BOISE QB GREEN NOW A HOG
Former Boise State quarterback Taylen Green announced Monday he is transferring to Arkansas, Penn State received a commitment from transferring offensive tackle Alan Herron from Division II Shorter and Washington reserve quarterback Dylan Morris entered the portal ahead of the team’s playoff game.
In other transfer news, Arizona State landed former Michigan State quarterback Sam Leavitt through the portal and Missouri added Georgia State running back Marcus Carroll, who ran for 1,350 yards and 13 touchdowns this season.
Former Oklahoma and UCF quarterback Dillon Gabriel announced he is transferring to Oregon for a sixth season of college football over the weekend.
Green began and finished the season as the starter at Boise State, ultimately helping lead the Broncos to the Mountain West championship. He passed for 1,752 yards, 11 touchdowns and nine interceptions and ran for 436 yards and nine scores.
The 6-foot-6, 221-pound third-year player posted on social media he was committed to Arkansas. Green’s arrival seems to signal KJ Jefferson’s departure from Arkansas. The fifth-year quarterback has another year of eligibility left but he has neither entered the transfer portal nor declared for the NFL Draft.
Herron is a 6-5, 310-pound sophomore from Atlanta who drew a lot of attention from major college football football programs, including Clemson and Syracuse, when he entered the portal after two seasons in Division II.
Also committing recently were former Arkansas linebacker Chris Paul to Mississippi; former Arizona State tight end Jalin Conyers to Texas Tech and Harvard’s Thor Griffith, an all-Ivy League defensive lineman, to Louisville.
Morris, who started 15 games for the Huskies during the 2020 and 2021 seasons, was a four-star recruit out of high school and will have one year of eligibility left. He has played four games this season behind Heisman Trophy runner-up Michael Penix Jr.
Also, entering the portal Monday was Nebraska quarterback Jeff Sims, who started the first two games of the season for the Cornhuskers. Sims began his career at Georgia Tech.
UNC’s Maye to NFL
North Carolina star quarterback Drake Maye is entering the NFL Draft and won’t play in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl for the Tar Heels against West Virginia.
Maye announced his decision in a social media post Monday, ending his UNC career that included two years as the starter putting up prolific numbers and making himself one of the most sought-after potential prospects
for the NFL.
The school has also announced that all-ACC linebacker Cedric Gray, receiver Devontez “Tez” Walker, offensive lineman Corey Gaynor and defensive lineman Myles Murphy are all entering the NFL Draft. Of that group, only Murphy is set to play in the bowl game.
Maye’s decision is hardly a surprise, with Brown saying in November he thought it was “absolute” that Maye would declare for the draft. Maye held back on any such announcements, though he spoke with some finality after the team’s double-overtime win against rival Duke in what turned out to be his final home game.
The 6-foot-4, 230-pound third-year sophomore closed his career in a lopsided loss at rival North Carolina State, which included Maye suffering an ankle injury. But Maye returned to grind out one more drive despite clearly being hobbled while walking the sideline, saying afterward he wanted to “get back out with the guys and not leave them out there.”
The move means Conner Harrell is set to take over at quarterback for UNC against West Virginia, with
the redshirt freshman making four appearances in relief — including in that N.C. State loss — behind Maye.
Bolts assistant to Florida
Florida formally announced Chargers assistant Will Harris as the team’s secondary coach.
The 36-year-old Harris replaces Corey Raymond, who was fired two days after the Gators ended the season with a fifth consecutive loss and missed a bowl for just the third time since 1990. Defense was the biggest issue down the stretch, with Florida allowing 41.75 points a game in the first four of those losses.
Harris leaves the Chargers in time to help head coach Billy Napier recruit before the early signing period begins Dec. 20. He served as the NFL team’s assistant secondary coach in 2023.
D-coordinator goes to rival
Minnesota defensive coordinator Joe Rossi has accepted the same job at Michigan State under new coach Jonathan Smith, according to a person with knowledge of the move.
Rossi had been in the role
at Minnesota for five-plus seasons. His salary in 2023 was $1.1 million in the first year of a three-year contract that included a $330,000 buyout Rossi will owe Minnesota for the early departure.
Michigan State (4-8) did not qualify for a bowl game this season. Minnesota (5-7) will play Bowling Green in the Quick Lane Bowl in Detroit on Dec. 26, when co-defensive coordinator and cornerbacks coach Nick Monroe would be the natural promotion to fill Rossi’s role. Monroe is in his first year with his home-state school after seven seasons as an assistant at Syracuse. Rossi’s listing on the coaching roster on Minnesota’s website had already been removed on Monday.
This is the third time in five years that Gophers coach P.J. Fleck had a coordinator leave for the same role at another Big Ten team. Offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca did so twice, to Penn State in 2020 and to Rutgers in 2023 after he’d returned to Minnesota for 2022.
Texas Tech senior stays
Texas Tech senior running back Tahj Brooks revealed
that he plans to use his final season of eligibility and return to play again with the Red Raiders in 2024.
Brooks, a first-team AP All-Big 12 pick, is fourth nationally and second in the Big 12 with 1,443 yards rushing (120.3 yards per game). He ran for at least 100 yards in eight of the last 10 games, and in the two games he didn’t had 98 and 95 yards.
Brooks announced his decision to return in a social media post. He has 2,957 yards rushing and 27 touchdowns over 44 games in his career at Texas Tech, which began as a freshman during the pandemic-impacted 2020 season that didn’t count against the eligibility of any players.
“This is an exciting day for our program with Tahj announcing his return for next season,” Tech coach Joey McGuire said. “From our conversations in recent weeks, it was clear that Tahj wants to leave a legacy here at Texas Tech and that a return for next season would help him do just that. Not only is Tahj one of the nation’s top running backs, but he is a phenomenal teammate and leader of this program.”