Latest news with #FrankReich
Forbes
19-05-2025
- Sport
- Forbes
Only 10 Of 136 FBS Teams Will Not Play An FCS Team In 2025
LOS ANGELES - USC defense and UCLA offense at the line of scrimmage before during a game at United ... More Airlines Field at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on November 11, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by) Since Division-1 college football split into 1-A (FBS) and 1-AA (FCS) beginning with the 1978 season only one team within the higher subdivision has not played a game against a program from the lower subdivision. While USC is the answer to a trivia question, the Trojans were actually scheduled to play an FCS team four years ago. It was summer 2019 when USC and UC-Davis agreed to kick off the 2021 season at the Coliseum. That did not sit well with many of the Trojans' faithful and the matchup was cancelled several months later and at a cost of $725,000. USC is one of only 10 FBS teams that do not have a game scheduled against an FCS program in 2025. The tally last season was 15 of 134. (Delaware and Missouri State elevate to the FBS this year.) Four of the 10 teams are Big Ten members with Michigan, UCLA and Wisconsin joining Southern Cal in a rather exclusive list, which is presented below by conference affiliation. Stanford Interim coach Frank Reich and the Cardinal have a challenging schedule in that there are only three home games before November. One of them is their third and final non-conference date against San Jose State on September 27. The first two are on the road at the beginning of the season: at Hawaii on August 23 and, following an open week, at BYU on September 6. Tulane The first four Saturdays of the season are stacked with non-conference opponents, and a very good lineup at that for coach Jon Sumrall's Green Wave. The season kicks off August 30 at Yulman Stadium against Northwestern, which last visited Tulane in 1955. The first road trip will be all of roughly 150 miles east in Mobile at South Alabama. It is back home for a Week 3 clash with Duke followed by a flight up to Oxford for the 72nd meeting against Ole Miss, which has won 11 straight in the series that dates to 1893. Colorado The Buffaloes host Delaware on September 6 in what will be the Blue Hens' first game against an FBS opponent as an FBS program. While that serves as history on the UD side of the divide, the game will be the second of three non-conference affairs for Deion Sanders' squad with all three at Folsom Field. The season opens Friday night August 29 versus Georgia Tech in the first meeting between the teams. The final non-league game will be against Wyoming on September 20, the 28th meeting between the schools and first this century. Michigan The Wolverines last played an FBS program in 2010 when Rich Rodriguez was in his third and final season as coach in Ann Arbor. UM hung on for a 42-37 win over UMass, which was playing its final season in the FCS. Sherrone Moore's second season begins against New Mexico on August 30 before traveling to Oklahoma for the first regular season meeting between the schools. The only previous game between two of college football's titans saw the Sooners prevail, 14-6, New Year's Day 1976 in the Orange Bowl. Michigan's final non-conference game is against visiting Central Michigan on September 13. UCLA The Bruins never played an FCS program until lining pair of HBCUs – Alabama State in 2022 and North Carolina Central in 2023 – to visit the Rose Bowl. This season's schedule commences August 30 with a visit from former Pac-12 foe Utah. The Bruins travel to UNLV the following week for their third meeting against the Rebels before concluding non-conference play against visiting New Mexico on September 13, the second meeting between the schools. USC As noted above, Southern Cal is the only FBS team to have never played one from the FCS. On first glance, when the Trojans' schedule was released earlier this year, one might have thought such a run came to an end. Indeed, seeing Missouri State as the season-opening foe August 30 may have resulted in a double take. Alas, the Bears are making their FBS debut this season as a member of Conference-USA. Georgia Southern, another first-time opponent, visits the Coliseum the following week. The annual clash with Notre Dame is October 18 in South Bend. Wisconsin The Badgers open 2025 on August 28 for a Thursday night encounter with Miami (Ohio) in the second meeting between the teams. Middle Tennessee visits Camp Randall the following week for the first-ever meeting between the programs. The non-conference slate wraps up in Tuscaloosa in the back end of a home-and-home that saw the Crimson Tide win in Madison last season, 42-10. It will be the fourth meeting between the schools. Sam Houston State The 2025 season will be the Bearkats' third season at the FBS level and second straight not having scheduled an FCS team. This year's non-league slate begins August 30 – the Bearkats open August 23 at conference foe Western Kentucky – against visiting UNLV in the first meeting between the teams. A trip to Hawaii will complete a home-and-home that saw SHSU win in Huntsville last season, 31-13. Following an open week, first-year coach Phil Longo's team will take the roughly 160-mile trip west to Austin to meet the Longhorns, who won (56-3) the only previous meeting in 2006. SOUTH BEND, INDIANA - The Notre Dame Fighting Irish cheerleaders celebrate a touchdown against the ... More Tennessee State Tigers during the first half at Notre Dame Stadium on September 2, 2023 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by) Notre Dame The Fighting Irish played their first and only FCS opponent to date in 2023 when they hosted and defeated (59-3) Eddie George's Tennessee State Tigers, a game that came with a $1 million guarantee. It also assured Notre Dame would have a Labor Day weekend opponent following a Week 0 rescheduled date with Navy in Dublin. The 2020 game in Ireland between the rivals was cancelled due to the pandemic, which led to some schedule maneuvering. The Irish will have two first-time opponents in 2025: Arkansas (Sept. 27, Fayetteville) and Boise State (Oct. 4, South Bend). Texas The Longhorns have played an FCS team once in the last 32 years, the 56-3 win against Sam Houston State in 2006 noted above. Their four non-conference games are stacked up in the beginning of the season: at Ohio State and at home against San Jose State, UTEP and Sam Houston. The Longhorns lost to the Buckeyes, 28-14, in a CFP seminal last season and have split four all-time meetings with Ohio State. UT has played SJSU, UTEP and SHSU a combined eight times and have won each by an aggregate 368-39.
Fox News
15-05-2025
- Sport
- Fox News
'Celebrity figure' Bill Belichick 'great thing' for ACC despite distractions
Bill Belichick arrived fashionably late to the ACC's spring meetings, his first one as North Carolina's head coach. Still wheeling luggage around the beachside resort in Amelia Island, Belichick banged his carry-on into the door frame as he joined league athletic directors, faculty representatives and football and basketball coaches. It was a mildly awkward entrance for the ACC's newest and brightest star. But if the former New England Patriots coach and six-time Super Bowl champion caused a distraction, no one seemed to care. The ACC, at least publicly, welcomed Belichick, baggage and all. "I thought I was done being tortured by him," joked Stanford interim coach Frank Reich, who went 6-7 against Belichick, including a win in Super Bowl 52, during 18 seasons on NFL sidelines. Belichick, with a new public relations communications person by his side, declined most interview requests at the Ritz-Carlton. He did two football-only interviews with North Carolina reporters, sat alongside Clemson coach Dabo Swinney for an ESPN feature and did a brief segment on ESPN's SportsCenter, whose appearance at the meetings surely had more to do with the former NFL coach than anything the conference had going on during its three-day event. ESPN already had made UNC's home opener against TCU a prime-time event, with Labor Day night becoming a showcase for Belichick's college coaching debut. It could be a launching point for the league, which trails the Big Ten and the Southeastern conferences in brand recognition, television ratings and — most importantly — revenue. "I think they ran to us before we could even run to them, our partners at Disney," ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips said. "Listen, it's a great thing for the league. It's a great thing for North Carolina. And we're all following just the massive coverage that Coach Belichick draws. "I don't know that he's got a private moment to himself at all from what I can see and read and what I follow. But I think it's good. I think it's good for our league. It's good for certainly North Carolina. It's good for college football people; it draws more interest. And it was enjoyable to have him here this week with our joint group in those meetings." Belichick, Reich and Boston College coach Bill O'Brien give the league three former NFL coaches, though none come with the titles and headaches — Spygate, Deflategate and more — of Belichick. Their experience and insight were widely regarded — no surprise considering many top programs are adapting NFL models as they navigate a changing landscape on the doorstep of paying players for use of their name, image and likeness. "I don't necessarily know where college football is going, but I have an idea," SMU coach Rhett Lashlee said. "We're not really a full pro model, but we're not an old-school, student-athlete-only model. We're kind of in the middle. "You start talking about salary caps and portal/free agency and rules of the game. I don't necessarily believe that just because the NFL does it, we should. But at the end of the day, we're grooming guys to go to the league, so as many things as we can do that line up with them makes sense. Having Bill Belichick, Bill O'Brien, Frank Reich, it definitely adds value to the room." With no TV cameras chasing his every move, the 73-year-old Belichick was somewhat removed from the spotlight during the ACC event. It may have been a welcome respite after the past few weeks, when he defended 24-year-old girlfriend Jordon Hudson for shutting down questions about their relationship, which has drawn outsized attention given their age gap and fed by frequent online glimpses into their relationship via social media. Earlier this month, UNC released a statement saying Hudson is "welcome" at Tar Heels football facilities to contradict a report that she had been banned. "I don't know that I concern myself with some of those things," Phillips said. "I think about the elements that affect the ACC. Some of those other things, I really don't even pay that much attention to." UNC hired Belichick last December, giving him a three-year, $30 million contract in hopes of reenergizing its football program. Belichick, whose 302 career coaching wins rank third in NFL history, has undoubtably created a stir. He limited access to practices and had players working out in numberless jerseys. "Bill's been great to work with," UNC athletic director Bubba Cunningham said. "He's a celebrity figure, and he's doing a great job for us." Added Clemson coach Dabo Swinney: "He's an amazing football coach. You don't get lucky and do what he did, especially in the NFL where the margin is so, so small. He's going to be great for our league." Reporting by The Associated Press. Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, and follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily!
USA Today
31-03-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Former Eagles Super Bowl winning OC named interim head coach at Stanford
Former Eagles Super Bowl winning OC named interim head coach at Stanford Stanford GM Andrew Luck is hiring veteran NFL coach Frank Reich as the school's interim football coach for 2025 season Frank Reich is taking his talents to the West Coast. The former Colts and Panthers head coach has been named the interim coach at Stanford University. The former Buffalo Bills quarterback won a Super Bowl as the Philadelphia Eagles' offensive coordinator in 2017. The move comes after Stanford fired football coach Troy Taylor following a report last week that he had been investigated twice for allegedly mistreating staffers. General manager Andrew Luck announced the decision on Tuesday in his first significant move since taking over in his role running the entire football program. Reich was the Indianapolis Colts' head coach from 2018 to 22 and the Carolina Panthers' head coach in 2023. Stanford is promoting tight ends coach Nate Byham to offensive coordinator, corresponding with Frank Reich's promotion. Byham is also set to be the play caller.
New York Times
07-02-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Not everybody loves Nick Sirianni, but all the Eagles coach does is win
The screams startled everyone on the field — and everyone in the stands. It wasn't yet 9 in the morning and Nick Sirianni was livid. This was back in July 2019, midway through one of those early training camp practices that never seem to end. The sun was stifling, the crowd quiet, and Sirianni, then the Indianapolis Colts offensive coordinator, was steaming. His players looked tired and unprepared. Someone whiffed on a block. Someone dropped a pass. Someone ran the wrong route. Finally, Sirianni halted the practice. Advertisement 'ENOUGH!' he shouted. 'YOU NEED TO STUDY YOUR SH—!' Heads turned. Eyes shot up. An uneasy silence lingered for a few moments. It was a telling snapshot into Sirianni's abrasive coaching style — the man runs hot. Always has. 'Man, he ain't changed one bit,' says wide receiver Parris Campbell, who was on the field that day as a Colts rookie and now plays for Sirianni in Philadelphia. 'He still does the same thing with us.' Sirianni's fire, plenty of his players say, seeps its way into the locker room and ratchets up the intensity, no matter if it's a sleepy July morning in Westfield, Ind., or halftime of the NFC Championship Game. 'That's what makes him good at his job … wait, I shouldn't say good — great at his job,' Eagles wide receivers coach Aaron Moorehead said. 'Our team is an extension of him. That's why we play so freaking hard.' 'That's one of the reasons I wanted him on my staff,' former Colts coach Frank Reich said. GO DEEPER Chiefs hold off Bills to set up Super Bowl rematch with Eagles, keep 3-peat bid alive When Sirianni left Indianapolis to take over in Philadelphia in 2021, the spotlight got bigger, the roster got better and the scrutiny got more severe. The eruptions didn't stop — now they're just more public. The coach can't help himself. He can be emotional. Impulsive. Petty. After a 2022 win over a terrible Colts team, Sirianni bolted to the stands and shouted, 'That sh— was for Frank Reich!' (who had been fired weeks earlier) at the home crowd. A year later, after beating the Chiefs in a rematch of Super Bowl LVII, Sirianni couldn't help but gloat on his way to the locker room. 'I don't hear sh— anymore, Chiefs fans!' he screamed in the tunnel. 'See ya!' This season he took aim at his own fan base, seemingly taunting the home crowd in the final minutes of a sloppy 20-16 Week 6 win over the Browns. A month later, a testy postgame exchange between Sirianni and Washington Commanders tight end Zach Ertz, a former Eagles star, required the two to be separated. Advertisement 'He's always gonna be feisty,' says Philadelphia left tackle Jordan Mailata. 'That's just Nick. What you see is what you get.' Is he intense? No doubt. Bombastic? At times. Juvenile? You can make the case. 'Yelling at our fans after the game against the Browns, that one pissed me off,' says Edward Wakeley, a lifelong Eagles diehard who made the trip to New Orleans for Super Bowl LIX. 'Look, you barely beat the Browns. Chill out a little bit, OK? 'But I think he represents the city. He's pretty brash, pretty aggressive, like most of us.' The Browns game incident doused gasoline on a fire that was already lit. Fans at Lincoln Financial Field had been chanting 'Fire Nick' during the contest. The 'Fire Nick Sirianni' websites that popped up amid last season's desultory finish gained traction. The coach with a 37-19 record to that point was asked on a radio show about his job security. One radio host ranted: 'If I'm (owner) Jeffrey Lurie, I'm calling Nick Sirianni into my office and giving him an ultimatum: You apologize to the fan base or you pack your office and leave. … We have a distraction at the head-coaching spot.' ESPN's Damien Woody took it a step further, calling Sirianni 'a clown.' The 43-year-old coach, who apologized for his antics after the Cleveland game, knows the rep he's earned. 'I have no doubt that I'm different than other head coaches, but I am myself,' Sirianni said earlier this week. 'I don't try to conform to anything other than who I actually am.' And he wins. At an alarming rate. Sirianni's 48-20 regular-season record four seasons into his career is the best start for any coach hired since 2000. He's the only coach to lead the Eagles to two Super Bowls (Andy Reid, Doug Pederson and Dick Vermeil each led them to one) and only the third coach in league history to reach the big game twice in his first four seasons (joining Mike Tomlin and Joe Gibbs). Reich saw it before anyone else, back when he was the Chargers' OC and Sirianni his wide receivers coach. Reich sometimes delegated during meetings, asking his assistants to explain certain concepts to the players. Sirianni was as skilled at it as anyone in the building. Through a series of video cut-ups, he made the players care about fundamentals and technique. He made them understand the why behind offensive patterns, not just the what. Advertisement 'He was exceptional — we're talking elite — at explaining what we were doing,' Reich said. 'This wasn't a lecture. Guys really got into it. And ultimately that's what players want: a coach who can make them better.' When Reich landed the Colts' head-coaching job in 2018, he told general manager Chris Ballard they needed to do 'whatever it takes' to get Sirianni as his offensive coordinator. Three years later, when Lurie and Eagles general manager Howie Roseman called Reich to inquire about Sirianni's head-coaching potential, the conversations stretched for hours. Reich could tell the Philly brass had done their homework. Sirianni had impressed them. 'When they get into their process, Howie and Mr. Lurie are relentless in their due diligence, as good as any team out there,' said Reich, the Eagles' OC from 2016-17. 'They talk to everybody.' Since Sirianni landed in Philadelphia, the Eagles have made four playoff trips in four years. They have a chance to claim the franchise's second Super Bowl come Sunday. Still, a question often asked around Philadelphia — How much of the Eagles' staggering success is Sirianni actually responsible for? — lingers. Following last season's collapse — the Eagles started 10-1 only to drop six of seven at the end, including a 23-point loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the wild-card round — Lurie waited nine days to confirm that his head coach would return to the team. Both of Sirianni's hand-picked coordinators, Brian Johnson and Sean Desai, were fired. At the season-ending news conference, Sirianni sat next to Roseman, dejected. Part of his voice had been stripped away. Sirianni called the offense he oversaw in 2023 'stale,' and despite being hired in part because of his offensive acumen, he admitted the new coordinator would 'be in charge' of that side of the ball. 'What is your role?' Sirianni was asked at one point. Advertisement 'The head coach of the football team,' was how he began his answer. The moves surely hurt Sirianni's ego, and they kept him in fans' crosshairs this offseason. But he knows narratives don't decide games. He also knows he has the benefit of working for Lurie, one of the sharpest owners in the league, and Roseman, one of the best roster builders of his era. Sirianni's quarterback, Jalen Hurts, is unflappable; his running back, Saquon Barkley, an explosive offensive centerpiece. His DC, Vic Fangio, is one of the best in history; his OC, Kellen Moore, is likely days away from becoming the New Orleans Saints head coach. Offensive line guru Jeff Stoutland is one of the most respected position coaches in the game. The list goes on. The infrastructure in Philadelphia is as good as any in the league this side of Kansas City. A year that commenced with reports of a 'disconnect' between Sirianni and Hurts — 'the relationship is still a work in progress,' The Athletic's Dianna Russini noted then — will culminate Sunday on the sport's biggest stage. Winning cures most ills in this league, and that's pretty much all the Eagles have done since Sirianni arrived. That's not to say the storms haven't been frequent. After an uneven 2-2 start this season that had some in the city calling for his job again, a few of the Eagles' offensive linemen, veteran right tackle Lane Johnson included, piped up in a team meeting. The message was direct: We have Saquon Barkley, and we have this offensive line. We need to lean into that. Sirianni heard them. The offensive approach shifted. Barkley took off. The Eagles won 10 straight. The pivot spoke to one of Sirianni's greatest strengths: his ability to connect and collaborate. He builds a bond with his guys, then coaches them hard. The intensity rarely wanes. He's a screamer. A taunter. A competitor. His players say he'll stop a practice and rip into anyone who's off — even one of his stars. 'He's insane about the details,' Campbell says. 'I mean … insane. Doesn't matter who it is, it can be Jalen, it can be A.J. (Brown), it can be Smitty (DeVonta Smith). He'll do it in front of everybody.' Advertisement Moorehead, who coaches the receiver position that Sirianni played in college and then coached as a young NFL assistant, is an easy target. 'I catch a bullet every now and then, which means lots of loud screaming, generally with some profanities in it,' Moorehead said, laughing. 'But the great thing is, five seconds later, he's onto the next thing.' That's the key, those close to Sirianni believe. His fury only simmers for so long. It serves its purpose, then he listens when he needs to. Kevin Patullo, whose time with Sirianni stretches back to their years in Indianapolis, works as tightly with him as anyone in the Eagles' building. Philly's passing game coordinator and associate head coach has seen a shift, subtle as it might seem, over four thrilling but taxing seasons. 'He's really grown,' Patullo said. 'Just how stoic he's become. … He's still him, but he's got a sense of calmness to him.' Stoic? Calmness? Nick Sirianni? 'Oh yeah,' Patullo said. 'And it's because of the things we've been through from Year 1 until now. Every year there's been something dramatic he's had to deal with … he's humble enough to understand that for us to get better, he has to get better.' 'He's growing. He grows all the time,' Lurie told reporters earlier this week. 'I've seen that with every coach we've ever had. Nick is just a very prime example of that. … As connected as he gets as a human being and as genuine (as he is), he's also connected to himself and goes, 'What was I thinking?' It's a great quality.' So what was he thinking when he screamed at Colts fans? Chiefs fans? His own fans? Sirianni knows the outbursts aren't a good look. But he also knows if his fire cools, he's not the same coach. 'I think there's a time to show emotion and there's a time not to show emotion, and I think I've gotten better at that as the years have went on,' Sirianni said. 'To say I'm gonna stop being excited after we score a touchdown or stop being excited after a win that we lay everything on the line for, or that I'm not gonna yell to correct or yell to praise? That's just not who I am. 'You're always trying to improve and get better,' he continued after a pause. 'But then there's some 43 years of habits that are hard to break.' (Illustration: Demetrius Robinson / The Athletic; photo: Terrance Williams / Associated Press)
