Along with financial support for the school, McGowan started an online campaign where fans showed adoration for the football coach.

The cookie man laughs when he’s informed of his new nickname in this online corner of the college football cosmos.

He laughs again when he’s informed that this same corner of the internet is crediting him entirely with altering the trajectory of one of the most will-he-won’t-he chapters of this dizzying coaching carousel cycle.

“You’re the cookie man with cookie money,” this reporter tells him.

The cookie man is Jason McGowan, CEO of Crumbl, one of the largest and most popular cookie bakery chains in America. Just as he helped stuff Penn State’s attempt to close a deal with BYU head coach Kalani Sitake earlier this week, McGowan shut down the assumptions percolating online that it was only his fiscal infusions as a BYU booster that helped keep Sitake in royal Cougar blue. In addition to himself, several powerful boosters rallied to help the BYU athletic department in its time of need.

“I don’t want to comment for anyone else or take the spotlight away with specific numbers,” McGowan said in an interview with The Athletic on Thursday night, “but we were all willing to be substantial in our help for BYU. Very substantial.”

After a 48-hour period in which it was reported that Sitake was in serious talks with Penn State to fill the program’s vacant head coaching position, the 50-year-old head coach and his alma mater eventually came to an agreement on a contract extension Tuesday evening that featured significant raises for Sitake and his assistant coaches and staff members, and deepens BYU’s pool of NIL funds.

On Tuesday morning, McGowan opened his phone and sent Sitake a text. He told him he was there to help however he could to keep him in place for the long term.

“We did put in a big offer to help,” McGowan said. “When Kalani was considering this was, one of the big things from Penn State was they were offering to help with paying their players and his staff. The most fascinating thing that people don’t know is that behind the scenes, when I reached out to Kalani, the feedback from him was, ‘I just want to take care of my players. I want to take care of my coaches and the staff.’ That’s what he cared about. Not once was there a conversation of, ‘Jason, how can you help me?’”

Exactly 24 hours before Sitake sat at a table with BYU athletic director Brian Santiago to discuss Sitake’s new long-term contract, McGowan posted on social media platform X that it was time for him to “get off the sidelines” to do everything in his power to keep Sitake. “Some people,” he wrote, “are not replaceable.”

That set in motion theories (and plenty of jokes) on social media that the cookie man with cookie money was going to work to alter the tides of such a nerve-racking negotiation. Deadspin’s headline Wednesday read: “Penn State Coaching Search Hits New Low After Crumbl Cookies Blocks Hire.”

McGowan said he’s seen coaches vilified by fan bases for leaving town for other jobs. Remember, most recently, Ole Miss fans crowded the tiny airport in Oxford, Miss., to wave goodbye in their own special way with one specific finger to Lane Kiffin after he accepted the job at rival LSU. After his post about needing to get off the sidelines, McGowan followed it up with one asking BYU fans what they loved most about Sitake.

The response has since garnered 2.3 million views and counting and has over 1,600 personal replies explaining how Sitake’s generosity impacted them. It impacted Sitake, too. In his news conference Tuesday night, he got emotional after talking about the responses shown to him by his wife, Timberly. It’s since been dubbed a “love bomb” that helped change the trajectory of Sitake’s decision.

“It’s hard to leave when you have something so special and you have amazing people that support us,” Sitake said.

McGowan credits the BYU fans for stampeding toward his post and sharing personal stories.

“Sharing why someone’s doing a good job and sharing why they might be making a difference can do so much,” McGowan said. “While others may torch their coach or go after the negatives, we want to remind them why they’re here in the first place. At the end of the day, our fans really helped pull this one out for us. This was a Hail Mary from the fans.”

Earlier this year, McGowan volunteered to pay the Big 12 Conference’s $50,000 fine for fans rushing the field after BYU beat rival Utah at home. However, when the conference didn’t levy the fine, McGowan said the money would go toward BYU’s NIL funds. He also donated nearly $100,000 to both Provo and Salt Lake City school districts to pay off student lunch debt.

McGowan credits that donation to Sitake’s love and admiration for Utah, where he spent 10 years as an assistant head coach. What he said resonated most with him when it seemed Sitake might leave for Penn State was the prospect of the school losing its most public-facing figure.

“I think that’s what was really gut-wrenching to me at the time was it’s not just, ‘Are we going to lose a coach that’s helping us win? But are we losing a coach that’s almost our identity in some ways?’” he said.

McGowan was, once upon a time, a college football “free agent.” He didn’t go to college and grew up in Canada. However, his wife got her Ph.D. from BYU, and 20 years ago, he started attending BYU games. The family lives near LaVell Edwards Stadium. He’s happy to forever be known as the cookie man with cookie money to college football fans on the internet.

“We’re a little different in Provo,” he said.

Ole Miss Rebels quarterback Trinidad Chambliss appeared in a video released Saturday that initially seemed to address his future with the program. The social media post features the senior signal-caller sitting in a living room surrounded by family and friends. The atmosphere in the room is tense as a friend holds up a phone and asks if the rumors are true. “The internet is going crazy, bro,” the friend says. “Are you really gonna transfer?”

Chambliss turns to the camera and delivers a calm response to the group. “If you wanna win, you go with the best,” he says. The room falls silent as his phone rings. He answers the call and offers a series of affirmations while the group leans in to listen. The quarterback then delivers the punchline, revealing that the video is a paid advertisement for his new NIL partner. “I’d love to transfer to AT&T,” Chambliss says.

The clever marketing campaign arrives just weeks before the college football transfer portal officially opens. No financial details on the NIL deal have been released.

The 23-year-old signal-caller previously utilized the portal to move from Ferris State to Oxford in April 2025. He took over the starting job for Ole Miss following an injury to Austin Simmons and threw for 415 yards in a win over Arkansas.

Trinidad Chambliss’ Transfer Journey From Division II Star To SEC Starter

The commercial spot highlights how quickly the quarterback has become a household name in the Southeastern Conference. Before arriving in Mississippi, Chambliss built a dominant resume at the Division II level with the Ferris State Bulldogs.

He threw for 2,925 yards and rushed for another 1,019 yards during his junior campaign. That season culminated in a national title victory over Valdosta State, where he accounted for five touchdowns.

His performance earned him recognition as the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Player of the Year. He was also a finalist for the Harlon Hill Trophy which is awarded to the top player in Division II. Chambliss entered the transfer portal shortly after securing the championship. He committed to Ole Miss in April 2025 to compete at the FBS level.

The transition to the SEC initially placed him in a backup role behind Austin Simmons. Chambliss saw limited action in the season opener against Georgia State where he completed four passes for 59 yards.

His opportunity arrived later in the year when Simmons suffered an injury that sidelined him indefinitely. Head coach Lane Kiffin named Chambliss the starter ahead of a crucial matchup against the Arkansas Razorbacks.

Chambliss seized the moment in his first start. He tallied 415 total yards and three touchdowns to lead the Rebels to a 41-35 victory. His dual-threat ability added a new dimension to the offense as the team pushed for a playoff spot. The success of players moving up from lower divisions has become a major storyline in the portal era.

The transfer portal window formally opens on Jan. 2 for all FBS athletes. While Chambliss jokes about transferring to a phone carrier, his actual journey serves as a blueprint for talent evaluation in the modern era.

Chambliss and the Rebels will await their postseason destination as the College Football Playoff Selection Show airs Sunday.

Read more on College Football HQ

Vanderbilt‘s 10-win regular season may not have been enough to get the Commodores into the College Football Playoff. They won’t play for a conference championship, and are currently on the bubble to make the postseason tournament.

Commodores head coach Clark Lea voiced his displeasure with the current playoff model, sounding off on his feelings about Vanderbilt’s current position. In turn, he called for an overhaul of the committee’s current evaluation process.

“I’m just frustrated. We attempted to state our case,” Lea said, via ESPN Radio. “We were fighting for our team. This team deserves the chance to be in and that’s all we want, is just the chance. Look, it’s not like I’m asking people to vote us national champion. I just want the chance to play for it.

“If you were to have told me before the season that a 10-win SEC team doesn’t get in, I would have said there’s no way. For us to be on the wrong side of this right now, it’s upsetting.”

Lea said his statement is not to criticize the College Football Playoff committee, but rather to criticize the playoff’s current model. The Vanderbilt coach specifically mentioned his issue with how automatic bids are distributed in the current 12-team format.

He mentioned the fact that the playoffs currently allows the opportunity for a Group of Six team to make the playoffs. That leaves teams that finished the regular season 10-2, such as Vanderbilt, Miami and Utah, are on the outside looking in during conference championship week and can’t do anything further to help their case.

“No disrespect to those (Group of Six) teams, obviously,” Lea said. “I know how hard it is to win anywhere, but this is actually about getting the 12 best teams in to compete for the greatest of all prizes, the national championship trophy. And I just I don’t like where we’re at right now with the process.

“I’m frustrated by it. I can’t understand it. If I could understand it, I could accept it. I want to fight against it. I’m anxious to help improve it in the off season, but right now, I’m just fighting for my team.”

The final College Football Playoff rankings will be revealed on Sunday following the conference championship slate. Where Vanderbilt falls remains to be seen, but Lea has stated his case to the committee. For now, it appears that 10 wins for the Commodores may not have been enough to squeeze into the field.

FAYETTEVILLE — Ryan Silverfield had a second stop to make Thursday after his first press conference since being hired as Arkansas football coach.

He had to face the people he needs to win over, the ones the Razorbacks need to increase their spending so they can compete with the SEC’s power programs.

Silverfield signed a five-year, $33.5 million deal to take over in Arkansas earlier in the week. He had coached Memphis since the 2020 season, plus a single game with the Tigers as interim head coach in 2019. Memphis qualified for a bowl in every season with Silverfield at the helm and peaked in 2024 with an 11-2 record. The Tigers hold an 8-4 record ahead of a likely bowl game.

Those kinds of results at Arkansas would be a boon. The Razorbacks’ season concluded Saturday with a loss to Missouri. That ended a 2-10 season with an 0-8 record in the Southeastern Conference, the third season in the last seven Arkansas finished with those marks.

“This program is built on pride, resilience and toughness, and it’s time to bring it all back,” Silverfield said at the press conference. “Being all in together, we will rebuild it, we will earn it, and we will make this state proud.”

Finances were one of the biggest points in both the press conference and the public introduction a few hours later. Arkansas athletic director Hunter Yurachek has made a point for the last year that the Razorbacks need more contributions for NIL funds in order to compete at a higher level in the SEC. The first audible announcement over the loudspeaker before Silverfield took the dais was one asking for money.

NIL war chests are tight-lipped secrets across college football. But Arkansas’ football attendance, which equates to revenue earned, ranks fifth from the bottom in the SEC. Both Silverfield and Yurachek said finances were a key topic during the interview and contract negotiations.

“I think it’s our competitive advantage not to give details of what that is, other than to tell you that it is a significant investment in all aspects of our football program that will move us to the top half of spending in all of those categories I mentioned in the Southeastern Conference,” Yurachek said. “I don’t believe we need to be at the top of spending. We need to be somewhere where we’re really competitive and Ryan and I are on the same page with where we are.”

Quarterback KJ Jackson and defensive end Quincy Rhoads Jr. both joined the press conference and announced they would return to the team in 2026. Jackson, a rising sophomore, took over as Arkansas’ starting quarterback for the final game of the season and is largely considered the future of the position. Rhoads finished in a tie for fifth in the SEC in sacks (8) and second in the league in tackles for-loss (17 1/2).

Silverfield told fans he doesn’t think a rebuild will take long.

“It’s not one of those things where we’re sitting here saying, ‘Hey, you know, Hunter, I need three years to rebuild this,'” Silverfield said. “No. We can start rebuilding the culture the moment we step down.”

Ole Miss football is among the most well-supported programs in the country, backed by the Grove Collective, widely regarded as one of the nation’s most organized name, image and likeness groups.

It’s not LSU, though, and that, Lane Kiffin said, is one of the biggest reasons he left Oxford for Baton Rouge. LSU’s financial backing is among the best in the nation, and Kiffin said it played a major role in his decision to choose the Tigers.

“Tell me the numbers and the plan for what the money is for the players, because that’s everything in that area to me,” Kiffin said. “Not what I make — what they make, to understand how you can build this.”

LSU isn’t the only school promising its coaches the resources to build competitive rosters. Several programs — including Michigan State, Penn State, Arkansas and Auburn — have announced major financial commitments aimed at program-building.

At Michigan State, the school received a $401 million donation from Acrisure co-founder Greg Williams and his wife, Dawn, with $290 million earmarked for athletics. It is the largest gift in school history and better positions the Spartans to compete in college sports’ revenue-sharing era.

Newly hired coach Pat Fitzgerald, who dealt with limited NIL resources at Northwestern, will now have far more to work with as he tries to return Michigan State to Big Ten contention.

Matt Campbell named 17th head football coach at Penn State, pending board approval Monday. #WeAre https://t.co/BkWP7JhsJj

— Penn State Athletics (@GoPSUsports) December 6, 2025

Arkansas is also working to reshape its football budget. Athletic director Hunter Yurachek hired Ryan Silverfield as Razorbacks coach and vowed to elevate the school’s spending from near the bottom of the SEC to a more competitive level. At Silverfield’s introductory news conference, Yurachek acknowledged Arkansas’ investment had lagged behind the rest of the conference.

“The top-down alignment of a new financial commitment from our board of trustees, the university, the department of athletics and so many generous donors … was the first step to being all in on this goal,” Yurachek said. “This financial commitment will push us to the top half in key SEC items such as our assistant coaches’ pool, strength and conditioning staff, support staff pool, and our talent acquisition through revenue sharing and legitimate NIL.”

Another Big Ten program, Penn State, hired Matt Campbell from Iowa State to replace James Franklin. Since the hire, Penn State has reportedly committed around $30 million in NIL resources, according to reporter Matt Fortuna, on top of Campbell’s reported eight-year contract. That level of investment was hinted at after Penn State moved on from Franklin. Athletic director Pat Kraft made clear in October that the school intended to operate near the top of the national spending landscape.

“This is also about the modern era of college football,” Kraft said. “Our next coach needs to be able to maximize elite-level resources, attack the transfer portal and develop at the highest level.”

At Auburn, newly hired Alex Golesh said during his opening news conference that he will have “every resource known to man.” The Tigers’ administration believed former coach Hugh Freeze had strong enough support, but Auburn posted a 15-19 record during his tenure.

Even schools that aren’t changing coaches are investing more in their programs. Maryland athletic director Jim Smith reaffirmed the school’s commitment to Mike Locksley, promising to direct more resources into Locksley’s team.

“Coach Locksley, Senior Deputy Athletic Director Diana Sabau and I will review every aspect of our football program to make sure we are focused on getting the right type of resources in the right places to build a successful football program in this new era of college football,” Smith wrote in an online letter to fans.

This season, teams such as Vanderbilt, Virginia and Texas Tech have achieved success that outpaces their recent history. Revenue sharing and NIL commitments help make that more of a possibility.

The new wave of financial commitments around football programs introduces another layer to a coaching cliché. Coaches used to say, “It’s not the X’s and O’s, but the Jimmys and the Joes.” Now, more than ever, it’s about the Benjamins.