Ole Miss will hold a celebrity softball game on campus this summer to boost name, image, and likeness contributions to The Grove Collective.

A multitude of Rebel coaches and greats, including Lane Kiffin, Dexter McCluster, and Marshall Henderson, will compete in the softball complex on Thursday, June 5.

The squads will consist of a number of notable former student-athletes, including Donte Moncrief, Terence Davis, Kaitlin Lee, and Will Allen, among others. Ole Miss basketball coaches Chris Beard and Yolett McPhee-McCuin, Athletics Director Keith Carter, and other coaches and staff will also join the competition.

The inaugural event will take place at the new Ole Miss Softball stadium and begin with a home run derby at 5 p.m., followed by the first pitch of the game at 6 p.m. After festivities, fans will have the chance to participate in a 30-minute autograph/photo session with select players.

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Join us at the new Ole Miss Softball Stadium on June 5 for our Celebrity Softball Game! Tap for details.@grovecollectnil | @RiverlandRoofs

— Ole Miss Athletics (@OleMissSports) May 20, 2025

“We’re thrilled to launch events such as this that not only create lasting memories for fans but benefit The Grove Collective,” Carter said. “The event also provides a special chance to welcome home some great Rebels of the past, and I’m looking forward to joining them on the field for a fun and meaningful night. We will continue to seek opportunities to collaborate with The Grove Collective while engaging Rebel Nation in new and exciting ways.”

Tickets are available here. Additionally, for every ticket purchased, a $2 donation will be made directly to The Grove Collective. Gates to the celebrity matchup will open at 4 p.m. on game day. In addition, the event will be streamed. The complete rosters will be announced in the weeks leading up to the game.

“We are excited to kick off a summer of giving opportunities with best-in-class events like this, which highlight the coordination and alignment between The Grove Collective and our university partners,” Walker Jones, executive director of The Grove Collective, said. “We look forward to seeing our fans engage with current and former athletes throughout the summer as we continue to lead in the world of name, image, and likeness.”

The Athletic ranked the top 25 college football head coaches since the year 2000 as we mark a quarter century in 2025. Some are still kicking in college, others retired and some are coaching in the NFL or even elsewhere.

Keep in mind, some of these coaches’ career records do include games prior to 2000, but The Athletic’s rankings are based on their stops this century. The teams listed for each coach are only over the last 25 years.

Without further ado, let’s dive into the top coaches of the last 25 years. We’ll start with a legend.

Career Record: 292-71-1

Saban led two SEC programs to new heights this century, winning national titles at both stops. Of course, Saban won six national championships at Alabama and one at LSU, mixed in with an NFL stint of course. But, we won’t count that. Saban has an argument for the greatest college football coach in the history of the game.

Career Record: 187-32

Before a tumultuous season  as the Jacksonville Jaguars head coach, Meyer was one of the crown coaching jewels of college football. All four of his stops were this century and he found success everywhere. A three-time national champion (twice with Florida and once with Ohio State), Meyer’s teams were guaranteed to compete for the top prize. He handed it over to Ryan Day in Columbus, but Meyer ended his Buckeyes’ tenure with back-to-back Big Ten titles.

Career Record: 97-19

Carroll’s second stint as an NFL head coach with the Seattle Seahawks was really successful: a Super Bowl win and two appearances. He’s now with the Las Vegas Raiders still coaching. But at USC, the Trojans were the premier program in the nation. Two national titles and nearly a third in a row, USC was a dominant force, winning the Pac-10 seven of nine years during his tenure. Yes he left in controversy with the recruiting violations and USC hasn’t seen those same heights since, but Carroll’s success was no accident.

Career Record: 105-19

Smart is the first coach on this list that is still coaching at the college level and he’s been successful throughout his entire tenure. Already a winner of over 100 games, Smart also has two national titles and four College Football Playoff appearances to his resume since 2016. The Bulldogs will be in the title conversation pretty much every year under Smart. Perhaps he can surpass some of the coaches in front of him.

Career Record: 180-47

Swinney has far more wins than Smart on this list, and just as many national titles, but The Athletic opted to put Swinney just a notch below Smart. You can’t go wrong though as Swinney’s led Clemson to the peak of college football, pretty much since 2015. It was a slower build, albeit with a lot of winning, from 2008-14. Since then, two national titles and four national title game appearances later, Swinney remains one of the premier coaches in college football. They returned to the CFP last year and everything’s coming up Clemson again.

Career Record: 191-48

Stoops returned in 2021 on an interim basis and won the Alamo Bowl, following five years away from the Sooners. He won 10 Big 12 titles and the 2000 national title with Oklahoma. He’s actually still coaching, currently with the UFL’s Arlington franchise and actually won the 2023 XFL title with them before the merger into the UFL. Safe to say, he can coach. Oklahoma replaced Stoops with Lincoln Riley, who’s also on this list, but hasn’t quite reached the dominant heights of Stoops since. He’s firmly a top 10 coach of the 21st century.

Career Record:  229-79-2

That’s right, Ohio’s Lieutenant Governor is on this list! All jokes aside, Tressel had an incredible run at Ohio State from 2001-10, following his Youngstown State tenure from 1986-2000. A national champion in 2002, Tressel then led Ohio State to a Big Ten title every year from 2005-09. Of course, the memorabilia for tattoos scandal pretty much ended his time. It is quite hilarious seeing that as a controversy these days with NIL and the transfer portal. Still, Tressel had Ohio State on top of the college football world for a decade and they’ve succeeded since with their subsequent coaches.

Career Record: 144-52

Harbaugh is back in the NFL with the Los Angeles Chargers and made the playoffs in his first year. But he had three successful stops in college this century. First it was San Diego with two Pioneer Football League titles, a resurrection of Stanford before leaving for the 49ers and then turning Michigan back into a national power over the course of nine seasons. Harbaugh saved his best for last with three Big Ten titles and a national title in 2023. Although the sign stealing scandal marred the end of his tenure, Harbaugh completed his college arc and now chases that elusive Super Bowl in the NFL.

Career Record: 288-155-1

Brown is known for his Texas tenure this century before having a second stint at North Carolina. While with the Longhorns, he won 158 games, won the national title in 2005 and got back to the BCS Championship in 2009. His second ‘go round at UNC wasn’t as successful as he would’ve liked, but Brown was one of the top coaches of the last 25 years. Texas is just now starting to be a regular for the top of college football again, so his impact was undeniable.

Career Record: 147-38

Do you want to know why Boise State was so good in the mid-2000s? Petersen is the reason why. He went 92-12 from 2006-13, winning four Western Athletic Conference titles and one Mountain West Crown. Everyone remembers the 2006 Fiesta Bowl win over Oklahoma, Petersen’s first year as head coach, a 13-0 season. He followed it up with a stellar coaching tenure at Washington, winning two Pac-12 titles and going 55-26 in six seasons before stepping down. He even led Washington to its first CFP appearance in 2016. 

11. Ryan Day: Ohio State
12. Brian Kelly: LSU, Notre Dame, Cincinnati, Central Michigan
13. Jimbo Fisher: Texas A&M, Florida State
14. Frank Beamer: Virginia Tech
15. Gary Patterson: TCU
16. James Franklin: Penn State, Vanderbilt
17. Les Miles: Kansas, LSU, Oklahoma State
18. Mark Richt: Georgia, Miami
19. Kyle Whittingham: Utah
20. Lincoln Riley: USC, Oklahoma
21. Mark Dantonio: Michigan State, Cincinnati
22. Kirk Ferentz: Iowa
23. Bill Snyder: Kansas State
24. Chip Kelly: UCLA, Oregon
25. Mike Leach: Mississippi State, Washington State, Texas Tech

The College Football Playoff already expanded to 12 teams this past season, but more change appears to be on the horizon.

A new format starting in 2026 could have as many as 16 teams.

No matter the exact number of teams involved in the expansion, Nick Saban was asked at the Nick’s Kids golf tournament Tuesday whether he agrees the playoff should be expanded again.

“Back in the years I was never for expanding the playoff because I thought bowl games were really important to the history and tradition of college football,” Saban said. “Now that we have expanded the playoff, now the bowl games have taken a less significant role. I think expanding the playoff and having as many teams involved as we can —without playing too many games for the players. I think that’s a little bit of a concern — is probably a good thing.”

Saban is heading into his second season as an analyst for ESPN’s College GameDay. The former Alabama football coach won the sports Emmy for outstanding personality/emerging on-air talent this week.

“Must have been not a good year for people in the Emmys,” Saban joked at his charity’s golf tournament.

Former Tennessee guard Zakai Zeigler suing NCAA for additional year.

PublishedMay 20, 2025 5:24 PM EDT•UpdatedMay 20, 2025 5:24 PM EDT

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Zakai Zeigler has decided to sue the NCAA for an additional year of eligibility at Tennessee, but with a twist. 

As we’ve seen with other cases, like Diego Pavia, athletes have been going after the NCAA due to the fact they played a year of JUCO, which plaintiffs have claimed should not count towards their eligibility clock. In the case of Pavia, he won an additional year, using NIL as one of the reasons why he should’ve been granted another season. 

In the case of Zakai Zeigler, he has decided to go after the NCAA in a different manner. In his filing. lawyers representing the former Tennessee guard say that the NCAA’s rule that permits four seasons of eligibility within the five-year window is an unlawful restraint of trade under federal and state antitrust laws. 

Meaning, Zakai feels as though he should have five seasons of eligibility, even without using a redshirt season. 

“The Four-Seasons Rule functions as a horizontal agreement among competitors—NCAA member institutions—to restrict output in the labor market for Division I athletes. In the post-Alston NIL-compensation era, this rule has significant commercial impact by systematically removing the most experienced and valuable participants from the market,” part of the lawsuit reads. 

YOU CAN READ THE FULL LAWSUIT BY CLICKING HERE.

Zakai Zeigler Trying To Use ‘Redshirt’ Argument In Half-Court Lawsuit

In the suit, lawyers claim that Zakai Zeigler would make anywhere between $2 to $4 million dollars next season in NIL funds. This is the avenue they’ve decided to take, given that they believe these rules on eligibility violate antitrust laws. 

“This restraint is even more anticompetitive when viewed in conjunction with the NCAA’s redshirt system. When an athlete redshirts, they do not compete in games for a year but remain an active member of the program. During this non- competition year, the institution still extracts substantial value from the athlete, who practices with the team, contributes to teammates’ development, may appear in promotional materials, and generates merchandise sales. Importantly, redshirting athletes typically earn NIL compensation during their redshirt year, meaning they can monetize their name, image, and likeness for all five years of the eligibility window.”

Zakai Zeigler of the Tennessee Volunteers reacts during the first half against the Kentucky Wildcats in the Sweet Sixteen round of the 2025 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament held at Lucas Oil Stadium on March 28, 2025 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Andy Hancock/NCAA Photos/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)

Right now, the Tennessee roster has one spot still open, which many around Knoxville were speculating would go to Jordan Gainey, if the NCAA decided to address the five-year rule. 

The problem for Zeigler is that he has already played four seasons of basketball, which is what the NCAA allows under their current rules. Currently, you receive five years to play four seasons. 

Now, Zakai is taking a different approach that we haven’t seen before in a lawsuit against the NCAA, given that he is using the ‘redshirt’ excuse in his lawsuit. 

Clearly, the rules have been in place for a very long time, and this is obviously a half-court heave at the buzzer for him to be granted an additional year. 

But, put this case in front of a friendly East Tennessee judge, and who knows what could happen. 

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