The Michigan Wolverines lost out on an elite player on Saturday night, as 2026 wide receiver Calvin Russell announced his commitment to Syracuse.

A Top-50 overall talent in the 2026 class, Russell is listed at 6-foot-5 and 195 pounds. The Miami, Florida native had offers from the best of the best in college football, but decided to take official visits to LSU, Miami, Florida State, Oregon and Michigan.

But despite all that, he decided to commit to a head coach that he had a strong relationship with in Syracuse head man Fran Brown. He even called out Brown in his announcement tweet.

Russell would’ve been an incredible addition to Michigan’s 2026 class, but the Wolverines still have four-stars Zion Robinson and Travis Johnson, as well as three-star Jaylen Pile. With this three-man class locked in, the Wolverines are very likely done with recruiting wide receivers in this recruiting cycle.

Entering the 2025 college football season, the ACC boasts big-time quarterbacks in Clemson‘s Cade Klubnik, Miami‘s Carson Beck and SMU‘s Kevin Jennings just to name a few.

Klubnik and Jennings led their respective programs to a College Football Playoff appearance last season, while Beck led Georgia to the SEC Championship before suffering a season-ending injury.

The Sporting News ranked the 16 ACC starting quarterbacks for the upcoming season, featured below.

Clemson‘s Cade Klubnik enters the 2025 season as The Sporting News‘ No. 1 ranked quarterback in the ACC.

As a junior in 2024, Klubnik passed for 3,639 yards, 36 touchdowns and just six interceptions. He is one of only three two-time ACC Championship Game MVPs all-time and ranks in the top five in Clemson history in nearly every passing category. “I came to Clemson to win [a National Championship], and it’d be really cool,” Klubnik told On3’s Pete Nakos. “But I think more than anything, I want to be remembered for the person I was off the field as well, and the impact that I had on people. Because I think that’s going to carry on for a long time, too. To do both of those would be really awesome.”

Haynes King returns to Georgia Tech this season for his sixth and final year of college football.

Over his first two seasons with the Yellow Jackets, King has passed for 4,956 yards, 41 touchdowns and 18 interceptions. Since the beginning of the 2023 season, Georgia Tech is 14-10 in games the Longview, TX native has started in. “I’m not the one to mainly focus on individual accolades or individual success,” King told On3’s Pete Nakos. “If your team’s having success, that stuff is going to come.”

After spending his first four seasons at Georgia, Carson Beck is heading to Miami for his final year of college football.

Beck won back-to-back National Championships (2021 & 2022) as Stetson Bennett‘s backup and was named a Second Team All-SEC selection in 2023. In two seasons as Georgia‘s starter (2023 & 2024), he threw for 7,426 yards, 52 touchdowns and 18 interceptions. He’ll be replacing Cam Ward, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.

SMU‘s Kevin Jennings is one of two returning ACC quarterbacks that led their team to a College Football Playoff appearance last season (Klubnik).

Jennings, who was named a Third Team All-ACC selection last season, passed for 3,245 yards, 23 touchdowns and 11 interceptions in 2024. He also rushed for 354 yards and five scores. He struggled mightily in SMU‘s College Football Playoff First Round loss to Penn State however, as he tossed three interceptions.

Two years after dropping 372 passing yards and six touchdowns on Louisville in the 2023 Holiday Bowl, Miller Moss will spend his final year of eligibility playing for Jeff Brohm and the Cardinals.

In four seasons at USC, Moss passed for 3,469 yards, 27 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. “I think he can throw a good football, he’s played a lot of games, he has a ton of experience,” Brohm said in February. “[Miller’s] had ups and downs, kind of like Tyler (Shough), kind of like Jack (Plummer), but I think he’s played against good football teams, and he’s been battle tested, and I think he’s picked up what we’ve done to this point very well.”

After emerging as one of the best freshmen quarterbacks in the country last season at Tulane, Darian Mensah transferred to Duke in the offseason.

Mensah passed for 2,723 yards, 22 touchdowns and six interceptions while leading the Green Wave to the AAC Championship game. “[Duke] had a clear vision for me that they set out,” Mensah told On3’s Pete Nakos. “I liked that. Coach Manny [Diaz] has a defensive mind, and just having that perspective when watching film. We try to watch tape two to three times a week, and having an elite defensive perspective when it comes to knowing defenses is crucial.”

Veteran quarterback Chandler Morris will spend his sixth and final season of college football with his fourth different program.

In his five seasons with Oklahoma (one), TCU (three) and North Texas (one), Morris boasts 6,207 career passing yards, 47 touchdowns and 17 interceptions. He is coming off the best year of his career with the Mean Green in 2024, as he passed for 3,774 yards, 31 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.

Virginia Tech‘s Kyron Drones returns to Blacksburg this season for his third year as the Hokies’ starting quarterback. He did not play in their final three games of the 2024 season due to a back injury.

Over his first two seasons, Drones boasts 3,647 passing yards, 28 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He’s also compiled 1,154 rushing yards and 11 scores on the ground. With Drones at quarterback, Virginia Tech is 12-11 since the beginning of the 2023 season

Grayson James, who took over the Boston College starting quarterback role from Thomas Castellanos on November 16 last season, opens the 2025 season as the Eagles’ starter.

In the three games James started last season, he passed for 746 yards, three touchdowns and zero interceptions. Boston College was 1-2 in games he started, including a loss to Nebraska in the Pinstripe Bowl.

Thomas Castellanos, who transferred to Florida State from Boston College, is ranked one spot lower than the quarterback that took his starting job.

He started Boston College‘s first eight games last season, passing for 1,366 yards, 18 touchdowns and five interceptions. “We need to get back to that mentality of ACC championship, to a good playoff run, to a national championship,” Castellanos told On3’s Pete Nakos. “But for me, I know I have the skill set to be a Heisman contender. To be up in New York.”

CJ Bailey, fresh off a successful freshman campaign, is back for his second season as the starter at NC State.

Last season, Bailey passed for 2,413 yards, 17 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He also rushed for 279 yards and five scores. He led the Wolfpack to a 6-7 record and a 26-21 loss to East Carolina in the Go Bowling Military Bowl. His best performance in 2024 came in the Wolfpack’s 24-23 win over California, in which he passed for 306 yards and two touchdowns.

Surprisingly, The Sporting News has tabbed Max Johnson as North Carolina‘s starting quarterback over South Alabama transfer Gio Lopez. New Tar Heel coach Bill Belichick has yet to reveal whether Johnson or Lopez will start in their season opener against TCU.

Johnson, who is at his third program, broke his leg in Carolina‘s season opener against Minnesota last season. In five seasons (two at LSU, two at Texas A&M and UNC), he has thrown for 5,923 yards, 47 touchdowns and 13 interceptions.

Eli Holstein, just like NC State‘s CJ Bailey, is returning for his sophomore season and second season as QB1.

The Zachary, LA native passed for 2,225 yards, 17 touchdowns and seven interceptions in 2024. The Panthers won in Holstein’s first seven starts, but lost their next three games he started. He suffered a season-ending left leg injury during the first quarter of Pitt‘s 37-9 loss to Louisville after being sacked by defensive end Ashton Gillotte.

Baton Rouge, LA native Rickie Collins spent his first two collegiate seasons as a backup at LSU, but transferred to Syracuse in the offseason to replace Kyle McCord.

Collins has taken just seven career snaps, passing for 38 yards. “He seems to be moving into (being) the leader of our football team,” head coach Fran Brown said. “I’m liking what I’m seeing. I think the players are behind him, everyone’s behind him. So, it seems like he’s going to be our quarterback.

Devin Brown is yet another career backup quarterback transferring to the ACC for a starting job.

Brown spent three seasons at Ohio State, where he attempted just 48 passes for 331 yards, three touchdowns and just one interception. He was the No. 24 ranked QB and the No. 228 overall transfer in On3’s Transfer Portal Rankings.

Former Auburn and South Carolina quarterback Robby Ashford has finally departed the SEC and will start at Wake Forest this season.

Over three campaigns, Ashford boasts 2,082 career passing yards with 11 touchdowns and nine interceptions. “Just what coach [Jake] Dickert is building and his vision for the program and wanting to win now, and the opportunity to come in and be the guy,” Ashford said when asked why he transferred to Wake.

Stanford‘s Elijah Brown enters the 2025 season as The Sporting News‘ lowest ranked quarterback in the ACC.

As a freshman in 2024, Brown passed for 274 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions. With Andrew Luck taking over as Stanford‘s GM, Cardinal fans can only hope Luck and interim head coach Frank Reich cane help Brown make a leap as a solid quarterback in the conference.

The post Insider reveals NIL move that won over Texas Tech’s 5-star commit appeared first on ClutchPoints.

Texas Tech football launched the biggest fireworks on the recruiting end for Fourth of July. Felix Ojo spurned multiple powers for the Red Raiders Friday. Becoming a rare five-star commit for the Lubbock university on the college football recruiting trail.

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But how were the Red Raiders able to coax the dominating tackle? Especially with Texas, Michigan, Florida even defending national champion Ohio State all in the final mix for him?

Texas Tech turned to NIL money to convince Ojo that Lubbock is the place for him. The Athletic helped pull back the curtain on the Red Raiders courting Ojo.

Ojo agreed to a three-year, $2.3 million revenue-sharing contract, The Athletic revealed on Saturday. But the outlet also delivered clarity on one reported contract involving the Mansfield, Texas talent.

How much Felix Ojo could earn after joining Texas Tech recruiting class

Ojo’s agent Derrick Shelby of Prestige Management spearheaded the NIL process for the newest Red Raider.

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Turns out there was a contract figure that needed to be clarified by The Athletic.

“ESPN reported on Friday that Ojo was receiving a three-year deal worth $5.1 million, according to his agent, Derrick Shelby of Prestige Management. Shelby confirmed those figures to The Athletic on Saturday, but three Texas Tech sources refuted that number, with two confirming that Ojo is scheduled to receive an annual compensation of $775,000 per year for three years from Tech’s revenue-sharing pool,” the report reads.

There’s additional figures attached to Ojo. He received a verbal agreement “that can escalate the total value of the contract into the $5 million range.” However, that figure surfaces “if there were a large jump in the revenue sharing cap for schools or if there is minimal regulation of schools’ adhering to the cap.”

Ojo isn’t the only massive recruiting win. Four-star safety Donovan Webb spurned Michigan for Texas Tech on Wednesday. Webb originally was favored to land with the Wolverines per multiple outlets. Texas Tech is now 25th overall in the national recruiting rankings per 247Sports for the 2026 class.

Related: 5-star WR shockingly picks Syracuse over Michigan football

Related: Georgia football way-too-early bold predictions for 2025 season

Texas Tech took the NiJaree Canady NIL approach with 2026 five-star OT Felix Ojo. But paying big, guaranteed money to a proven softball pitching transfer who can single-handedly control games as compared to paying big, guaranteed money to an incoming freshman offensive tackle is a totally different kind of risk, especially in the new era of revenue sharing with student-athletes.

Tech is paying Ojo $2.325 million – guaranteed – for the next three years (an average of $775,000 per season), with a verbal agreement that Tech will renegotiate up to $5 million total if NIL money goes back to a Wild West setup, according to Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports.

Additional info on Texas Tech’s deal with new five-star offensive tackle commit Felix Ojo:

A source tells @cbssports it’s a three-year deal averaging $775,000 a year with a verbal understanding that Tech will renegotiate up to $5 million if things shift back to a Wild West setup https://t.co/YjrV9oQdSy pic.twitter.com/T2MqDjOrKQ

— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) July 4, 2025

This is the kind of high-risk, high-reward precedent Tech set with Canady, who got $1,050,024 to sign with Tech after her sophomore season at Stanford and helped Tech finish runner-up to Texas in the championship final of the Women’s College World Series last month.

Canady’s record deal for a softball player was staggering but came with managed risk considering she had already earned NFCA National Freshman of the Year at Stanford in 2023 and followed that up by being named USA Softball’s Collegiate Player of the Year in 2024 all while leading the Cardinal to two straight WCWS appearances.

A guaranteed deal of this size for an incoming freshman football player in the revenue-sharing era of college athletics is a significant risk and will undoubtedly lead to more agents for high-end high school recruits demanding big, multi-year guarantees.