Monthly Round-Up: Mid-March/February 2025
"I can tell you that this kid from Illinois looks different at WR" ... "He made a throw Saturday at practice on the move that was a special throw" ... "I think he has WR1 potential this year"...
The difference between involvement and commitment is like ham and eggs. The chicken is involved; the pig is committed.
Pigs, welcome back—gather in, make yourself comfortable, call in sick from work etc. etc. because we have yet another jam packed edition of the monthly round up series.
This is the first of its kind for the 2025 year, and it’s always an informative one as we have several updates from spring camps which commenced all over the country in early March, as well as some injury, coaching, and transfer portal news. In fact, because this month is so eventful, I’m splitting it up into two pieces.
I’ve also made the last one from 2024 free here for a preview to the non-paid subscribers of what you can expect with these articles (in case you might be interested).
Notable Coaching Changes
Long time Bowling Green head coach Scott Loffler moved on to the NFL, and will be replaced by Tennessee State head coach Eddie George.
Philip Montgomery has accepted the offensive coordinator job at Virginia Tech.
Ohio State WRs coach Brian Hartline was promoted to OC to replace Chip Kelly, and will be the play caller on offence.
Alabama hired Ryan Grubb as its new OC.
Texas State promoted QBs coach Landon Keopple to OC.
Notable Transfer News
Wyoming RB Harrison Waylee is in the portal.
Division II. national champion RB Kannon Katzer from Ferris State is in the portal and is reportedly heavily considering UTEP.
Georgia State QB Zach Gibson is in the portal.
Georgia State RB Freddie Brock is in the portal.
Baylor RB Richard Reese is in the portal.
UMass RB CJ Hester is in the portal.
JUCO RB Trey Hall (1,098 yards and 13 touchdowns at Mississippi Gulf Coast) committed to Ole Miss in January.
Spring Camp News
A Clemson beat writer predicted that TJ Moore would push Antonio Williams for the title of WR1 in 2025. He also mentioned that with Bryant Wesco and Tyler Brown returning from injury, there could be four players with 500+ receiving yards by season’s end.
The same Clemson beat writer said this about the RB room in 2025:
Although we saw a combination of Adam Randall, Jarvis Green and others in the season finale, I believe C.J. Spiller is likely ready to turn the page to a three-back committee of Davidson, Haynes and promising second-year player David Eziomume, who played just 36 snaps in a redshirt year.
Missouri spring ball has commenced and the official weights of their two most notable transfers are in:
RB Ahmad Hardy — 5’10, 210
WR Kevin Coleman — 5’10, 175
BYU RB LJ Martin is reportedly “a little slimmer.”, now listed at 220 pounds from his previous playing weight of 225.
It's a subtle difference, but it might be an indicator of what Martin's offseason goals are. He excels because of his vision and his ability to run over would-be tacklers. A slightly slimmer version of Martin might indicate that he is looking to add a little more speed to his game in 2025.
Five pounds isn't an enormous transformation, but it could be something that gives BYU a completely different look to the offense if that is the track he is headed down.
A UCF beat writer added some information on rising sophomore WR Bredell Richardson’s lack of playing time last season, despite the notable camp performance; as well as a potential increase in role in 2025:
One of the biggest points of contention against the previous coaching staff, was the lack of playing freshmen and Richardson was at the precipice of the issue.
Wide receivers coach Sean Beckton Sr did say that Richardson and the other young receivers last year needed to perform up to a higher standard outside of just on the field and that he felt that would be his main focus, to instill the little things into the receiver room.
Those lessons aside, the expectations for Richardson from both players, coaches, and media members were sky high entering the season. A standout from both Spring and Fall in the receiver room, Richardson played just one snap in his first season with UCF.
The Knights' entire receiver room returns just a single wide receiver with receiving yards at UCF as in 2022, Dwartney Wortham who is now a redshirt-junior caught 2 passes for 30 yards, which leaves the receiver room wide open.
If he [Bredell Richardson] can adopt the little things to his game and dazzles again with his route-running and catching abilities, there's potential for Richardson to be the primary target this season at UCF.
LSU beat writers expect heavy rotation of first/second teams throughout spring camp as the Tigers look to find their best combination of WR lineups
It all starts with spring practice and there's a very legitimate possibility the media strolls out for availability the first three days and there are three different combinations working with the first team. That's how unsettled this position appears to be right now and how much Garrett Nussmeier would like to get as many throwing reps to those players as he can in a practice setting
In the early days of LSU spring camp, the TE/WR/RB rotations reportedly were: (editor’s note: it’s not unusual for Brian Kelly to place newcomers on the 2nd team to open spring camp)
FIRST TEAM: Trey'Dez Green (TE), Aaron Anderson, Chris Hilton, Zavion Thomas and Caden Durham (RB)
SECOND TEAM: Bauer Sharp (TE), Barion Brown, Destyn Hill, Kyle Parker, and Kaleb Jackson (RB).
Additional detail was provided on the expected depth chart in 2025 at WR from LSU’s 247 Sports writers:
Aaron Anderson