he has decided that it is too early in the process to lock down his recruitment. As a result, after speaking with his family, Cleveland has decided to re-open his recruitment.
Oregon, Miami, Georgia, Tennessee, LSU, South Carolina, Texas, Ohio State, USC, and, obviously, Alabama are all under consideration at the moment.
Cleveland ranks as high as 43rd nationally and 3rd at the DL position according to 247 rankings, but the On3 industry composite has Cleveland 79th nationally and 6th at the DL position.
This was Alabama’s only commitment in the 2026 class, as guys have come in and out of the class that is still far away.
Other Commitments/Decommitments
2026 3-Star (89) IOL Will Conroy commits to Oklahoma
3-Star (86) QB Landyn Locke decommits from Wisconsin
3-Star (85) QB Sawyer Anderson commits to Arizona
3-Star (84) WR Elisha Durham commits to Ball State
Unrated TE Maddox Lynch flips from Central Arkansas to South Alabama