Over the past two weeks, LSU has made significant moves to bolster its support and recruiting staff for the football program, reflecting head coach Brian Kelly’s ongoing efforts to modernize the program in the era of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL), revenue sharing, and the NCAA Transfer Portal.

The latest addition is Sam Petitto from Ohio State. Below is a recap of the trio of recently reported hires:

Key Hires

1. Kevin Bolden – Assistant General Manager
   LSU hired Kevin Bolden, previously the Coordinator of Recruiting Strategy at Ole Miss, as Assistant General Manager. Bolden, a Mississippi native, worked under LSU’s Senior Associate Athletic Director for Football Administration, Austin Thomas, during his tenure at Ole Miss in 2022 and 2023. His expertise in transfer portal and high school recruiting is expected to enhance LSU’s recruiting operations, which have already secured the No. 1 Transfer Portal class in 2025. Bolden’s hire is part of LSU’s strategy to maintain its dominance in the transfer market.

2. Jeff Martin – Rehire in Recruiting Role
   LSU rehired Martin, a key assistant staffer from the 2019 national championship team, in a recruiting-focused role. Martin’s return, reported by On3’s Shea Dixon, brings familiarity and proven recruiting prowess to the program. His experience is expected to strengthen LSU’s efforts in securing top talent, particularly for the 2026 recruiting class.

3. Sam Petitto – Director of Scouting and Personnel Strategy
   LSU added Petitto, formerly with Ohio State, as Director of Scouting and Personnel Strategy. Petitto’s hire, reported on July 11, 2025, underscores LSU’s focus on enhancing its scouting and personnel operations. His experience with the national champion Buckeyes, where he led on-campus recruiting activities, adds a high-caliber professional to the Tigers’ front office. This move aligns with the program’s modernization efforts to navigate the evolving landscape of college football.

Context and Impact

The additions of Bolden, Martin, and Petitto signal a strategic emphasis on recruiting and personnel management, critical in an era where the transfer portal and NIL opportunities heavily influence roster construction. LSU’s recruiting success is evident in its top-five 2026 recruiting class and the No. 1 Transfer Portal class, bolstered by commitments from seven top-100 transfers.

The staff changes also reflect a broader trend of LSU targeting experienced professionals with ties to successful power conference programs and Louisiana roots, ensuring both expertise and cultural alignment. These moves are expected to support head coach Kelly’s “College Football Playoff or bust” expectations for the 2025 season, as the Tigers aim to improve coming off of a 8-4 campaign last season.

Conclusion

LSU’s recent hires of Bolden, Martin, and Petitto demonstrate a proactive approach to strengthening the program’s recruiting and support infrastructure. As the Tigers continue to reshape their personnel department, these additions position the Tigers to remain competitive in recruiting top talent and navigating the complexities of modern college football. Fans can expect these hires to play a significant role in sustaining LSU’s recruiting momentum and building a roster capable of contending for a national championship in 2025.

FRISCO, Texas — It’s been a busy time for UCF athletics director Terry Mohajir, who has been working through the seismic changes associated with the college landscape due to the NCAA v House settlement.

The Sentinel caught up with Mohajir at this week’s Big 12 Media Days to discuss several topics. Here is an abbreviated version of that conversation:

Revenue-sharing kicked off on July 1. What has the process been like so far at UCF?

“We’ve been working on it for almost a year and a half, so we’ve had a lot of different plans and strategies. During this whole process, we still didn’t know all the terms of the House settlement. About a month before the settlement was signed, we had a pretty good idea, but it’s been such a fluid process. We received new guidance almost weekly over the past year and a half about things they were going to do or things they were considering. It was a lot of ups and downs. I think we’re prepared and ready, and feel good about our direction.”

You’re covering the full $20.5 million revenue pool, correct?

“Yes. We’re covering the full rev-share. We worked hard at that. Next year it goes up 4% so we’ve got to put together a plan for next year.”

Florida’s Board of Governors approved an amendment that would allow public institutions like UCF to dip into auxiliary funds to help cover the cost of the revenue-share pool. Do you plan to take advantage of that rule?

“We were involved in that process. It’s another option for funding, but you have to have the funds to fund it. We’ll work with our university and we’ll be strategic about it. It’s another option to take advantage of it if you have the funds.

“We have no shortage of ideas on how to use the funds, but you have to have funds readily available that aren’t already allocated for something else. Because even in auxiliary funds, the color of money inside an auxiliary fund may be designated for a certain area that you’re not allowed to use.”

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Under the House settlement, name, image and likeness (NIL) deals are processed through a new program in NIL Go, which serves as a clearinghouse for these deals. How has that gone so far in the process?

“We’ve already put five deals through there. Four have been approved and one is pending. The range has been $600 to $10,000 and we’ve had a $10,000 deal go through so far.

“It’s working [the process] and it’s doing what it’s supposed to do, that’s why I’ve been so optimistic about this new age of college athletics and this new age of college sports. The College Sports Commission that we have, I think it’s working. So, we’ll see. We’re doing it the right way and hopefully everybody continues to do so and follows the terms of this House settlement.”

What are the latest updates on the ongoing construction projects?

“As far as I know, we’re still on track. I haven’t heard anything different, and I think we’re in good shape.”

Are there other projects that you’re working on as well?

“We’re moving along the promenade from Ken Dixon Way to the stadium. Then, we’re creating another pathway from behind the soccer field and the parking garage, which will run from the Village area to help move fans along. They don’t want to walk in the grass and stuff.

“We hired a company to do a master plan for us for athletics to reimagine the whole athletics village area. That’s everything from baseball to softball, the whole space.”

The school revealed new uniforms for this upcoming football season. What’s been the reaction?

“Contrary to what people think, I do not pick the uniforms each week. I let the coaches and the team’s leadership handle all that. My primary goal is to adhere to the black and gold theme. We have such great colors. I want us to stick with black uniforms as much as possible. … You look at our league, they all want black uniforms. Those who don’t have black in their palette wish to be black. So we’re very fortunate to have that.

“Our design team is working with Nike and they’ve done a great job. We still have some more reveals to go, which I think our fans will like.”

Have there been discussions about doing a Space Game Trophy for the Houston game?

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“We’re open to anything. Whenever you’re looking at that kind of content, you want to monetize it. Do we want to relinquish our university designation to share it with someone else? Because if you have an annual space game, you have to play it annually and that’s not a guarantee. We didn’t play Houston last year, so that would mean we would have to rotate. I mean, as much as we’re open to it, I’m not sure if it’ll really works.”

Commissioner Brett Yormark discussed the possibility of playing more international games. Are you in favor of such a move?

“I have raised my hand like [Arnold] Horshack from ‘Welcome Back, Kotter’ every time they talk about international games. Yes, absolutely.

“The biggest thing for us is we don’t want to give up a home game, because we’re so dependent on our football game receipts. Obviously, some of the other schools have different types of funding models at their university, so they might be willing to give up their home game, but I think there’s a real, real opportunity.”

Please find me on X, Bluesky or Instagram @osmattmurschel. Email: mmurschel@orlandosentinel.com. Sign up for the Sentinel’s Knights Weekly newsletter for a roundup of all our UCF coverage.

Mike Gundy is finally coming around on NIL and revenue-sharing after years of hesitation, but the longtime Oklahoma State football coach didn’t have much choice. Schools are now forced to adapt to the rapidly evolving college football landscape or risk being left behind. Initially, Gundy, like many of his peers, hoped these changes were temporary — a passing trend that wouldn’t fundamentally alter how college football operates. But the momentum kept building and the landscape kept shifting. 

What once seemed like a distant possibility became an urgent necessity: embracing NIL, aggressively managing transfers and investing in new strategies to keep programs competitive. The recent House v. NCAA settlement — which ushers in an era of direct revenue-sharing with athletes — only reinforced the reality that college football is now a business, and coaches like Gundy can no longer afford to sit on the sidelines.

“I almost just thought, ‘This will go away. Surely this can’t last,'” Gundy told On3 this week at Big 12 Media Days. “And then it just kept building momentum. And then after a point, about 18 months ago, I said, ‘This is not going away. We’re going to have to make some real adjustments here.'”

Oklahoma State welcomed 41 incoming transfers as part of its 2025 class. That tied for the third-largest haul of any Power Four program this cycle. And it’s more than the total number of incoming transfers Oklahoma State had across the previous six cycles since the NCAA transfer portal debuted in October 2018.

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Shehan Jeyarajah

What finally pushed Gundy to shift his philosophy?

“So, the truth be known, this portal class from January is the first class that we ever bought,” Gundy said. “We’d not bought portal kids. That hurt us the last year or so from a depth standpoint.”

That hard lesson came during Oklahoma State’s disastrous 2024 season, when the Cowboys stumbled to a 3-9 record and missed a bowl game for the first time in nearly two decades. It was an obvious low point for a program known for winning in the Gundy era.

“And that was nobody’s fault,” Gundy admitted, acknowledging that his refusal to spend on portal players had backfired. “That’s not the administration’s fault, not the donors’. That was really kind of my fault because what I had done was taken money that had been raised through donations and spread it amongst the troops somewhat evenly to the current players. We didn’t go out and solicit players and pay them to come to our team. We did that starting in December, which, I think we all would agree, if you don’t do that, you’re not going to survive.”

Despite the large volume of incoming transfers, Oklahoma State ranks No. 32 nationally in the portal team rankings for the 2025 class and fifth in the Big 12.

The landscape of college sports appears to be changing daily and one of the most polarizing head coaches in college football is calling for more changes to help deal with revenue sharing and NIL payments.

Colorado head coach Deion Sanders is advocating for a salary cap to provide an even playing field in a sport that is new to paying athletes.

“I wish there was a cap,” Sanders said during the Big 12 media days this week. “Like, the top-of-the-line player makes this, and if you’re not that type of guy, you know you’re not going to make that. That’s what the NFL does.

“So the problem is, you got a guy that’s not that darn good, but he could go to another school and they give him a half million dollars. You can’t compete with that. And it don’t make sense.”

“All you gotta do is look at the [CFP] and see what those teams spent, and you’ll understand darn well why they’re in the playoffs.”

Deion Sanders on NIL and the current state of college football. pic.twitter.com/y6A5C3dWUP

— ESPN (@espn) July 9, 2025

Sanders, who is now in his third year with the Buffaloes, is looking for a system that resembles the NFL.

“I wish it was truly equality,” he said. “Now they go back to doing stuff under the table. They go back to the agents. Now you’ve got parents trying to be agents, you’ve got the homeboys trying to be agents, you’ve got the friends trying to be agents. You got a lot of bull junk going on. And quite frankly, we’re sick of it. I’ll say it for everybody: We’re sick of it.”

Starting on July 1, 2025, universities were allowed to start sharing revenue with student-athletes for the 2025-26 school year, per the House Settlement. Schools can share up to $20.5 million with a majority of athletic department expected to allocated 75 percent of that with the football program, including at Pitt.

However, programs will still work with third-party NIL collectives to bring in bigger deals for student-athletes that can surpass the revenue-sharing money. ‘NIL Go’ was created by the College Sports Commission and Deloitte to help ensure fair market value for deals.