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Nixa’s Jackson Cantwell made the transition from tight end to the offensive tackle and quickly realized that his talents would take him far. He racked up accolades like Gatorade’s National Player of the Year and No. 1 college football recruit in the 2026 class.

As a high school junior, he came to realize that his top-tier college recruiting brings NIL into the picture.

Cantwell and KY3’s Danielle King sat one-on-one to discuss how he navigated NIL, from hiring sports agent Drew Rosenhaus to enjoying the food that comes with brand deals.

Rosenhaus, one of the leading NFL representatives, also chatted with King about representing Cantwell, the young NIL landscape and more.

The college football transfer portal is only ten days away from officially opening for business. That hasn’t stopped players around the country from getting a head start on the action, as nearly 1,100 names are expected to transfer.

That number will continue to rise over the next few weeks. The movement could be unprecedented this offseason, as the spring window has been eliminated, meaning there will be only 15 days for players to appear in the portal.

The quarterback market is packed. Though the group might not be as top-heavy as the last few seasons, there will still be plenty of talented signal-callers available.

Former Freshman Of The Year Transferring From Arkansas State

On Tuesday evening, Arkansas State junior quarterback Jaylen Raynor revealed his intentions to transfer, per 247Sports’ Matt Zenitz.

Raynor spent the last three seasons as the starter for the Red Wolves. In 2025, he completed 333/501 passes for 3,361 yards with 19 touchdowns to 11 interceptions. He added 154 rushes for 423 yards and 7 more scores.

Raynor led the Sun Belt Conference in completions, attempts, yards, and interceptions.

Arkansas State finished 7-6, defeating Missouri State, 34-28, in the Xbox Bowl.

Raynor signed with the Red Wolves as a two-star prospect in the 2023 class. He leaped into the starting role early in his true freshman season, taking the reins for the final 10 games of the year.

Raynor was named the Sun Belt’s Freshman of the Year after completing 166/285 passes for 2,550 yards with 17 touchdowns to 7 interceptions. He rushed for 5 more scores.

The North Carolina native tied Arkansas State’s program record with six touchdown passes against UMass on September 30, 2023.

Raynor continued to lead the Red Wolves as a sophomore. In 2024, Arkansas State went 8-5 and defeated Bowling Green in the 68 Ventures Bowl.

Overall, Raynor is 20-16 as a starting quarterback and he’s 2-1 in bowl games.

During his college career, he’s completed 758 of 1,206 passes for 8,694 yards with 52 touchdowns and 28 interceptions. Raynor has rushed 414 times for 1,183 yards and 15 more scores.

The 6-foot-0, 202-pound quarterback has two years to play one at the college level.

Out of high school, Raynor held offers from programs such as UMass, Miami (OH), Army, Air Force, and Navy.

Read more on College Football HQ

• $45 million college football head coach reportedly offers Lane Kiffin unexpected role

• Paul Finebaum believes one SEC school is sticking by an ‘average’ head coach

• SEC football coach predicts major change after missing College Football Playoff

• Predicting landing spots for the Top 5 college football transfers (Dec. 17)

1. The latest actual numbers I can find…per 247 sports, U of L was 20th in NIL monies in college sports at about 450 million. Now we are approaching 2026 and things obviously have changed, but we were at least trying to play the NIL game.

2. Jeff did not leave Purdue the first time because the timing wasn’t right or he still had a job to do with the Boilermakers. I respected Jeff for that and quite frankly made me feel more proud of who he was as a person .

I could be naive and stupid but:

A. This crazy money by rich people to pay athletes is just that, crazy and not sustainable long term.

B. U of L is probably doing the best it can but can not compete against oil monies etc.

C. Love him or not, (I love Jeff as our coach) he is the best we could have and feel safe he wants to stay. (Is this a dumb statement given the leaving fears?)

D. Let’s keep winning at Jeff’s level or better

Four Missouri football staff members, including the lead executive of the Tigers’ NIL agency, are leaving MU to follow former offensive coordinator Kirby Moore to Washington State. 

Brad Larrondo, who was the CEO and general manager of Every True Tiger Brands, is moving to take a role at WSU. He is a Boise State grad and still has significant connections to the region.

The Tigers also are set to lose tight ends coach Derham Cato to the same role with the Cougars, and Mizzou assistant offensive line coach Jack Abercrombie is set to become Moore’s lead O-line coach. Those staff changes were first reported by Matt Zenitz at CBS Sports.

By JOE REEDY, AP Sports Writer

Matt Patricia is used to postseason runs from his days as the defensive coordinator of the New England Patriots.

However, Patricia acknowledges that the preparation for the College Football Playoff is different than the NFL. Patricia is in his first season as Ohio State’s defensive coordinator as the second-seeded Buckeyes (12-1) get ready to face 10th-seeded Miami (11-2) in a CFP quarterfinal at the Cotton Bowl on Dec. 31.

“It’s a learning (process) for me. We’d have bye-week kind of moments in the NFL, but this is a really long layover and break,” Patricia said. “Right now, I’m trying to trust the expertise in the building. Some of the things we did transfer, you know, because we have some different kind of scheduling and when everybody is in school and that stuff.”

Ohio State was off for two weeks after its 13-10 loss to Indiana in the Big Ten championship game on Dec. 6. Players were mostly occupied with final exams while waiting to see who they would face in the Cotton Bowl.

With the Buckeyes going for consecutive national championships for the first time in school history, Patricia’s first season in Columbus has exceeded expectations. He was hired after Jim Knowles left for Penn State, tasked with leading a unit that returned only three starters, none on the defensive line.

Patricia and Ohio State made an emphatic opening statement in their Aug. 30 14-7 victory over Texas and continued the momentum throughout the season.

The Buckeyes are ranked either first or second nationally in nine different categories. They lead the nation in scoring defense (8.2 points per game), passing yards (129.1), red zone scores (66.7%) and fewest plays of 10 or more yards (90).

Ohio State had three AP All-America first-team selections on the defense — defensive tackle Kayden McDonald, linebacker Arvell Reese and safety Caleb Downs. All three plus linebacker Sonny Styles are projected to be first-round picks in April’s NFL draft.

Patricia, who returned to coaching in college for the first time since 2002, is a finalist for the Broyles Award, which is given to the top assistant coach in college football.

“The players have done an unbelievable job. Again, give them all the credit. I think they’ve played so hard and aggressive and flying around on the field. And it is a lot of fun. I tell them all the time, it’s such a privilege to be up there in front of the group and talk to the group,” Patricia said. “And just for me, personally, it has been so much fun to come back to college and have that little bit of a youthful energy with the players that we have here and their excitement to go out and play.”

When Patricia was hired, many lauded his ability to adjust his personnel by running multiple fronts and coverages. He also has shown the ability to relate to players.

“When he first stepped on campus here, it was like a long-lost family member that just came back from whatever he came from, but he came back home,” defensive end Kenyatta Jackson said. “And I mean, all the guys love him. Even offensive guys. He don’t just talk to the starters or whatever the case may be, but he talks to everybody. And I think that’s why everybody loves him.”

One person who hasn’t been surprised with Patricia’s success is the guy who hired him.

“His background speaks for itself and putting guys into a situation to be successful. And every player just wants someone that’s going to be there to get them better but also wants someone to care about them. He’s done both of those things,” coach Ryan Day said. “It’s great to have somebody in the building who has been through some of the games he’s been through, the Super Bowls and a lot of playoff games, so there’s a confidence level the guys have in him. So, I think all of that adds up to what you’re seeing.”

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If I were given $25 million to build the 105-man Arkansas football roster, how would I do it? All schools on the Power Four level have $22.5 million allotted for revenue sharing across all sports. SEC programs have pledged to donate $2.5 million of that to scholarships. For most schools, football is expected to receive approximately 75% of the remaining balance.

That comes out to $13.5 million in revenue sharing for football. That means we need to raise an additional $11.5 million in NIL to get to $25 million, which is probably the amount of money a program would need to be considered to be in the upper-half of NIL among SEC programs. And that’s an educated guess. Arkansas is likely working somewhere between $20 million and $25 million, I would assume.

That’s probably what it takes to bump someone out among programs like Georgia, Alabama, Texas, Texas A&M, Florida, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Auburn and Ole Miss. Let’s suppose the breakdown below is for Arkansas. It has always been said Arkansas must do more with less. I’ve got a formula that should stretch that $25 million in Monopoly Money I’m playing with today…