Former Arizona State quarterback Sam Leavitt is no longer the only elite quarterback in the transfer portal. Leavitt made his intentions to leave ASU clear a few weeks ago, but over Sunday and Monday, several more top QBs have announced their intention to transfer. Now, several programs are already locking horns on the recruiting trail over these guys.

Cincinnati’s Brendan Sorsby, Florida’s DJ Lagway, and Nebraska’s Dylan Raiola all became major names to hit the transfer portal at the quarterback position over the start of this week. And as soon as news broke that those QBs would enter the portal, lists of potential desintations already came up. But after a quiet few days on the Sam Leavitt front, a new list of high-profile suitors was reported for the ASU star.

On3 posted on Monday afternoon that Pete Nakos had heard of the following list of schools as connected to Leavitt: “Among the early schools On3 is hearing about in his recruitment include Oregon, Indiana, Miami and LSU, sources tell On3,” Nakos wrote.

What’s interesting is that Leavitt’s fellow transfer quarterbacks shared somewhat similar lists of reported interest. Lagway had Miami and LSU on his list, Sorsby once attended Indiana and also had the Hoosiers on his first reported shortlist. Meanwhile, Dylan Raiola’s camp has indicated that he would love an Oregon offer.

So, already, there is some crossover between these quarterbacks — which schools are pursuing them and which schools they’re showing their own interest in. Buckle up, folks, because we are just getting started with the transfer portal and particularly the QB class.

Background, stats for Sam Leavitt

As for Leavitt, though, someone will be getting a tough and battle-tested leader more than capable at the power conference level. After all, Sam Leavitt did lead Arizona State to a Big 12 championship as a redshirt freshman in 2024 despite the Sun Devils being picked last place in the conference in the preseason media guide. 2025 featured a less successful follow-up season to ’24 for ASU while Leavitt unfortunately suffered a Lisfranc injury that took him out for the remainder of the season.

In 2024, Leavitt put up ,ore than 3,000 combined passing and rushing yards with 29 total touchdowns, leading Arizona State to an 11-3 record and competitive loss against Texas in a second-round loss after receiving a first round bye in the first-ever 12-team College Football Playoff. In seven starts this season, Sam Leavitt threw for 1,600 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Miami obviously had success with Carson Beck this year and is heading to the College Football Playoff. Indiana speaks for itself after the work it did in 2024 and 2025 and especially on the heels of a Fernando Mendoza Heisman. Plus, LSU offers Lane Kiffin and elite recruiting pipelines with skill players, while Oregon has perhaps the most impressive four-year run of quarterback play to boast. Those are some ELITE options for rising redshirt junior Sam Leavitt.

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BLACKSBURG, Va. (WDBJ) – Name, Image and Likeness, better known as NIL, has changed the college sports world since it was introduced in 2021.

But what is NIL?

In short, players can earn money from endorsements, social media, and other avenues while playing their sport.

Those players can use that money however they like, anything from paying for food outside the school cafeteria to setting up their financial futures.

These are things that until 2021 could cost a player his college eligibility and shut down an entire football program.

“I know a lot of guys working on retirement accounts right now, which is, it’s fantastic that before you even step out into the real world, if that’s where you go, you already have all this big of a foundation set up for you to move forward with life.”

Kyle Lowe began his journey at Virginia Tech in 2020 as a preferred walk on and worked his way into a scholarship, even earning the chance to wear honorary number 25 for the Hokies.

With the hard work came NIL opportunities, opportunities that would shape his future after football.

“I started out coming here not knowing what to do between a checking account and a savings account, and now I’m looking at different types of options investing wise,” He said. “I’ve had the opportunities to start investing in other aspects like mutual funds, all of these options.”

NIL did more then prepare him financially, it revealed his passion for teaching other financial literacy, inspiring him to pursue a career as a financial advisor.

“I started talking to guys in the locker room about different aspects of investing, and it kind of made me realize that this is something I really enjoy doing,” Lowe said. “I love talking to people I’m close with about investment opportunities. I love to see guys succeed financially, and that’s all stemming from NIL.”

Copyright 2025 WDBJ. All rights reserved.

The coaching carousel and NCAA transfer portal; where worlds collide.

A record number of coaching changes across the FBS has impacted the number of players searching for new homes this offseason. The portal was going to fill up regardless, but firings and hirings around the country have sped up the process, creating some surprises along the way.

The Big Ten has been at the forefront of some major coaching decisions. Four programs in the conference (Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State, UCLA) fired their head coaches. Another job opened after Iowa State’s Matt Campbell jumped into the opening at Penn State.

In the case of the Michigan State Spartans, the program has struggled to find stability since Mark Dantonio retired following the 2019 campaign.

The Spartans are onto their third head coach in the last five years, bringing in former Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald to replace the struggling Jonathan Smith.

Since moving on from Smith in late November, 12 players have announced plans to transfer from the program, including a few key names. Check out the full list below, per On3’s transfer tracker.

12 Players (And Counting) From Michigan State To Enter Transfer Portal

There are a few big losses to note for Michigan State, especially on the offensive side of the ball.

On Monday, junior quarterback Aidan Chiles became one of the latest players to depart from Michigan State. Chiles followed Smith from Oregon State and started for the majority of the last two seasons before losing his job late in 2025.

A two-time team captain, Chiles completed 192-of-323 passes for 2,415 yards with 13 touchdowns to 11 interceptions this season. He added 225 yards and 3 more scores on the ground.

Running back Makhi Frazier and wide receiver Nick Marsh are two other Spartans searching for a fresh start.

Frazier led the team in rushing this fall, accumulating 116 times for 520 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Marsh was the top pass-catcher on the Spartans, recording 59 catches for 662 yards and 6 touchdowns, earning honorable mention All-Big 10 honors. He’s totaled 1,311 yards and 9 scores in 23 games, meaning he should be a coveted option in the portal.

Fitzgerald will have his work cut out for him to rebuild Michigan State into a conference championship contender.

The Spartans have compiled a 31-37 overall record since 2020. 11 of those victories came in 2021, the only season in which Michigan State has finished with a winning record in that stretch.

Read more on College Football HQ

• College football OL with no sacks allowed enters NCAA transfer portal

• All-conference EDGE with 18 career sacks to enter college football transfer portal

• Paul Finebaum urges to cut specific programs from College Football Playoff

• Major college football program loses 15 players to transfer portal after 2025 season

It seems you can leave a program bound for the College Football Playoff without burning bridges.

Tulane head coach Jon Sumrall is set to join the SEC as the coach of the Florida Gators following the Green Wave’s CFP run, which begins with a road game against Ole Miss, but he seems to be handling the exit in a way that hasn’t created bad blood with his former school.

Sumrall and his family further solidified that on Monday as Tulane announced a $100,000 donation from Sumrall to the Green Wave Talent Fund, an institutional organization that raises money for NIL for Tulane athletics. Sumrall is “paying it forward” to the next head coach, Will Hall, a former head coach at Southern Miss who was a member of Sumrall’s staff this season.

With the Miami Dolphins playing on Monday Night Football, the Manning Cast brought out special guest Jason Taylor. Naturally, the conversation of college football came up since Taylor is preparing for a College Football Playoff game with Miami. Eli Manning is set to watch his alma mater participate. But Peyton?

“Peyton, I’m sorry you can’t participate this year,” Taylor said. “But the games are televised. If you don’t know what channels it’s on, I’ll make sure I send it to you.”

Here is an easy way to help out the elder Manning. Miami is set to take on Texas A&M on Saturday afternoon, getting the noon ET kickoff from Kyle Field. ESPN will have the broadcast, being one of two first-round games between power conference opponents.

Miami got into the 12-team field this year on Selection Sunday, sending shockwaves through the sport. Notre Dame was left out, seeing the results of the Week 1 head-to-head matchup.

The Hurricanes will be relying on Taylor’s unit to perform well against the Texas A&M offensive line. Certainly a key area to watch, possibly deciding who heads to Arlington for a quarterfinal showdown vs. Ohio State. Taylor made sure to let Manning and other Tennessee fans out there of that.

Eli Manning asks Jason Taylor to take it easy on Ole Miss in hypothetical national championship

The discussion around college football began with a hilarious question from Eli Manning. If there was going to be a matchup between Ole Miss and Miami, it would have to take place in the national championship. On different sides of the bracket, Manning and Taylor would be over the moon to make it to Jan. 18.

And if they do, Manning wants to make sure Ole Miss is getting some kind of advantage. He asked Taylor to take it easy on them and not get after quarterback Trinidad Chambliss too hard.

“Do you think, if we go on a little run here and Ole Miss meets Miami in the national championship game, will you go easy on Ole Miss?” Manning asked. “Kind of tell the defensive line to not rush so hard.”

“That is such a loaded question that you know I can’t answer truthfully,” Taylor said. “So, I will say good luck to everybody. But it is all about the U.”

For now, all attention is on the upcoming matchups. As mentioned, Miami is set to travel to the Lone Star State to face Texas A&M. Ole Miss gets a rematch inside its own stadium, welcoming Tulane to Oxford once again.

The University of Georgia Athletic Association (UGAA)’s NIL lawsuit against former linebacker Damon Wilson II, who transferred to Missouri earlier this year, could become a standard type of litigation as more and more athletes sign NIL deals with one school and then transfer to another.

The specific legal dispute is straightforward: UGAA claims that Wilson, 20, breached his NIL contract with Classic City Collective (CCC)—a Georgia-aligned former NIL collective—and failed to pay a liquidated damages provision that was triggered upon breach.

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A four-star recruit from Venice High School (Fla.), Wilson played for the Bulldogs in the 2023 and 2024 seasons and, while on the Tigers in 2025, earned second-team All-SEC recognition as he amassed nine sacks—tied for third-best in the SEC.

According to litigation records at Athens-Clarke County (Ga.) Superior Court, Wilson signed a 13-month, $500,000 NIL deal with CCC on Dec. 21, 2024. The deal runs from Dec. 1, 2024, to Jan. 31, 2026 and was contingent on Wilson being enrolled as a student at Georgia and part of the football team. He was paid $30,000, his first monthly licensing fee payment, on Dec. 25, 2024. UGAA emphasizes that Wilson accepted this payment, meaning the contract went into effect. On Jan. 6, 2025, Wilson announced he was entering the transfer portal, a move that Georgia says constituted a breach of the NIL deal.  About a week later Wilson withdrew from Georgia and began the process of transferring to Missouri. It’s unknown how much money Wilson received to transfer to Missouri.

Georgia moved to close CCC over the summer, when U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken granted final approval of the House settlement, and has partnered with Learfield on NIL matters. Relevant to the school’s dispute with Wilson, CCC assigned its Wilson contract to UGAA, meaning the athletic association has the legal right to enforce the contract.

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UGAA argues that under the NIL deal’s liquidated damages clause, Wilson, as the licensor, must pay all remaining license fees that would have been payable. The remaining value, according to court filings, is $390,000.

In May, attorney Spence Johnson wrote a demand letter to Wilson on behalf of CCC. The letter told Wilson that while CCC “does not want to unnecessarily undermine your financial future,” CCC also “insists that its student athletes be accountable for promises they make.” Wilson was told he had 14 days to pay or else CCC would “pursue legal action against you based on your breaches” of the NIL deal.

In August, Johnson wrote another letter to Wilson. Johnson said that UGAA had been assigned Wilson’s NIL deal with CCC. The letter indicated Wilson didn’t pay as demanded and that the NIL deal calls for arbitration to resolve disputes. In October, UGAA, through Johnson, filed a lawsuit to compel arbitration, with the complaint stating that Wilson hasn’t responded to demand for arbitration. There is no attorney listed for Wilson and it does not appear from the court docket he has responded to the litigation.

The actual legal controversy—alleged breach of contract—is ordinary, but the circumstances are extraordinary. A university, through its athletic association, is suing a former student athlete who transferred for reneging on his NIL deal.

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A lawsuit like UGAA v. Wilson would have been inconceivable five years ago, but in the new college sports world, it’s the kind of case that could become more common.

Through antitrust litigation and accompanying settlements, college athletes can now transfer without sitting out of sports for a period of time. That approach is consistent with college students in general as they can transfer schools, but typical college students aren’t signing NIL deals.

There’s plenty of money to be made, too, for power conference football players to switch schools. University-aligned NIL collectives can pay athletes, some of whom also stand to benefit from the injunctive relief portion of the House settlement. Participating colleges can directly pay athletes a share of up to 22% of the average power conference athletic media, ticket and sponsorship revenue, with $20.5 million pegged as the initial annual cap. There are thus three buckets of money for some college athletes: revenue share, NIL deals and athletic scholarships.

And playing in college could become something of a career depending on the ultimate trajectory of antitrust litigation brought by Vanderbilt quarterback and former JUCO transfer Diego Pavia—the runner-up for the 2025 Heisman Trophy—and other seasoned college athletes. They wish to continue playing college football past the NCAA eligibility clock, which limits eligibility to four seasons of intercollegiate competition, including JUCO and D-II play, within a five-year period.

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College sports, at least football at power conference schools, resembles professional sports—except without free agency restrictions and similar player restraints found in the NFL. Those restraints are lawful because the NFL collectively bargains them with the NFL players association. They are thus protected by the non-statutory labor exemption, which reflects U.S. Supreme Court decisions that provide antitrust immunity for bargained rules relating to wages, hours and other working conditions. The non-statutory labor exemption can’t apply in college football because the athletes are, for now at least, not recognized as employees and under labor law only employees can unionize.

Unless and until college football players are recognized as employees who in turn unionize, cases like UGAA v. Wilson could happen again and again. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, it’s just a reflection of the chaotic blend of pro and amateur sports known as modern day power conference football.

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