The longtime sports talk radio host has been highly critical of one head coach, in particular, in recent years, and has reiterated his feelings towards him once again this week

ESPN’s Paul Finebaum has gone straight for the jugular when discussing Lincoln Riley’s head coaching tenure at USC, claiming that he would have fired him “a year ago” following another underwhelming campaign in 2024.

The longtime sports talk radio host has been highly critical of the 41-year-old ever since he made the switch from Oklahoma in 2022, suggesting he should have been fired on multiple occasions and even calling him a “fraud” after failing to live up to the high expectations in Los Angeles.

It comes not long after Riley was branded as “pathetic” for repeatedly casting doubt on the future of the Trojans’ college football rivalry with Notre Dame, while Finebaum recently made headlines for producing one of the most agonizing interviews live on TV with Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin.

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The latter has now caught the eye once more with his latest scathing assessment of Riley, taking to his self-titled show on the SEC network to state that if it were up to him, he would have fired the former Texas Tech quarterback before the previous season.

“I would have fired Lincoln Riley a year ago,” Finebaum said. “But he’s got about a $60 million buyout. So, it’s very complicated to get rid of him.

“He’s got a big recruiting class coming in, which doesn’t mean anything in the current strata of recruiting. But another bad season and I think everyone out there will finally come to the conclusion that we have; that he is a bust.”

During his five seasons in charge of Oklahoma between 2017-2021, Riley compiled a 55-10 record, won four Big 12 championships and earned three College Football Playoff berths. He also achieved the highest winning percentage in the history of coaches at the OU program.

Since taking over at USC, Riley has accumulated a less impressive – yet still respectable – 26–14 record. In his first campaign, he picked up where he left off with Oklahoma, leading the Trojans to an 11-3 record and a spot in the Pac-12 Championship Game.

Since then, however, things have been on a downward trajectory. During his second season in charge, USC ended at 8-5, while the most recent campaign saw that record drop again to 7-6.

In the SEC, USC’s record read 5-4 in 2023 and 4-5 in 2024, taking Riley’s overall conference record to 17-10. In the latter, the Trojans finished as low as ninth.

The upcoming campaign is arguably Riley’s biggest as USC boss yet, with major improvements needed if he is to save his job. Although, as Finebaum said, his astronomical buyout clause is the one thing working in his favor.

If USC decides to part ways with Riley, it would be the highest buyout in college football history, surpassing Jimbo Fisher’s $77.5m buyout at Texas A&M in November 2023.

USC kicks off its 2025 season with back-to-back home games against Missouri State and Georgia Southern, providing the perfect opportunity to get things off to a good start. Also on the season schedule is the annual rivalry game with Notre Dame on October 18.

Indiana picked up a commitment from 3-star class of 2026 safety Jamar Owens on Friday afternoon.

Owens announced his decision on his Instagram page.  He took an official visit to IU last weekend.

According to the industry average, Owens is the No. 70 safety in the 2026 class.

The 6-foot and 180-pound Owens attends Jonesboro H.S. in Douglasville, Ga.  He had 70 tackles including three for loss, three interceptions and two forced fumbles as a junior.

Owens’ offers included Texas A&M, LSU, Michigan, Oklahoma, Oregon, Auburn, Texas, Florida State, USC and others.

Indiana now has two safeties in their 2026 class.  Owens joins Florida 3-star Laron Dues.  Overall the class is ranked around No. 30 in the nation.  Here’s the rest of the now 19-player class, with links to more information on each:

INDIANA 2026 CLASS

1. Gabe Hill, Naperville, Illinois, DL (4-star)
2. Henry Ohlinger, Columbus, Ohio, LB/RB (4-star)
3. Kevontay Hugan, Sarasota, Fla., Edge (4-star)
4. Kasmir Hicks, Indianapolis, Indiana, CB/WR (3-star)
5. Sam Simpson, River Falls, Wisconsin, IOL (3-star)
6. Jayreon Campbell, Powder Springs, Georgia, RB (3-star)
7. Cash Herrera, San Diego, California, QB (3-star)
8. Trevor Gibbs, Crown Point, Indiana, TE (3-star)
9. Blake Smythe, Franklin, Indiana, DL (3-star)
10. P.J. MacFarlane, Liberty Township, Ohio, TE (3-star)
11. Kortez Rupert, East St. Louis, Illinois, WR (3-star)
12. Jacob Savage, Union, Kentucky, LB (3-star)
13. Ja’Dyn Williams, Massillon, Ohio, LB (3-star)
14. Rodney White, Towson, Maryland, DL (3-star)
15. Kenton Mondeau, Eau Claire, Wisconsin, OT (3-star)
16. CJ Scifres, Greenwood, Indiana, OL (3-star)
17. Parker Elmore, Columbus, Indiana, TE (3-star)
18. Laron Dues, Sarasota, Florida, S (3-star)

For complete coverage of IU football recruiting, GO HERE.

The Daily Hoosier –“Where Indiana fans assemble when they’re not at Assembly”

Related

Texas A&M Football Commit Wide Receiver Madden Williams Signs Early NIL Endorsement Deal With Adidas originally appeared on Athlon Sports.

Colleges can’t directly use NIL deals as bargaining chips when recruiting high school students, meaning they cannot offer deals as an incentive for the student to commit. However, teams can discuss potential NIL opportunities and students can negotiate deals before they enroll.

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With this gray area, schools that have brand endorsements can highlight these as potential opportunities. For instance, Texas A&M is endorsed by Adidas, Nike, and BSN SPORTS. Aggies are already starting to cash in on these brands — even those still in high school.

Adidas already signed six rising high school seniors to NIL endorsement deals. Texas A&M football’s wide receiver commit Madden Williams is among the group. Wide receiver Tristen Keys, linebacker Tyler Atkinson, wide receiver Chris Henry Jr., wide receiver Calvin Russell, and wide receiver Kayden Dixon-Wyatt are the other five athletes that signed with adidas.

Williams is a four-star recruit from Bellflower, Calif. who committed to Texas A&M on Dec. 28, 2024. Out of the six recent Adidas signees, he’s the lowest ranking rising senior. Still though, when he arrives at College Station, he’s expected to be a star in his college career. Williams is the No. 39 wide receiver overall and No, 239 overall athlete. He’s also the No. 23 recruit from California.

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While he’s not officially and Aggie quite yet, the wide receiver is already putting himself in a position to blend well with the team and its brand. Quarterback Marcel Reed and recent transfer KC Concepcion started their NIL endorsement treks ahead of the 2025-26 season. In fact, Concepcion received $2.5 million through his multiple deals with different companies.

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This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 27, 2025, where it first appeared.

The House v. NCAA settlement, announced on June 6, will allow college athletic departments to distribute up to $20.5 million in revenue to student-athletes. This decision was met with its fair share of controversy.

Still, the ruling brings potential benefits, especially in leveling the recruiting landscape across Power Four programs when it takes effect on July 1. Illinois head coach Bret Bielema already sees a positive impact and believes it could be the key to ensuring every school competes on equal footing.

Bret Bielema Stresses Importance of NIL Balance Across College Football

Illinois football hasn’t always been the most competitive program. From 2002 to 2023, the Fighting Illini did not see a single season where they won double-digit games.

The program’s trend has taken a turn since Bret Bielema took over in 2021, leading Illinois to a ten-win season in 2024. However, Bielema didn’t experience much success on the recruiting trail until the 2026 cycle.

Illinois currently sits with the 13th-best recruiting class in 2026, which, if it stands, would be the best class in program history.

On the “Triple Option” podcast, Bielema explained that under the new revenue-sharing model, Illinois is finally on an even playing field with other Power Four programs, something he sees as a major factor in the team’s recent recruiting success.

“I know right now we are beating schools I’ve never beaten before,” Bielema said. “We can go head-to-head with any SEC or Big Ten school. I don’t care if it’s Ohio State or the team that finished last in our conference last year. I don’t care if it’s the team that finished first in the SEC or the team that finished last in the SEC.”

Bielema further explained that it doesn’t matter if he’s getting the top recruits in the country or the worst recruits. The only thing that matters is that every program has access to the same recruiting pool.

“I don’t care if we’re all shopping in Louis Viton or we’re all in Walmart,” Bielema said. “As long as we’re all in the same store, I’m good.”

It’s a unique perspective, but it makes a lot of sense as college football enters a revenue-sharing landscape.

With teams capped at $20.5 million to share with their athletes, all programs can offer recruits the same amount. While smaller schools that might not be able to afford that $20.5 million will be at a disadvantage, revenue-sharing at least puts all Power Four programs on the same tier.

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While the Fighting Illini’s recent success on the recruiting trail has a limited sample size, it could be a good sign of things to come in college football as revenue-sharing continues to level the playing field for many programs like Illinois.

Joel Klatt

Lead College Football Analyst

Every week, it feels like the college football season is getting just a little closer and closer. I truly can’t wait for what’s in store for the 2025 regular season. 

So, I decided to look at the schedule for the regular season again and try to pinpoint which 10 games will have the most impact. These aren’t necessarily the 10 best games, although some look to be epic. Rather, they’re the 10 games that I think will shape how we view the season and might have the biggest impact on the College Football Playoff.

There are plenty of games early in the season that will certainly have some sway in how things get determined in 2025, with a couple of monster matchups taking place in Week 1. Let’s start off our list with the one that I’ll call for FOX. 

It’s a rematch of one of the CFP semifinal games, with Ohio State winning that game en route to a national championship. Both teams look poised to make another deep run in 2025. In fact, there’s a chance that Texas and Ohio State might be the top two-ranked teams in the country entering Week 1. At worst, I think this will be a No. 1 vs No. 3 matchup. 

Not only will this be a monster matchup, but this will also be the first start of the Arch Manning era for Texas. This is his team and program, and he’ll get a chance to prove what he’s made of on the road against the defending champs. That’s pretty awesome.

We also don’t know who Ohio State’s quarterback will be. Is it going to be Julian Sayin? He’s incredibly talented and I’ve enjoyed watching him when I’ve seen him practice. The Buckeyes will also have new playcallers on both sides of the ball (Brian Hartline and Matt Patricia).

As for the coaching battle, Steve Sarkisian has gotten the Longhorns back to where they’ve wanted to get to for the last decade. He’s done a remarkable job, and he’s a top-five coach, but it’s time for him to take a step forward. He’s going against a top two or three coach in Ryan Day, who has to feel he is entering the season with the monkey off his back. That might be beneficial to Ohio State. 

Another Week 1 matchup that I think will feature two teams ranked in the top 10. Brian Kelly needs to win this game for LSU. Kelly went all in on the portal this offseason and is returning his quarterback, Garrett Nussmeier. But Kelly has gone 0-3 in season openers during his time in Baton Rouge, and LSU fans need to see this program progressing. It’s fair for us to ask when the breakthrough is going to happen for Kelly at LSU. I do think we’ll see that this year.

Yet, I actually feel better about Clemson between these two teams. Dabo Swinney has bet on himself over the last few years, and it feels like Clemson has reloaded for another run. I’ve got Cade Klubnik as my No. 1 quarterback entering the season and that defense is really talented.

There’s also the conference element to this game. If LSU wins this matchup, and Clemson goes on to dominate the ACC en route to a conference title, the SEC will argue that the ACC should only get one CFP participant. But the SEC also needs a giant non-conference win after how the CFP and bowl season played out for the conference last winter. 

Michigan needs a bounce-back season in Sherrone Moore’s second season after going 8-5 a year ago. The defense was fine last year, the offense was not. We know the Wolverines got Bryce Underwood, who was one of the most sought-after recruits in a long time, and this might be his first major start. This is also right before Moore will serve his self-imposed suspension. 

Brent Venables also needs a bounce-back season at Oklahoma. Everyone was excited when Venables was hired to be the Sooners’ next head coach, but now they need something on the field to feel good about. Oklahoma was able to poach quarterback John Mateer and offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle from Washington State, who I expect to help the Sooners take a step forward. But the Wolverines’ defense is going to be outstanding, and defensive coordinator Wink Martindale figured things out late last season.

The winner of this game will really get a big boost ahead of conference play, and this game could also help establish the perception of the depth between the Big Ten and SEC.

This was a great game in College Station last season. We all believe in Marcus Freeman, who led Notre Dame to a national championship game appearance last season. This feels like a program that can compete at the highest level and potentially win a national championship. I’m bullish on them this season. A win against A&M likely gets Notre Dame back into the CFP with how its schedule looks after Week 3. If it loses this game, it’s another September loss for Freeman. Notre Dame lost three games at home in September over his first three seasons as head coach. 

I also really like Mike Elko and his fit at Texas A&M. He gets College Station and I think he’ll work out at Texas A&M. But he’ll have to win games like this one to prove that he’s the guy for the Aggies. 

A rematch of the Big Ten Championship Game. I think this game is bigger for Penn State than Oregon. I’ve repeated over and over again that it’s time for Penn State to beat someone it’s evenly matched with or upset a team with more talent than it has. James Franklin has done a perfect job at winning the games he’s supposed to win, which is a talent that shouldn’t be underrated. But he and Penn State have to win those matchup games, where you have to beat a team that has equal talent to you. The Nittany Lions got close to doing that last year, playing Ohio State, Oregon and Notre Dame close.

If Penn State can win this game, that would announce to everyone that this group is ready for the big stage and potentially make a run for a title. 

From an Oregon perspective, this is Dan Lanning’s first opportunity to show what his squad is made of after getting blown out by Ohio State in the Rose Bowl. There isn’t any shame in losing to that Ohio State team, but Oregon has to show that it has turned the page and can continue to play at a high level. If it can win at Penn State, which I think is the toughest place to play in the Big Ten, that would be saying something for Oregon.

This is a sneaky, under-the-radar one. This game is important for Illinois because the game gives them an opportunity to show they can be this year’s Indiana. Both teams could be 4-0 entering this game. If Illinois wins this game, it’d likely be 5-0, with its game against Ohio State as its only difficult game remaining. That Ohio State game doesn’t look as daunting if Illinois handles business against USC. 

Bret Bielema is building something very special at Illinois. However, they’re going to have to fight the chance of being a former afterthought that turns into the apple of everyone’s eye. Illinois doesn’t have the talent to blow everyone out, but Bielema is building something very sustainable.

As for USC, it’s pretty obvious: Lincoln Riley needs to stack some good wins. He did great early in his tenure at USC, but things got shaky over the last couple of years. If USC loses this game, it’s staring right down the barrel of another possible 7-5 season. USC has one of the best recruiting classes in the country for 2026, so it’s building momentum off the field. Now, it needs to build momentum on the field, too. 

This is an obvious one. This game is really always a great game. They could play it in a parking lot, and it would be a great game with high stakes. The winner of this game will likely be in the SEC Championship Game.

Then, you get into the implications for both teams. Is Alabama back at the level it was at with Nick Saban? This is a huge early test for Kalen DeBoer in Year 2, and Alabama’s schedule after this game is manageable. 

For Georgia, if it loses this game, we’ll wonder if the Bulldogs are slipping. It’d mark two straight losses to Alabama, with a loss in the CFP quarterfinals sandwiched between that. 

Alabama & Georgia in Joel Klatt’s top games that will shape the 2025 season

Penn State vs. Ohio State (Week 10)

This is likely another top-five matchup, which will present another opportunity for James Franklin to get a marquee win. If Penn State doesn’t beat Oregon in Week 5, there will be a ton of pressure on Franklin and the Nittany Lions when they head to Columbus, especially in a year where the Buckeyes are breaking in a new quarterback and coordinators. This is also the most experienced and talented team Franklin has had in his tenure at Penn State. It’s a big opportunity for Drew Allar to show what he’s made of.

The loser of this game will be in a precarious spot in the Big Ten title race. We’ll see how it plays out, but Penn State needed a wild loss from Ohio State against Michigan to reach the Big Ten Championship Game last season. 

LSU vs. Alabama (Week 11)

As I got to the later weeks of the season while making this list, I started predicting some outcomes from earlier games. Most of us probably think that Georgia will beat Alabama in Week 5. I think Clemson will beat LSU in Week 1.

If those two results happen, the LSU-Alabama matchup in Week 11 will be a monster game with CFP implications. I don’t know if the loser of this game can still make the CFP if it also lost its game earlier on this list. It could be a battle for the third or fourth CFP spot among SEC teams. 

And as I touched on with both teams’ inclusions earlier on this list, this is a high-stakes game for both coaches. Brian Kelly needs as many high-profile wins as he can get, and you have to think that Kalen DeBoer doesn’t have that long of a runway at Alabama. The way things finished for DeBoer in Year 1 wasn’t very Alabama-esque. 

Ohio State vs. Michigan (Week 14)

This game was obviously going to make the list. It’s a battle between the last two national championship winners. You’ve got the backstory of how this game finished last year, with Michigan trying to plant the flag at The Shoe before a fight broke out. Even though Ohio State got its national championship, it still has to listen to Michigan say, “Well, you didn’t beat us, and we won our national championship going 15-0.”

Michigan coach Sherrone Moore improved to 2-0 all-time against Ohio State with the Wolverines’ upset win in Columbus in 2024. (Photo by Jason Mowry/Getty Images)

This year’s game is going to be epic. Can Michigan actually win a fifth straight game against Ohio State? Thinking back to the COVID year, I didn’t think Michigan was going to win The Game for the foreseeable future. Somehow, it’s won four in a row.

There are some games that were certainly worthy of being mentioned on this list, but these are the 10 that I feel will truly shape the 2025 college football regular season. Maybe I’ll touch more on those games at a later date. 

Joel Klatt is FOX Sports’ lead college football game analyst and the host of the podcast “The Joel Klatt Show.” Follow him at @joelklatt and subscribe to the “Joel Klatt Show” on YouTube.

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