Who’s under pressure in 2024? Kalen DeBoer follows a legend
Feb 16, 2024, 08:30 AM ET Next season, the competitive landscape of college football will go through some huge shifts. More groups than ever will have a shot to make a playoff look, however they’ll likewise be handling higher in-conference competition. Everyone in the sport will have more opportunities to look great– and bad.So, we asked our staffers which coaches and players– transfers and non-transfers– will have the most to show throughout the undoubtedly disorderly upcoming season. Here’s what they had to say.Editor’s Picks 2 Related What coach has the most to prove in 2024? Kalen DeBoer, Alabama DeBoer simply took Washington to the national title game in only his second year– 2 seasons after the group went 4-8– so this classification feels a bit unreasonable, however so are Alabama’s expectations after Nick Saban’s historical tenure. If the College Football Playoff stayed at 4 groups, DeBoer could miss them during a transition year and be provided rather of a pass. However Alabama expects to be part of the 12-team field every year, and if DeBoer fails, the pressure and contrasts to Saban will reach nauseating levels in Tuscaloosa.– Adam Rittenberg
James Franklin, Penn State
Franklin’s tenure in State College has actually included a lot of winning. He picked up where Costs O’Brien ended in putting together four 11-win seasons. Nevertheless, in the Nittany Lions’ most prominent games under Franklin, there hasn’t been a great deal of winning. With the College Football Playoff expanding from 4 to 12, Penn State has an excellent opportunity to break through with both Michigan and Oregon not on the schedule and Ohio State pertaining to Beaver Arena in 2024. It just needs to find a method to liquidate against the much better teams on the schedule.– Blake Baumgartner
Mack Brown, North Carolina Brown remains in the Hall of Popularity, is one of simply 3 active coaches with a national championship and has taken UNC to 5 straight championship game, something the program hadn’t done given that Brown’s last period there in the late 1990s, so perhaps he doesn’t really have all that much to prove. However when Brown returned to UNC in 2019, it was with the intent to take the Heels from a regular bowl group to a routine playoff contender. At times, he’s seemed close, however in spite of having 2 exceptionally talented quarterbacks in Sam Howell and Drake Maye, UNC still seems stuck on the margins. Brown generated Geoff Collins this offseason as his third defensive organizer, and he’ll turn to either veteran Max Johnson or sophomore Conner Harrell to replace Maye. Brown will be 73 when the season begins, and while age does not appear to be slowing him down, the window to change UNC into a genuine playoff hazard will not be open permanently, and there’s certainly those who’ll wonder if he currently missed his finest opportunity with Maye.– David Hale
Billy Napier, Florida In two years with the Gators, Napier is 11-14 and has not come close to beating rival Georgia, which implies Florida hasn’t come close to challenging for the SEC East title. How much longer can that go on? Napier enters an important Year 3 with maybe the most tough schedule in the country, opening against competing Miami while also needing to play Tennessee, Georgia, Texas A&M, LSU, Ole Miss and Texas in the SEC. He has to prove the program is headed in the ideal instructions to have any chance at convincing the fan base he’s the right coach for the task.– Andrea Adelson
Lincoln Riley, USC I was going to say Chip Kelly at UCLA, however that all changed when Kelly bolted Westwood to call offensive plays at Ohio State for another guy who has some heat on him, Ryan Day. So I’ll remain on the West Coast with Riley, who enters his 3rd season at USC still trying to find a College Football Playoff look and/or conference title. He’s likewise dealing with life without former Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Caleb Williams and generated a new defensive coordinator, D’Anton Lynn, to change Alex Grinch after the Trojans completed 121st nationally in scoring defense (34.4 points per game) in 2023. It’s premature to recommend Riley is on the cusp of losing his job after just two seasons at USC. But coming off a frustrating 8-5 finish and the playoff broadening to 12 teams in 2024, he requires to make a strong return in the new-look Huge Ten, or the uneasyness will ratchet up substantially in Year 4.– Chris Low
Ryan Day, Ohio State Couple of schools have signed a more high-upside set of transfers(Alabama security Caleb Downs, Ole Miss running back Quinshon Judkins, quarterbacks Will Howard for today and Julian Sayin for the future)than Ohio State. After coming up simply except their objectives the past number of years, Day and the Buckeyes appear to be going all-in this year as Michigan goes through enormous turnover. The odds of success are high, however the hazards of another year of missed out on expectations could be terribly damning.– Bill Connelly
What player has the most to show in 2024?
Wisconsin QB Tyler Van Dyke When Van Dyke won ACC Rookie of the Year honors in 2021 at Miami, the expectation was that he would be long gone to the NFL by now. But after 2 in some cases solid, sometimes choppy seasons with various organizers under coach Mario Cristobal, Van Dyke got in the website and sought a fresh start. He lands at Wisconsin, which goes into Year 2 of its Air Raid-style offense under coordinator Phil Longo after completing 91st nationally in scoring and 69th in passing last season. If Van Dyke can be the quarterback who makes the Air Raid enter Madison, he will not only improve his NFL possibilities, but bring Wisconsin closer to the 12-team CFP mix.– Rittenberg
Clemson QB Cade Klubnik Fairly or not, DJ Uiagalelei carried the bulk of the blame for Clemson’s playoff lacks in 2021 and 2022, so Tigers fans aspired to turn the page to Klubnik last season. The outcomes, however, looked a lot more like the DJU era than the Trevor Lawrence period. Klubnik ended up the season finishing 64% of his throws with 19 TDs and nine interceptions to go with an Overall QBR of 55, great for 11th out of 12 certified ACC QBs. He flashed possible sometimes, however made frustrating decisions in losses to Duke, Florida State and NC State that eclipsed the intermittent success. Dabo Swinney brought in Matt Luke to rebuild the O-line, and Klubnik is entering his 2nd year with offensive organizer Garrett Riley. The clock seems like it’s ticking on Klubnik’s chances to prove he’s Clemson’s next star quarterback– and it might be ticking on the Tigers’ possibilities to go back to the playoff, too.– Hale
Tennessee QB Nico Iamaleava The bright side for Iamaleava is that he definitely appears to have all the tools to be a difference-maker at quarterback and accounted for 4 touchdowns in his first start last season in Tennessee’s 35-0 victory over Iowa in the Citrus Bowl. But from the time Iamaleava signed with the Vols, he’s been under an intense spotlight– from the reported $8 million NIL offer he signed, to being hailed as the quarterback that would rise the Vols back into championship contention, to being at the center of the recent NCAA examination into Tennessee’s program. No player because Peyton Manning has actually strolled onto Tennessee’s campus with this much pressure to perform at an elite level.– Low
Oregon QB Dillon Gabriel Expectations are going to be sky-high for the Ducks, who are still smarting about last season’s 2 losses to Washington and their College Football Playoff near miss out on. Oregon will bring a powerful offense (531.4 YPG in 2023, second in the FBS) as it moves to the Big Ten. The faithful out in Eugene will be pinning their cumulative hopes on Gabriel, who led the Big 12 in passing yards (3,660) and goals (30) in 2015.– Baumgartner
LSU OLB Harold Perkins Jr.One of the greatest discoveries of 2022 was among the most significant disappointments of 2023, reasonably speaking. After tape-recording 13.5 deals with for loss, 7.5 sacks and 4 forced fumbles in just 498 snaps as a freshman, Perkins produced 15, 5.5 and three, respectively, in 746 snaps last season. Great? Certainly. However not rather as transcendent. If he finds the per-snap supremacy that he had in 2022 under aggressive brand-new coordinator Blake Baker, that alone might transform LSU’s defense.– Connelly
Which transfer has the most to show in 2024?
Ohio State QB Will Howard No national competing group made a more aggressive offseason workers push than Ohio State, which will seek its first CFP champion in a years. Elite quarterback play has actually been the standard for most of Day’s period, though, and Howard should reach that level after a four-year run at Kansas State that consisted of a Huge 12 title and excellent production both as a passer and a runner, however also 2 seasons with 10 interceptions. Howard will have the nation’s best running back tandem (TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins) and a talented pass receiver group at his disposal. He doesn’t need to be the sole reason that Ohio State wins a nationwide title, but he can’t be the reason the Buckeyes fail, either.– Rittenberg
This is going to be quite the believed experiment. I discovered myself thinking, “Man, if Ohio State simply had a top-20 level quarterback, they ‘d be the very best group in the country with this defense” multiple times in 2023, and in Howard it has actually inked the quarterback who ranked 22nd in Total QBR last season, right on that top-20 borderline. He’s not C.J. Stroud, however he might be sufficient, specifically in such a transition year for quarterbacks in general.– Connelly
Ole Miss DT Walter Nolen was the No. 1 recruit in the nation when he signed with Texas A&M to headline the Aggies’ top-ranked recruiting class in 2022. He showed flashes of being an All-SEC entertainer with 11 takes on for loss and five sacks in his first 2 seasons in the SEC. The key now is being that kind of player on every down, as Ole Miss will aim to Nolen to be an enforcer in its defensive line on what need to be Lane Kiffin’s most gifted defense yet in Oxford. The 6-4, 295-pound Nolen was among the most coveted players in the 2023 transfer portal. If he plays to that level and ends up being a more consistent player– along with a few of the other key transfers Ole Miss brought in– the Rebels need to be best in the middle of the 2024 playoff chase. — Low
Notre Dame QB Riley Leonard All eyes are going to be on the latest ACC transfer signal-caller to come through South Bend. That’s simply the method it is. Leonard showed glances of what he could do when healthy throughout the last two seasons at Duke (2,967 passing backyards and 20 touchdowns for a nine-win Blue Devils’ group in 2022). After playing in just 7 games due to the fact that of injury last season, he now gets the opportunity to shine on a far larger phase for possibly the sport’s biggest brand name. A 3rd 10-win campaign in four years and a possible return to the CFP is well within reach if Leonard can effectively pilot the offense for Marcus Freeman. — Baumgartner
Florida State QB DJ Uiagalelei At the risk of turning this into a pro-ACC quarterback fest, we have been waiting on Uiagalelei to play like an elite quarterback given that his arrival at Clemson in 2020. That has not quite took place yet. Uiagalelei moved to Oregon State for the 2023 season after a consistent barrage of criticism during his 2 years as a starter with the Tigers. He played better in his one season with the Beavers, today finds himself signing up with the reigning ACC champs with the belief he can put everything together. Uiagalelei has actually never ever tossed for 3,000 lawns or more than 22 touchdowns in three years as a starter. “He’s remained in some difficult circumstances,” coach Mike Norvell said. “I do not get too caught up on what other individuals’s perceptions are at quarterback, since we just lived it. A lot of individuals didn’t view Jordan Travis to be a great quarterback, and I’m really delighted that I got the opportunity to reveal that he was. I’m excited to work with him, delighted about what he brings, and obviously where that can go.” — Andrea Adelson
Miami QB Web Cam Ward
A number of coaches saw Ward as the crown gem of this year’s quarterback class. Ward toyed with entering the NFL draft– even revealing his intent to do so at one point– but rather landed at Miami. It could be a match made in heaven. Mario Cristobal has been stockpiling talent in Coral Gables, and he thinks this Canes group is close to satisfying its potential. On the other hand, Miami’s QB play in 2 years under Cristobal has actually been mediocre at best, with much of Tyler Van Dyke’s greatest miscues playing straight into mysterious Miami losses. Can Ward be the long-awaited answer for Miami? His passer score and Total QBR last year both routed Van Dyke’s, so there’s a lot of huge assumptions in play here. The advantage is extremely high though, and a career year from Ward might be the missing active ingredient that lastly puts Miami over the top. Because signing up with the ACC, Miami has never had a first-team all-conference quarterback. — Hale