Colin Lacy
Jackets Stung
By: Colin Lacy
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
When word finally came down from the GHSA office that the 3A bracket didn’t include Southeast Bulloch, there were questions being asked and directed toward Thomaston (where the GHSA office is).
The fact that SEB was left out of the bracket wasn’t so much of a gripe, but who did get in was more the issue.
Beach High School out of Savannah received an at-large spot as the 29th seed in the 3A playoff bracket despite only playing 9 regular season games and being beat by the Southeast Bulloch Yellow Jackets 48-8 just two days prior to the bracket coming out.
Southeast Bulloch finished the season 5-5 and 5-4 in Region 3 play after the 48-8 victory over Beach and ended up 5th in the Region (out of 10 teams). After falling to the Jackets, Beach finishes in 6th place behind SEB.
Beach only played 9 regular season games because their week 2 matchup with Savannah High was declared a no-contest after player ejections and coaches’ arguments broke out in the second quarter of the game in Savannah.
While Beach highly likely would have gone on to win that game against a Savannah team that finished 1-8, the game itself would have played a bigger factor than just a win for Beach.
The PSR (Post Season Ranking) metric that the GHSA uses to determine seeding for 3A and also is the only factor that is used to determine at-large bids is a formula that is 35% based on your win percentage, but is also 35% based on your opponents’ win percentage and 30% based on your opponents’ opponents’ win percentage.
The only comment made by the GHSA has been GHSA associate director Don Corr, who oversees the GHSA’s PSR Ratings and sets the playoff brackets, when he put out a generic statement of “The region followed their procedures to provide the GHSA office with their results, and the GHSA followed the PSR rules as approved by the GHSA state executive committee.”
In the current system, the top four seeds in each region make the playoff field, then at-large berths (due to having to pull the private schools out) are determined by the PSR ratings.
While this year, this flawed system negatively affects the team that I’m tied to with me being the radio play-by-play broadcaster for the Jackets, I’ve said this system is incredibly flawed since it was introduced.
First off, teams in SEB’s region are at a disadvantage because they are in the only 10-team region in all of 3A, so teams only have one non-region game they have control of to increase the PSR ratings, and the way the recent history of the teams in the region has been, there’s only four or five teams that actually can help improve your PSR in region.
With the current region’s makeup, there are two regions that only have six teams in it (so two-thirds of the region make the postseason bracket), and two others that have seven teams.
Aside from that issue, the PSR is an extremely complicated but lazy answer for the GHSA. While the current PSR counts road games more than home games (1.1 to 0.9 in the formula), there is no differentiation between non-region games against a higher classification team. In SEB’s case, they opened the season with the lone non-region match-up against the 5A Statesboro squad, but if you just looked at the PSR formula, it would look like any other game on the schedule.
While the system itself is flawed, the execution and transparency by the GHSA leaves a lot to be desired and caused confusion at the end of the season.
Throughout the regular season on the GHSA website, fans can go online and see the PSR ratings and how each team got to their PSR number, but for some reason, the GHSA took the Football PSR page down Thursday evening before the final games of the regular season, and still remains hidden.
In SEB’s case, the week began with thinking there was no chance at an at large, but as the week went on, a member of the SEB community dove into the numbers and discovered there was a path just to be denied and no explanation of the PSR numbers.
At the end of the day, yes, if SEB wins another game or two, they’re in the top four of the region, and it’s a moot point…..in Brooklet at least, but the scary part is that beginning in 2026, the GHSA has approved to go to the PSR for all classifications (oh yeah, PSR only comes into play for 3A and lower….) and region finishes won’t matter.
Beginning next year, the region champions will get an automatic berth, then everyone will be seeded, and all other at-large berths will come from the same PSR that has failed them this year.
QB Comparision
By: Colin Lacy
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The matchup between the Florida Gators and the Georgia Bulldogs has been full of outstanding games, Hall of Fame players and oddities all the same, but virtually every year, the game has seen a matchup of great quarterbacks.
Names like Rick Casares in the early days to Steve Spurrier, Buck Belue, Aaron Murray stood out in this Jacksonville based event.
This year’s rendition of the rivalry will see Georgia’s Gunner Stockton square off with DJ Lagway for the Gators. Both are relatively familiar within their respective fanbases, but let’s dive into the two signal callers.
Florida’s DJ Lagway will be going into his 15th career start and carries a 9-5 record as a starter. 2025 has been a slow start with the only FBS win of the year coming against Mississippi State.
Much of the “slow start” was because of missing much of the spring and fall camp with injuries.
Lagway was a highly heralded recruit coming out of Willis High School in Texas. His high school career was capped off with being named the National Gatorade Player of the Year and finished with 8,392 passing yards and 100 touchdowns (58 coming in his senior year).
Last season, he began the season as QB2 but was thrown into the fire after Graham Mertz went down with injury early in the season. Lagway would finish with 1,900 passing yards with 12 TDs and 9 picks thrown.
The freshman Gator racked in the FWAA and ESPN Freshman All American honors.
There were high hopes entering the season, but the 2025 campaign has been an up-and-down affair.
The lows came in the matchup with the Bayou Bengals when he threw 5 interceptions against LSU on September 13th.
However, since then, in the last four games, Lagway has only thrown 3 picks since. The previous three games before the bye week were arguably the most consistent of Lagway’s career.
The Sophomore slinger threw for 280 yards in the win against Mississippi State while connecting on 20 of 34 passes and neared the 300-yard mark against the 9 Texas Longhorns when DJ went 21-28 through the air with 298 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Lagway has unreal talent and may be coming into his own finally in his Florida career.
On the flip side Georgia has been breaking in a first year starting quarterback, but a familiar name for Bulldog fans. Gunner Stockton took over the full time QB1 role as a redshirt-junior after serving as the backup to Carson Beck the last two seasons in Athens after redshirting in 2022.
Stockton comes from the athletic family and a “coach’s kid.” Gunner’s dad, Rob, was a Georgia Southern Hall of Fame safety from 1992-1995 and had a huge impact on the development of Gunner (to the point that Gunner wears “14” because that was what his dad wore in the Blue and White with the Eagles.
Stockton’s mom was also a collegiate athlete playing for Erskine women’s basketball in the 90’s in Due West, SC. Stockton (similar to Lagway) was thrust into the fire last season, but on a much larger scale.
Stockton had to come in to finish the first half and play the entirety of the 2nd half of the SEC Championship game against Texas last season when Carson Beck wind down with an injury.
The hard-nosed Stockton set a career high passing in his first true road game of his career when he connected for 304 yards against the Tennessee Volunteers in week 3 of the year.
So far, Stockton is completing 70 percent of his passes and has already eclipsed 1,500 yards through the air to go along with averaging 5.7 yards per carry on the ground this year.
While both are still relatively new in the starting role of QB1, both QBs have shown glimpses at least of greatness.
Stockton has been more consistent throughout the season, but Lagway could quiet the naysayers that want to bring up the 5-interception game with a big showing in Jacksonville.
Let’s Agree To Disagree
By: Colin Lacy
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The annual rivalry between the Georgia Bulldogs and the Florida Gators is unquestionably one of (some would argue the single best) best rivalries in college football.
That is one of the very few things that the two teams and fanbases can agree on.
They don’t agree on the name. If you’re dawned in red and black, it’s the Georgia/Florida game. If you’re dressed head to toe in orange and royal blue, it’s the Florida/Georgia game. They certainly don’t agree on who the better team or players are and heck, they don’t even agree on when the first game is!
In the history books in Athens, Georgia recognizes the first matchup with Florida took place in Macon, Georgia way back in 1904. Georgia ended up with the victory with a final score of 52-0.
The only problem was that contest wasn’t against what we know as the Florida program. The 1904 meeting saw the Dawgs square off against the “University of Florida Blue and White” that was based out of Lake City, FL (about 45 miles north of Gainesville) and had been known as in the years prior as Florida Agriculture College. This institution was one of four predecessors to the modern-day University of Florida in Gainesville.
The current University of Florida was officially established in 1905 and created a football team beginning in 1906 (almost 2 years after what Georgia claims as the first meeting). The current Florida Gators athletics records don’t include games played by predecessor institutions.
Georgia, however, is adamant that the game counts. Georgia historian and former tennis coach Dan Magill told author of the book “I Love Georgia/I Hate Florida,” Patrick Garbin that “That’s where Florida was back then. We can’t help it if they got run out of Lake City.”
While Florida doesn’t claim the first game in the series against Georgia, the University of Florida does claim traces back to the 1850s on their UF website:
“The University of Florida traces its beginnings to 1853 when the state-funded East Florida Seminary acquired the private Kingsbury Academy in Ocala. After the Civil War, the seminary was moved to Gainesville. It was consolidated with the state’s land-grant Florida Agricultural College, then in Lake City, to become the University of Florida in 1905 and the Gainesville site for the campus was chosen in 1906. Classes began on September 26, 1906, for 102 students.”
The first mutually agreed upon contest took place in Jacksonville on a mid-October afternoon in 1915. The result wasn’t quite as lopsided but resulted in a Georgia convincing win over Florida 37-0.
It took thirteen years for Florida to notch their first victory in the budding rivalry, defeating Georgia 26-6 in 1928.
The two teams have met every year since 1926 aside from the 1943 season when Florida didn’t field of team due to World War II
Although the first mutually agreed game was in Jacksonville, it wasn’t until 1933 when the city became the official home for the game and has been the home for all but two (1994 and 1995) since that 1933 meeting.
So, when the stadium is divided and the 104th meeting (or 103rd depending on which camp you’re in) kicks off, remember the history runs deep. The history of passion, football and not agreeing on anything…not even when the hate started.
The New Skipper?
By: Colin Lacy
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The Braves began a process that hasn’t happened in 15 years…a search for a new manager. The organization recently announced that Braves Manager Brian Snitker will be changing roles by coming out of the dugout and moving into an advisory role in the front office beginning in 2026.
The Braves-lifer took over the Braves managerial job in the interim in 2016 after Fredi Gonzalez was fired, then named full-time head man for the 2017 season and moves to the advisory role next year which will be the 50th season in the Braves organization.
The Braves haven’t had to do a full managerial search since 2010 when the club hired Fredi Gonzalez to lead the chop. Now the question swirling around the ATL is “who comes next?”
The manager’s job is vastly different than what even Snit was hired to do in 2016 that also comes along with a demand for alignment from Derek Schiller (Braves Owner), Alex Anthopolous (GM) and through the organization.
The other piece that I pray that is still part of the process (but honestly am skeptical if it is) is finding someone that aligns with the “Braves Way” that was coined by legendary manager Bobby Cox and GM John Schuerholz that held the Braves organization to a higher standard than most teams.
There are a couple of different camps on potential replacements. Some in Braves Country would love to see a more “old school” true baseball man to lead the organization, and if they have a tie to the organization even better.
Names like Bruce Bochy, who is a legendary manager for the Giants and recently parted ways with the Rangers is back on the market.
Bob Melvin (who took over in San Francisco for Bochy) was let go by the Giants just days before the Snitker announcement came down the pipe.
Walt Weiss is also one that has come up consistently when the rumors were swirling over the past few years. Weiss was Snitker’s bench coach that has managerial experience with the Rockies and a former Braves infielder.
Finally, John Gibbons has been looking for a new job and has connections to the front office after being hired by Alex Anthopolous for the Blue Jays when “AA” was the top baseball executive north of the border.
Some other folks are looking for a “young buck” that is all into the analytics and the “new age baseball” minds. One of the top names in this category was Skip Schumaker, who was hired on Friday to lead the Texas Rangers and take over for Bruce Bochy in the dugout in Arlington.
There are dozens of former player names that have come up in conversation, and realistically we could list them all, but in reality, they are all the same. Baseball is more than a laptop, but we’ll save that soapbox for another day.
To me, while I’m a baseball purist and an “old school” baseball thinker and would be far more on that side if I had to choose, I believe that there are a couple of happy mediums.
From the time the word came out that there was a vacancy in the Braves dugout, the first name that came to my mind was Mark DeRosa.
DeRosa has been an analyst on MLB Network after his long playing career, and while he doesn’t have full-time managerial experience at the MLB Level, he has been a wildly successful coach and manager with USA Baseball including the manager for the last two World Baseball Classic teams that represented the American team.
Someone like DeRosa that leans more to the old school mindset while also being able to use the data and analytics to support the baseball minds.
Names like DeRosa, Craig Albernaz, Michael Young fit this role, and would be where my searching mind goes first, but we will see where the combination of Schiller, Anthopolous and the rest of the front office go to.
Grading The Boro
By: Colin Lacy
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Now that we are at the halfway point of the regular season (some slightly passed the halfway point, it’s time that we get a progress report on the Bulloch County football teams for the 2025 season.
Southeast Bulloch (3-3; 3-2 Region 3-3A) | Grade: B-
This grade would have been very different this time last week. The Southeast Bulloch offense took a step back this past Friday after falling to Liberty County 10-7 on the road in Hinesville.
The Yellow Jackets defense held their own as they have all season long. However, the Jackets offense struggled to get anything going. Southeast Bulloch is hoping the offensive woes (including two fumbles) were an anomaly, because the Jacket offense has been good this year at times.
Led by Colby Smith and Jayden Murphy at running back, Southeast Bulloch has used the ground game to dominate wins over Islands, Windsor Forest, and Johnson.
The only blemish in region play entering the Liberty County contest was a fantastic high school football game but ended in a Calvary win 28-24.
The Jackets opened the year falling to cross-county rival, Statesboro, but has grown exponentially since that weather-altered matchup.
While the defense has been knocking on the door of the “A” territory, the offensive struggles against Liberty County knock the grade down slightly, but the potential for this team is unmistakably there in Brooklet.
Statesboro (3-2; 2-1 Region 1-5A) | Grade: B+
Statesboro has been a little of Jekyll and Hyde this season with most of the time seeing vast improvements under third year head coach Matt Dobson.
Sophomore quarterback Beckham Jarrard has dazzled through four games played including a performance against Greenbrier that saw the young signal-caller throw for 156 yards and a score while also leading the team with 134 yards rushing as well.
The Blue Devils were thrown a curveball when Jarrard missed the Statesboro matchup with Bradwell Institute with injury.
The offense picked up the slack with Keon Childers (leads the team with nearly 600 rushing yards (587) and 10 touchdowns who converted from wide receiver to running back this offseason.
The Devils hope to get Beckham Jarrard back in the next few weeks after a coincidentally well-timed bye week this past weekend and the next match-up coming against a winless Lakeside team next week.
After tough losses to Veterans in week 2 and against Glynn Academy, Statesboro responded nicely with the win over Bradwell leading into the bye week and has momentum going down the back stretch.
Bulloch Academy (5-1; 0-0 Region) | Grade: A
Bulloch Academy…ahem…pardon me, that’s “2024 State Champion” Bulloch Academy has picked up where they left off in a championship claiming 2024 season.
Even through their first loss in two years, BA bounced back with convincing wins on the road against Strong Rock last week then at Tattnall Square Academy 52-13 in the most recent victory.
Danye Garvin (RB) and Sam Hubbard (QB) have led this team to a 5-1 record. There have been a couple of blemishes with some penalty issues, but playmakers have overcome that with names like Braylon Cone anchoring the D-Line with at 6’2” 294lbs. Look for BA to make some noise when postseason play rolls around.
Portal (2-4; 1-3) | Grade: C-
It’s been a tough go of it for the Portal Panthers this year but look to have some momentum after a big overtime win this week against Savannah 21-14 to cap off homecoming.
The Panthers, however, have had some impactful players emerge with three running backs with at least 250 yards rushing and combining for 12 touchdowns on the season as Zeke Percell leads the way with over 350 yards rushing and 7 touchdowns along with Jason Crawford and KJ Hunter adding quality depth.
The Panthers now head into a bye week and look to build off the homecoming win to make a playoff push in the final four contests.
While there have been some speedbumps for all four teams, there is also a real possibility that all four Bulloch County teams head into the postseason and keep the trend on the upward trajectory for all four programs.
King Bee Down
By: Colin Lacy
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Wednesday morning, the Wayne County School System announced that Wayne County Football Head Coach John Mohring has resigned in agreement with the school board.
The news comes after a 0-5 start in the second season under Mohring.
With a bye week this week for the Yellow Jackets, Wayne County will transition to new leadership this week as Athletic Director and Head Baseball Coach Justin McDonald will take over as the interim Head Coach for football.
In the 15 games under Mohring since he took over prior to the 2024 season, Wayne County was winless on the field.
One caveat to that was the 2024 matchup with Appling County. Appling defeated Wayne on the field, but Appling County was forced to vacate wins for the 2024 season due to GHSA violations in regard to recruiting and an ineligible transfer player.
There have been plenty of folks that have been unhappy around the Wayne County program with the on-the-field product, and rightfully so.
Since the beginning of 2024, Wayne County has been outscored in those 15 games by a mark of 584-100 including a 390-41 discrepancy last season. In the 10 games of 2024, Wayne County only scored more than 7 points once (the season opener against Glynn Academy) including being shutout 4 times on the year.
The offensive struggles continued this season through the first 5 games of the year as the offense only producing 106.8 yards of total offense per game (national average is 261.0 for reference).
A team that once dominated teams on the ground is now only averaging 62.4 yards rushing per game and putting up only 44 yards passing per game.
One of the most surprising numbers is this year, the Wayne County offense has only put up 28 points (including extra points), while the defense has elevated a couple scores with 2 defensive touchdowns.
Mohring took over the program after Jaybo Shaw left following the 2023 season.
Mohring left his position at Savanah Country Day in March.
At Savannah Country Day, Mohring led the Hornets to two playoff appearances and a 16-16 record in 3 seasons.
Now Mohring becomes the third GHSA coach to step down/be fired this season already with Banks County Todd Winter fired and Windsor Forest’s CJ Frazier stepping down for “personal reasons.”
Interim Head Coach Justin McDonald joined the Wayne County community when he took over the Wayne County baseball program in 2012.
Since then, he has added the Athletic Director title and also amassed over 300 wins on the diamond and is the all-time winningest baseball coach in Wayne County history.
Along the horizon for Wayne County, they open region play after the bye week with Warner Robins coming to Jesup on September 26th before 5 straight weeks of region matchups.
This year, three of the 5 region contests are set to take place at Jaycee Stadium with road trips going to Benedictine and Ware County.
I’m never a huge fan of making coaching moves in-season, but this felt like one that needed to be made.
Now Wayne County still has everything in front of them with an entire region schedule.
Does this turn around the season? Time will tell, but I know that Justin McDonald is not only a great coach, but a fantastic person and leader of men that can hold a team together.
The Long-Snapping Way
By: Colin Lacy
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
When you think about impacts on a football team, specialists aren’t usually at the top of the list.
One position that gets even less love and really goes un-noticed until something goes wrong is the long snapper.
However, the Southeast Bulloch long snapper is absolutely drawing attention not only from the Brooklet community, but from college recruiters in a positive light.
Talon Stokes is a couple of games into his senior year for SEB, but the path has been far different than what he envisioned when he began the journey as a Jacket.
Stokes began his high school career as a tight end and a pole vaulter for the track team, but the path to starting quicky changed. After being buried on the depth chart as a tight end it sparked a conversation with Southeast Bulloch Special Teams Coordinator Randy Lee.
“In ninth grade, Talon, a wiry 5’6”, 140-pound kid, walked into my office dreaming of making an impact on the football team. The varsity field seemed a distant goal for him, but I saw his fire,” said Lee. “Our long snapper was graduating, and I told Talon that role could be his if he worked for it. Never having snapped a ball before, the odds were steep, but Talon didn’t flinch.”
Stokes dove in headfirst. He began working with a snapping coach, going to camps and doing everything possible to learn the niche craft. Which paid off.
“By June, he wasn’t just filling a role; he was dominating it,” explained Coach Lee. “In my 17 years of coaching, Talon’s become the best long snapper I’ve ever seen.”
From what started as an idea to get on the field, it turned into a passion for Talon. Putting in countless hours and hundreds of snaps outside of SEB practice each week and working with one of the premier snapping instructors in the country in Rubio Long Snapping, Talon has turned SEB special teams into a coach’s dream of not having to worry about the snap.
“Unnoticed by the stands but invaluable to our staff, he grinds daily, perfecting his times and lace placement on PATs and field goals,” said Lee.
That dedication over the past four years has not only garnered attention from the coaching staff for SEB, but also college coaches across the country. This past summer, Talon and his mom, Shelley, went on a 10-day journey to specialist’s camps all over the country.
It began in Morgantown, WV to impress the Mountaineer coaches. Then they made the drive to Starkville, Mississippi where Talon ended up winning the Mississippi State camp for both punt snapping and Field Goal snapping in SEC country.
The excursion ended up in Jonesboro, Arkansas in the shadows of the water feature in the endzone at Arkansas State. Couple that success with visits also to Coastal Carolina, Wofford, and countless other schools, Talon is a known commodity in the college world.
Talon is the epitome of a “team guy.” Always upbeat and a smile on his face at practice but took a need of a team and turned it into a mission.
As a freshman going to Coach Lee and asking how he can get on the field, then dedicating himself to be the best long snapper he could be for SEB (which was a foreign concept at the time), now as a 4-star Rubio long snapper is an impressive journey over a relatively short period of time. It’s something that’s not lost in the Brooklet community.
“They say if you work hard, all things are possible—Talon’s living proof,” said Coach Lee. There aren’t many in the country who can touch him or out snap him. I’m glad he is a SEB Jacket, and I can’t wait to see what the future holds.”
That future undoubtedly will be snapping at a high level in college football and it’s just a matter of where.
Gridiron Devil
By: Colin Lacy
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
When the lights get flicked on at Womack Field in Statesboro each week, they shine on a Statesboro Blue Devils team that has been building over the past few years under third year Head Coach Matt Dobson.
A big piece of the growth being seen in Statesboro is the young quarterback Beckham Jarrard.
Jarrard has become a regular name with anyone around the Blue Devils program, and possibly even more-so around programs that have played Statesboro in the last year plus.
The now sophomore field general started right out of the gate. As a freshman, Jarrard was named the starter from the word go opening up the 2024 season with cross county rivals Southeast Bulloch and raised eyebrows.
The then 5’10” 145-pound freshman connected on 17 of 25 passing for 161 yards and a touchdown. Southeast Bulloch would end up with the win but coming away from the game both sides realized that this was the beginning of something special for the signal caller.
Jarrard would finish his freshman season with the most passing yards in the state for a freshman racking up over 1,600 yards and 15 touchdowns in Statesboro’s 10 games while rushing for 200 more and a couple of scores. The growth of Jarrard was unmistakable throughout the season and that’s just the beginning.
He has dove into the deep end to become the best quarterback he can be…literally. It was while he was on vacation to the beach that a random connection turned into the next step in the progression for Jarrard.
While on the annual family vacation in the summer of 2024, he started throwing the football with a family friend that was with them at the beach. A few minutes went by before someone asked if he could join. After throwing and exchanging stories and getting to know them better, turns out the random encounter would be Jarrard meet Gino English (former quarterback at Florida State and East Tennessee St).
Gino was impressed by the then rising freshman and invited him to come train with him at his childhood home nearby. There he would meet Gino’s QB coach, Pat O’Hara.
Pat O’Hara is a well-known quarterback coach in football to say the very least. After a playing career with the Buccaneers, Chargers, and Redskins, O’Hara ended up in the Arena Football League.
For a few years, Pat would be getting into the coaching side of the game while also still on the roster before a couple stints as a head coach in the AFL.
Then O’Hara would break into the pinnacle of the sport with the NFL.
In February 2015, O’Hara was hired as an assistant coach by the Houston Texans. After 3 seasons in Houston, O’Hara would be named quarterbacks coach (and later pass game coordinator) for the Tennessee Titans.
O’Hara has also worked in broadcasting for UCF radio and CBS Sports Network along with working in the movie scene as a football guru teaching actors how to play in films like The Longest Yard, Invincible, We are Marshall and most recently serving as the football administrator for the TV Series Chad Powers.
So, from the football mind that helped mold Paul Crewe, Marcus Mariota, Ryan Tennehill, Brock Osweiler, Deshaun Watson, O’Hara’s insight is now going into Beckham Jarrard. While it’s not feasible to make the trip to Florida much during the season, O’Hara works weekly with Jarrard via zoom on breaking down game film, helping teach how to break down defenses along with the mental side of being a quarterback.
While other rising sophomores in the summers are playing video games, going to the pool, Jarrard is heading to Florida to work with Pat O’Hara.
The commitment to the game is as impressive as the skills he has already (again, reminder, he’s a sophomore).
Now as a sophomore at 6’0 and 165 pounds (gained 20 pounds from the start of Freshman year), Jarrard has developed relationships with so many high-profile quarterbacks’ coaches and soaking up as much as he can.
Charley Loeb of QB Country (former Syracuse QB) is the main mechanical coach to help mold the young quarterback to someone that is now a big problem for defenses.
Having seen him live a handful of times, in addition to on film and through the eyes of others, there’s no doubt in my mind that on June 15th (the date that college coaches can legally begin full contact with recruits), the phone of Beckham Jarrard will be lighting up almost constantly with coaches from all of the southeast.
Ramming Into New Era
By: Colin Lacy
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The offseason has been eventful all across the country, but nowhere as much as in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Back in December, the Tar Heels made the announcement that shocked the college football world in hiring one of the best coaches in not just football but all of sports in Bill Belichick.
After 24 years and six Super Bowl titles with the New England Patriots, Belichick fires up a new challenge as he enters year one as any kind of college coach.
Carolina finished the 2024 season falling under .500 with a loss to UConn in the Wasabi Fenway Bowl game to bring the season mark to 6-7.
Belichick has been upfront with the way he plans on hitting college football head on. He plans to bring the NFL mindset and preparation into the college game.
One of the first pieces of that model was announced almost synonymously (if not before) Belichick was officially announced.
The first move for the former Pat’s coach was bringing in NFL front office veteran Michael Lombardi as the General Manager for the Tar Heels. Lombardi brings over 30 years of NFL experience between scouting, personnel, and serving as the Browns GM in 2013.
With Belichick and Lombardi in place, the next thing that the former “pro-model masters” was to tackle the college version of free agency.
The Tar Heels brought in the second most players in the transfer portal with 41 newcomers coming in from the portal only behind West Virginia and Purdue who brought in 54 via transfers.
The first position that had to be addressed right off the bat was at quarterback. After Drake Maye was drafted by the Patriots (coincidentally), it was a struggle for the Heels in 2024 with the signal caller.
UNC started three different quarterbacks last season and never had anyone take the bulls by the horns. This year Carolina looks to be set with Gio Lopez transferring in late from South Alabama after an impressive couple of years for the Jags in the Sun Belt Conference.
The Tar Heels have bolstered the offensive line and linebacking core in the offseason to be two of the best position groups in the ACC, but some questions really remain around some unproven talent in the skill positions.
One of the biggest losses in all of college football was what UNC lost with Omarion Hampton who was both the leading rusher and third leading receiver a year ago before now competing for the LA Chargers.
North Carolina also lost their top two pass catchers from a year ago in J.J. Jones and John Copenhaver who are no longer in the locker room.
All of the skill position replacements (at least on the offensive side) seem to be coming from within the program or Aziah Johnson who transferred in from Michigan State (albeit only hauling in 276 yards a year ago).
This North Carolina program has been one of the most talked about programs in the country, there’s no question.
To me the unprecedented transition for an NFL Head Coach to move into the college world for the first time that Bill Belichick is taking is one of the most fascinating stories in recent history of the sport.
Among those that are even remotely close to the program, I think the consensus is that Belichick will build something impressive in Chapel Hill, the question just becomes “How long will it take?”.
I don’t know if it’s realistic to think they will compete for the ACC crown and the College Football Playoff in year one, but a winning season and massive step toward that ultimate goal of the CFP is well within grasp of the Tar Heels in 2025.
Tide To Roll?
By: Colin Lacy
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Entering last year, the questions for the Alabama Crimson Tide revolved around all of the “new” in T-Town.
This time a year ago, the Tide were preparing to embark on the first season under Head Coach Kalen DeBoer after Coach Nick Saban retired following the 2023 season.
Although a relatively successful 2024 season that saw a 9-4 record and just missing the first 12 team College Football Playoff, entering 2025, there’s a similar feeling of trying to feel out the “new. New quarterback, new offensive coordinator, new year for Alabama.
The biggest news coming out of Tuscaloosa in the offseason was a quick change, after one year, for Kalen DeBoer at offensive coordinator.
When DeBoer took over for Bama in 2024, he hired Nick Sheridan who had previously been an OC at Indiana before spending two years with DeBoer at Washington as a tight ends coach.
While the offense in 2024 had flashes with Jalen Milroe at quarterback, there seemed to be something missing or off all season. That led to the change at coordinator to a familiar name that has been associated with Kalen DeBoer.
Ryan Grubb leads the Tide offensive unit in 2025. Grubb spent two magical years with DeBoer at Washington as his offensive coordinator as Michael Penix Jr. and Rome Odunze helped lead the Huskies to a national championship game appearance.
Although Grubb takes over the title and play-calling duties, DeBoer made it a point to keep Sheridan on staff as a co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
The group that Sheridan will be leading this year in the quarterback room is going through a lot of “new” too.
With Jalen Milroe now battling for a job with the Seattle Seahawks, one of the biggest question marks has been who takes the snaps for the Tide in 2025.
Many expected throughout the off-season that Ty Simpson would turn into QB1 and Coach DeBoer announced that Ty Simpson would indeed be the starting quarterback for Alabama to start the year.
Simpson is a familiar name for the “Roll Tide-ers” after joining the program in 2022 but has only seen 16 career games since then.
Simpson has only recorded 50 pass attempts with only real meaningful snaps coming in the 2023 matchup against South Florida where he helped lead Bama to a victory in game 2 of the year when Milroe got benched for one game by Nick Saban.
While Simpson isn’t the elusive playmaker that Milroe has been the past few years for Bama, many believe he doesn’t have to be.
Between Ryan Williams, who you may have heard a time or two was only 17 years old last year as a freshman phenom, along with a couple of transfers to the receiving corps, Simpson seemingly only needs to have a firm grasp on the offense and a good distributor to get the ball in the hands of playmakers.
The season doesn’t start slowly for the new pieces for Alabama as the Tide opens the season with a road trip to Tallahassee to take on Florida State.
While the Seminoles had an abysmal season in 2024 (2-10 record and only one ACC win against Cal), Mike Norvell is expected to lead a much-improved team into Doak Campbell Stadium against the Crimson Tide.
So, while there’s a lot of new inside the gates of Bryant-Denny Stadium, the offense has an astounding number of great leaders on staff and weapons on the field for the “new” to turn into household names quickly in T-Town.
