ESPN College Football

Our series on coaches we love to hate is coming to a close. Go ahead, shed that tear.

Earlier this week, I asked you to vote for the biggest Big East villain in recent history. All week, it was a dead heat between vagabond Todd Graham and traitor Rich Rodriguez, ahead of Bobby Petrino, Brian Kelly and Randy Edsall.

The winner, as of 8 a.m. this morning: Rodriguez -- but he was just barely ahead of Graham. With 3,206 votes in, Rodriguez got 29 percent of the vote; Graham got 28 percent. Petrino was next, followed by Kelly and Edsall.

Here is a little of what you had to say, with a few entries for coaches not included in the poll.

John Ready in Youngstown, Ohio, writes: I think you should add Steve Kragthorpe to the list. He absolutely ruined the Cards. I am a die hard Louisville fan, but found it hard to watch the Cards during the Krag-era. He may not be a villain, but he has been quite vilified for his job (not) done during his tenure.

Mark in Marlboro, N.J., writes: With regards to the poll about the biggest villains, they all have their faults. Graham was a horrible coach, Edsall didn't take a much better job, Rich Rod went for the money and Petrino is a bad guy, even before his latest episode. As the father of a Cincy grad, I don't get on Kelly as much as their fan base. He made the program relevant taking them to two straight BCS Bowl games. My son went to school thinking the hoop squad would be playing in the Final Four. With a name like Kelly, you can't deny the man the opportunity to coach at Notre Dame

Jordan in Lakeland, Fla., writes: He may not be the winner, but I am not sure how you could not include Jim Leavitt in your list of villians.

White Dog777 writes: All the other coaches seem to have made upward mobile decisions but Randy Edsall leaving UCONN for his dream job at Maryland? Plus the way he left the team and not flying back from the Fiesta bowl with them was in my mind bush league. I really hope UCONN kicks the snot out of them in Maryland on Sept. 15th.

Bradenton Bull writes: IMO it's Brian Kelly for leaving UC high an dry right before playing UF in the BCS Bowl. UC ended up getting killed, which obviously greatly contributed to the negative perception of the Big East.. That blow out was killer to the conference. Not saying they would've beat UF, but I don't think they'd have gotten worked over like that.

Calmteer writes: Todd Graham and Petrino should be running away with this vote. The other three all put in their time and left their schools much better than they found them and all brought their schools multiple Big East championships and BCS games.

Eric 72785 writes: They did not point out that RichRod left the day after losing a game against a TERRIBLE team... that had we won, would have placed WVU in the NC. He literally (threw) away a number 2 ranking, with zero shot at not being in the big show ... *uck RichRod.

IAM4WVU87 writes: Funny Rodriguez and Graham receiving an almost equal number of votes, and now that are coaching in the same conference. Those poor $@%!$@%! have no idea what they're in for.

Pitt reserve fullback Derrick Burns suffered a stroke and his football career is over, his dad told a local television station.

Burns' dad, Dan, told KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh, “Found a mass, a blood clot in the back of his head, and a small one on the left side which caused a stroke and left his right side weak."

Burns, a redshirt sophomore, had only played in one game in his Pitt career, though he was battling for the starting fullback job heading into the fall.

Pitt released a statement Tuesday saying Burns had been hospitalized, but has not revealed any more information on his status.

Prayers go out to Burns for a speedy recovery.

Is there such a thing as a Big East coach being hated because he wins too much?

The answer is clearly no when you look at the current group of head coaches. Three of them have never coached in a Big East game. Three are going into their third seasons in the league and are barely above .500. Paul Pasqualoni has a bushel-full of victories, but nearly all of them came at Syracuse two decades ago.

So let us take a dip back into history to find an answer. Here are the all-time winningest coaches in Big East history, by overall percentage. I am using this statistic because many of the biggest winners do not stick around the Big East for long.

• Larry Coker, Miami: 35-3 (.921)
• Dennis Erickson, Miami: 42-6 (.875)
• Brian Kelly, Cincinnati: 34-6 (.850)
• Bobby Petrino, Louisville: 21-4 (.840)
• Butch Davis, Miami: 51-20 (.718)
• Bill Stewart, West Virginia: 28-12 (.700)
• Rich Rodriguez, West Virginia: 60-26 (.698)
• Frank Beamer, Virginia Tech: 108-48-1 (.691)

The conclusion is an easy one: Much more than one hated coach, Miami was a hated team because of all the wins it racked up while playing in the Big East from 1991-2003. That includes two national championships and seven Big East titles, more than any other school. Coker was never vilified or hated. The man is impossibly nice.

Davis' image took much more of a hit at North Carolina because he left the place in scandal, with two major investigations hanging over the program. While at Miami, he was lauded as the man who saved the program from NCAA sanctions. It is hard to hate a coach who won 10 games only once in his career.

Erickson simply took over for Jimmy Johnson and continued what was started.

But the assignment is to find a coach hated for winning. Let's look at some of the other names on the list. Kelly and Petrino were hated much more for the ways they left their programs. Kelly only coached three years in the Big East; Petrino only two in the Big East. I can't imagine their short stays struck fear into the hearts of opponents, despite all the victories.

So let's turn the focus to Rodriguez. He, more than any of the aforementioned coaches, probably fits the bill. In his final three seasons in Morgantown, Rodriguez won two league championships and had three 11-win seasons. His team went undefeated in league play in 2005, one of only two teams to accomplish the feat in the past seven years. He won with swagger and style, and some of the best athletes in Big East history.

But I used the word probably. Because as great as Rodriguez was, his on-field coaching career in the Big East will be defined by what he didn't do in 2007. West Virginia was ranked No. 2 in the country going into the regular-season finale against Pitt in the always-heated Backyard Brawl. Win, and the Mountaineers would be playing for the school's first national title. Pitt was already out of the bowl picture, entering the game at 4-7. West Virginia was a 28 1/2-point favorite.

Slam dunk, right? Well, you guys know what happened. Pitt pulled one of the biggest upsets in the series, and Rodriguez went packing to Michigan. The loss will always follow Rodriguez, despite all of his wins in the league. On the day he needed a win most of all, he failed. But that loss did not make him a villain in Morgantown. Leaving did.

That is why it is hard to anoint any Big East coach as somebody hated for winning.

Current Big East coaches' career records in the league:

• Paul Pasqualoni, Syracuse and UConn: 112-63-1
• Doug Marrone, Syracuse: 17-20
• Butch Jones, Cincinnati: 14-11
• Charlie Strong, Louisville: 14-12
• Skip Holtz, USF: 13-12
• Steve Addazio, Temple: 0-0
• Paul Chryst, Pitt: 0-0
• Kyle Flood, Rutgers: 0-0

It is well documented that coaches leave the Big East -- in less than graceful ways.

But I contend that nobody left their program more in the lurch than Todd Graham at Pitt.

What he did was cold and callous, resigning after he was not given permission to interview at Arizona State last December. Refusing to open the door when Pitt officials came knocking. Sending out a goodbye text to his players, the very ones he sold on honor, loyalty, trust and commitment. Now, this does not make him different than many other head coaches, who say one thing today and are gone tomorrow.

What makes his situation different are the circumstances surrounding his departure. Yes, Greg Schiano left Rutgers in the lurch for the Tampa Bay Bucs, less than a week before signing day. But he had been at Rutgers for 11 seasons and built a successful program on his own. Maybe you overlook some of the more unsavory details about the way he left because you can appreciate what he did while in New Jersey.

Graham? He stuck around for one miserable 6-6 season. He did nothing but hurt Pitt. Because his one-year tenure left the Panthers looking for their fourth head coach in a two-year span. No other program has had to deal with that type of coaching turnover. Most importantly, no player has had to deal with that type of coaching turnover.

If college football is supposed to be about the student-athlete experience, then I cannot imagine anybody at Pitt can say they have had an unbelievable time when you consider the drama.

Dave Wannstedt recruited this group of seniors. Then he got fired after delivering a share of the Big East title. New coach Mike Haywood came along from Miami (Ohio). He was then fired after less than three weeks on the job after an arrest on domestic violence charges. In came Graham, who arrived selling high-octane football in a blue-collar Pennsylvania town. Was he all about the Pitt student-athletes?

Not if you consider billboards around the city with his face on it. Not when you consider the way he criticized his players for failing to pick up his prized system. Not when you consider the way he treated quarterback Tino Sunseri. It was always about Graham, which is why he ultimately left. The job was a mistake, he says now. His kids did not like Pittsburgh, he says now. Yet during the season, his wife proudly posted photos of herself and her kids in Pitt jerseys before games and practices.

He failed Pitt, and he failed his players, who came out on Twitter to blast him publicly for the way he left. Not one player ripped into Schiano. That shows you the big difference between the two.

Now, the Panthers players have to start over again. Sunseri has to learn his third offensive system in three years. Who can blame him for being slow to pick it up this spring? Changing playbooks once in four years is hard enough. Doing it three times in three years is almost too much to ask. Credit the Pitt players for not complaining about the lot they have been given.

They are happier to have new coach Paul Chryst, a man who at least seems to want to put roots down in Pittsburgh. He is going back to the way Pitt likes to play offense, another positive step. If hindsight is 20/20, Pitt should have just hired Chryst instead of Haywood when it had the chance. Instead, the Panthers went through an unnecessary and overly straining rigmarole.

Pitt is hoping all that is in the past. It cannot afford to have another coach leave it in the lurch yet again.

As part of the “College Football Live” 100 Days 'Til Kickoff countdown, here’s a look at the top 10 players in the Big East. For those wondering, the Big East blog will still have its annual preseason Top 25 player countdown a little later in the summer.

Without further ado:

1. Ray Graham, RB, Pitt. Taking a calculated risk here, considering we have no idea how Graham is going to look a year after tearing his ACL. Coach Paul Chryst says Graham will be ready for fall camp. If Graham is able to return to form, he should be the best player in the league.

2. Khaseem Greene, LB, Rutgers. Greene goes into the season as the preseason favorite to win Big East Defensive Player of the Year honors for the second straight season after sharing honors with Derek Wolfe in 2011. Though he broke his ankle in the bowl game, he will be ready for fall camp. Side note: Isn't it a neat that he and Graham are brothers?

3. Aaron Donald, DT, Pitt. Donald emerged last season, finishing second in the league with 11 sacks. He has shifted inside to tackle this year, but he is the most productive and experienced player returning to the Pitt defensive line and should continue his upward trajectory.

4. Teddy Bridgewater, QB, Louisville. Bridgewater had a sensational freshman season, winning league newcomer of the year honors. Hopes are high for him to build off his impressive campaign in his second year as a starter. Louisville will do more to take advantage of his athleticism, with plans to install some hurry-up offense.

5. Logan Ryan, CB, Rutgers. Ryan led the league with 16 passes defended -- 13 breakups and three interceptions last season. Defensive back is one of the strongest positions across the league, and Ryan leads the way as the Big East's best cornerback.

6. Hakeem Smith, S, Louisville. Smith has gotten better in each of his seasons with the Cardinals, so this season should feature more of the same. In 2011, he had 84 tackles, tied for second in the league, with nine pass breakups. He also tied for second in the league with three forced fumbles and made the Big East first team.

7. Ryne Giddins, DE, USF. Giddins emerged in the second half of last season (yes, I know many of you still remember him for his personal foul against West Virginia) and is in line to have a breakout year for the Bulls, who should have one of the stronger defensive lines in the Big East.

8. B.J. Daniels, QB, USF. Daniels should be the best quarterback in the Big East, considering he is going into his fourth year as a starter. Is this the year he finally lives up to expectations and delivers a long-awaited -- and first -- league title?

9. Walter Stewart, DE, Cincinnati. Coach Butch Jones says he has not been around a player as focused as Stewart in a long time. That is saying something, considering the defensive stars the Bearcats had last season. Stewart is poised to give Cincinnati a huge presence at rush end.

10. Lyle McCombs, RB, UConn. McCombs ran for more than 1,000 yards as a freshman last season and returns for 2011 with much more confidence -- and the Huskies hope a better offensive line. He goes into the season as the unquestioned featured back.

Time for a little game. Think of the most vilified college football coaches today.

Your list probably looks something like this:

Bobby Petrino.
Rich Rodriguez.
Todd Graham.
Randy Edsall.

You know what they all have in common. They all were Big East coaches at one point in time. Really great Big East coaches, to boot. But alas, great coaches never stick around for long in this league, a common lament among Big East fans. Perhaps the bigger question is -- what has made the Big East a breeding ground for villainous coaches?

Consider the recent history.

Exhibit A. Petrino got his first head coaching job at Louisville, and did one heck of a job, going 41-9 in four seasons. But the Cardinals were never just right, were they? I mean, how could they be when you 1) Try to negotiate a deal to become head coach at Auburn behind your boss' back. 2) Interview at Florida, Mississippi AND LSU the following year, while pledging love and loyalty to Louisville in between. 3) Forget loyalty and interview with the Oakland Raiders after Year 3 in Louisville. 4) Finally end the misery and leave for the Atlanta Falcons after a 12-1 season and an Orange Bowl berth.

That Atlanta dream job was not quite right either, so he left with good-bye statements taped to his players' lockers before the season even ended and headed for Arkansas. You all know how well his stint ended there.

Maybe all these aforementioned Big East coaches just hate good-byes.

Edsall left for Maryland after UConn lost the Fiesta Bowl to Oklahoma in January 2011 and never told his players word one about his plans. In fact, he did not even take the team charter home with the team. What may even be worse than that -- he made Jordan Todman get up in front of the team to explain why he was leaving early for the NFL draft. Edsall just finished a 2-10 season at Maryland in which he took a beating and lost 24 transfers. He is working hard to right the ship -- but you can bet some folks in Storrs are thinking, "Karma!"

Meanwhile at Pitt, Graham also had a tough time with good-byes at the end of last season. He told his players he was leaving via text message and hightailed it for Arizona State after a 6-6 season in which he had his players buying into an "high-octane" and "high-energy" offense. This, of course, came after he pretty much begged for the Pitt job after the Mike Haywood fiasco. But his shenanigans started at Rice, where he also had a one-year stint before leaving for Tulsa. ESPN.com columnist Mark Schlabach dubbed Graham the new president of the Liar's Club after his Pitt exit.

Rich Rod? Well, he is persona non grata in two states, West Virginia and Michigan. Who can forget the drama after he left the Mountaineers for the Wolverines in 2007, a few short months after signing a new contract and pledging his commitment to his school? West Virginia sued Rodriguez in the wake of his departure, and Michigan turned out to be an absolute disaster. It sure ain't easy being hated in as many spots as these guys.

There are others who left in less-than-ideal ways. How about Brian Kelly at Cincinnati, waiting until the end of his team banquet to announce his departure for Notre Dame? This was hours AFTER players began hearing news reports that they had lost their coach. Most recently, Rutgers coach Greg Schiano left for Tampa Bay less than a week before signing day, not even telling his loyal assistants, who were out on the road recruiting without any idea about what was happening.

His departure was tame compared to the rest. As for the others, I think they would make an excellent subject for a new television series.

"College Football Coaches Behaving Badly."

Time for my long-awaited post-spring power rankings. I made only a few changes from the pre-spring rankings. Here goes ...

1. Louisville: Quarterback Teddy Bridgewater looked better than ever this spring, giving me renewed confidence the Cardinals are going to be the preseason favorite in the league. The secondary should be exceptionally strong, and the offensive line should be better. Questions remain at running back and with depth in the front seven. But of all the teams in the league, I think the Cardinals have the most stability headed into the season. Plus, it hugely helps to have Charlie Strong entering Year 3.

2. USF: Big jump for the Bulls. I know I said I refused to buy into USF until the Bulls actually do something. But what they have returning is hard to ignore. Generally speaking, teams with 18 returning starters -- many of them seniors -- do really well. So do teams with veteran starting quarterbacks. While USF still has some major question marks on paper -- can B.J. Daniels develop, what happens at running back, where is the depth at linebacker -- the Bulls look like they have a shot.

3. Rutgers: At one time, I had Rutgers as my preseason favorite. But I am a little nervous about the situation at quarterback. I thought there would be a resolution this spring, but neither Chas Dodd nor Gary Nova did much to impress. Mohamed Sanu is gone, there are more shifts on the offensive line, and the running game has to prove something. I think the defense will be the best in the Big East. The offense is scaring me right now, which is why I moved the Scarlet Knights down.

4. Cincinnati: The Bearcats do return talent, and players who saw some significant action last season. But they also lose 21 seniors, including Big East Offensive Player of the Year Isaiah Pead and Big East Co-Defensive Player of the Year Derek Wolfe. I don't have any doubts that the Bearcats will have a good season. I just don't know if they will win another championship.

5. Pitt: If there is any team with "ifs" all over the roster, it is the Panthers. They have a new head coach. They are returning Tino Sunseri at quarterback. Nobody knows how Ray Graham is going to do after major knee surgery. The offensive line has to be better. There is not much depth on the defensive line. If all of these come together, the Panthers could be really good. If they don't, they could be really bad.

6. UConn: The Huskies will be good on defense. But what about quarterback? I feel like a broken record saying the same thing over again. Quarterback uncertainty always makes me hesitant to rank a team in the top half of the league. I was hesitant last year, and I am hesitant again this year.

7. Syracuse: I have said this before, but it bears repeating: I think Syracuse is the hardest team to gauge in the Big East. The Orange have to be more consistent on offense. They have to find a running game to help ease some of the burden off quarterback Ryan Nassib. Does Ashton Broyld give them enough to get them more explosive plays? The defense still has depth concerns in the front seven.

8. Temple: I worry about how the Owls will make the transition to the Big East in Year 1. I think Temple has a good team, but the Owls also lost a lot of their best players and have depth concerns on the offensive and defensive lines. That is enough to worry any coach in Year 1 in a major conference.

Let's put one final bow on the spring with a look at five top breakout players.

JaQuez Jenkins, safety, USF. With starting strong safety Jon Lejiste out for the spring because of injury, Jenkins made his presence immediately felt in the defensive backfield and had one of the best springs of anybody on the Bulls roster. Jenkins was everywhere, making big plays and hard hits. His emergence gives USF a nice problem to have once Lejiste returns in the fall.

Scott Radcliff, receiver, Louisville. The most talked-about receiver after the Cardinals' spring game the former walk-on, who played with the first team and led all receivers with nine catches for 119 yards. He is listed ahead of Eli Rogers at the H-receiver spot on the post-spring depth chart.

Walter Stewart, defensive end, Cincinnati. Yes, Stewart is a returning starter. But he has never had a spring like the one he just completed, in which he was able to maintain what he started as his position. Stewart had been switched to several positions earlier in his career, but now he has a home at end and is ready to be a force this season.

Ray Vinopal, safety, Pitt. Safety could actually turn out to be a position of strength across the Big East with some of the talent that has emerged this spring. Vinopal sat out a year after transferring in from Michigan, and despite the coaching change, had an outstanding spring. He made big plays, forced turnovers and now makes safety a bright spot for the Panthers with Jarred Holley, Andrew Taglianetti and Jason Hendricks all returning.

Ryan Wirth, defensive tackle, UConn. The Huskies lost an NFL player in Kendall Reyes, along with their other starting tackle, so this is a huge question going into the season. But Wirth showed he can make an impact inside, especially after his spring performance, with 4.5 sacks and a safety.

AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. -- Pitt coach Paul Chryst came right out and said what had become obvious this spring -- Tino Sunseri is his starting quarterback going into fall practice.

Chryst said Tuesday during the ACC spring meetings, "He was the best quarterback we had out of spring. That's why he's the starter."

Sunseri had been competing with Mark Myers and Trey Anderson for the starting job after a pretty brutal 2011 season. The truth is that Sunseri was not really a match for the spread offense under former coach Todd Graham. But he was inconsistent the season before under Dave Wannstedt, so there are those Pitt fans probably scratching their heads wondering what Sunseri can do to be better entering his third season as a starter.

"The biggest thing for quarterbacking is being able to do it and doing it on a consistent level," Chryst said. "That’s your normal progression. He clearly was the best this spring that we had. You’re aware of the history but it doesn’t really matter for us. What do you have right now? It’s our job to coach them and how can you help everyone get better? He’s got a great opportunity. He has played in a lot of games, he does have experience. He’s got room to grow. If he chooses to grow, and I know it’s easier for us to say last year or two years before that doesn’t matter. It matters in the sense that you should learn from all of it, positive or negative. But it doesn’t matter going forward.

"Right now, if you were to say who gives you the best chance to have success, it would be him. So coach the heck out of him."

Chryst said nobody grabbed the backup quarterback job. As for what he anticipates for Chad Voytik once the four-star prospect arrives this summer, Chryst said, "First he's got to get here. Then we've got to see how he picks up things. I anticipate him getting work. Legitimately getting work and then we'll see."

Now here is a quick update on running back Ray Graham, coming off a knee injury. Chryst said Graham is "progressing" and anticipates his star back will be ready for the start of fall camp.

"The plan is he will be ready," Chryst said. "We’ll have him practice. He needs it. They all need it. I’m not going to project too much until it’s time. But we’re planning on it. We’re going full steam ahead."

Chryst anticipates he will have all his players available for practice when fall camp opens.

Another suit has been filed against the embattled Big East.

This time, Pitt has filed a complaint in the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, saying the Big East has waived its right to enforce the required 27-month waiting period. Therefore, the Panthers should be allowed to join the ACC without further penalty in time for the 2013-14 season.

Previously, former commissioner John Marinatto and Pitt athletic director Steve Pederson seemed hopeful the two sides could reach a resolution about allowing the Panthers to leave a year earlier than July 1, 2014. But it appears there was growing frustration from Pitt. Here is more from the AP story:

Marinatto and Pitt athletic director Steve Pederson met recently to discuss the matter. School officials said subsequent attempts by the school to begin more detailed talks were unsuccessful, leading them to believe they would not occur.

Big East spokesman John Paquette called the legal maneuver "disappointing" and said the conference had reached out to Pitt.

Pitt spokesman E.J. Borghetti said the goal is to get a resolution through private negotiations but extensively laid out its argument in court papers.

Pitt also is concerned about the change in leadership at the Big East. Regardless of commissioner, it is the university presidents in the Big East that would have been charged with making a decision about Pitt and Syracuse, which is also leaving for the ACC.

Syracuse athletic director Daryl Gross told the Syracuse Post-Standard the school was still negotiating with the Big East about withdrawing in time for the 2013-14 season, but was keeping all its options open.

With the season coming into view, let's take a look at what we learned in the Big East this spring.

1. Running backs have to prove themselves. Isaiah Pead is gone. Antwon Bailey is gone. Ray Graham is coming off a serious knee injury. There are some major question marks at virtually every Big East school at this position headed into the fall. Chief among them -- how does Graham do a year removed from ACL surgery? How do Cincinnati, Syracuse and Louisville spread the ball to their various running backs? How does Temple replace the production of Bernard Pierce? Does Savon Huggins improve on his injury-shortened freshman season at Rutgers? How is Lindsey Lamar used in the backfield at USF? Can Lyle McCombs repeat as a 1,000-yard rusher for UConn?

2. Next sack leader? The Big East generally has some of the top leaders in sacks in the country. Last year, it was Trevardo Williams and Aaron Donald who emerged to finish in the Top 10. The year before, it was first-year Big East player Bruce Irvin. So who is the next Big East player to lead the charge? USF defensive end Ryne Giddins, Cincinnati defensive end Walter Stewart and UConn tackle Ryan Wirth all had terrific springs so keep those names in mind as the season begins.

3. Earth to offense. We had an inkling that the Big East defenses would be way ahead of the offenses this spring, and that all came to fruition once the spring games were played. Defenses essentially dominated at nearly every school. Syracuse did not score a point on offense; UConn had two total offensive touchdowns; USF quarterback B.J. Daniels went 9-of-26 for 88 yards in the Bulls' spring game; Chris Coyer and his receivers struggled in the Temple spring game; and the Pitt passing game was just so-so in its final scrimmage. While it is true defenses are usually ahead of the offenses in the early going of practices, it is obvious most every offensive unit needs to get much better this offseason.

4. Bridgewater: Rising star. It was apparent that Louisville had a special player in Teddy Bridgewater last season. But worries about a potential "sophomore slump" have been temporarily put to rest after the spring he had. Bridgewater was stellar in the spring game, going 19-of-21 for 257 yards and three touchdowns. Afterward, offensive coordinator Shawn Watson said that Bridgewater completed about 70 percent of his passes in the spring. "I know he's been lights out," Watson said. "He's really played very well. I challenged him with the things he needed to get better with and use all the tools he has available to him. As a young player, he didn't quite get it. Now he's getting it. You're seeing a lot more completions now. He's worked hard. He's doing a lot of good things with his eyes and playing well."

5. Athletes (almost) everywhere. One trend to watch is the conversion of quarterbacks to running backs/receivers. Cincinnati moved Jordan Luallen to receiver, and he is expected to see time as a Wildcat quarterback as well. Ashton Broyld has been moved to running back, though he also played receiver in the spring game. Louisville converted quarterback Dominique Brown to running back last fall, and he is in contention to win the starting job. Temple running back Jalen Fitzpatrick was recruited as a quarterback out of high school. Those four players have the potential to be huge assets to their team. There were a few other notable position switches as well -- Lindsey Lamar is now at running back at USF; and Jeremy Deering is now a receiver at Rutgers.

ESPN and the ACC have agreed to extend their rights deal through the 2026-27 school year, as the network will televise more conference sports across all platforms.

The part of the deal that is of particular interest to readers of this space: 14 more football games will be added once Syracuse and Pitt join the ACC, including three Friday night contests (one of which, hosted by Boston College and Syracuse, will be played the day after Thanksgiving).

"We are proud that ESPN has invested so deeply in the ACC both from a resource and exposure standpoint," ACC commissioner John Swofford said. "As we look to the future, this relationship will be tremendous for our schools, fans, coaches and student-athletes."

More details on the deal can be found here.