Katy lineman Echols commits to LSU
Coen Echols’ 18th birthday Friday won’t be one he’ll forget anytime soon.
Katy High’s senior offensive lineman and four-star recruit signed with LSU as part of the Early Signing Day period, making an already special day extra special. Echols, a 6-foot-3, 295pound center, picked the Tigers over Texas A&M and Auburn.
He said it was his intention all along to announce his future home on his birthday.
“(Offensive line coach) Coach (Brad) Davis has a lot of experience in what he’s doing,” Echols said. “He’s sent a lot of people to the league. We built a tight friendship. I trust him with my future. Everything he preached is what we preach here for Katy football, and I want to play for him.”
Echols initially verbally committed to Texas A&M on June 23. But he decommitted from the Aggies on Dec. 8, less than a month after A&M fired coach Jimbo Fisher and 11 days after it hired Mike Elko to succeed Fisher.
“I do feel like I committed a bit too early,” Echols said of the A&M decision.
Echols, who held 28 offers, was a three-year varsity letterman at Katy and a two-year starter. He played tackle his junior year before moving to center for his senior campaign.
Dennis Silva II
A&M adds two to Elko’s first class
Texas A&M added two more signatures to Elko’s first recruiting class Friday: defensive lineman Dealyn Evans of Longview Pine Tree High and linebacker Tristan Jernigan of Tupelo, Miss.
Both are rated fourstar prospects via 247Sports.com. A&M beat out Texas for Evans and Alabama for Jernigan. The Aggies have now signed 14 players, including four-star defensive lineman Solomon Williams of Tampa, Fla., a late addition to the class on the first early signing day of Wednesday.
Elko also this week hired defensive coordinator Jay Bateman from Florida, where he was linebackers coach. Bateman is a former North Carolina and Army defensive coordinator. A&M already had hired offensive coordinator Collin Klein from Kansas State, where he served in the same role.
A&M ranks 17th nationally in the 2024 recruiting class via 247Sports, with the traditional signing day still to come in early February.
Brent Zwerneman
Florida State files suit against ACC
Florida State sued the Atlantic Coast Conference on Friday, challenging an agreement that binds the school to the league for the next 12 years with more than half a billion dollars in fees for leaving and taking the first step in a lengthy and uncertain process toward a potential exit.
“Today we’ve reached a crossroad in our relationship with the ACC,” Florida State Board of Trustees chairman Peter Collins said during a trustees meeting to approve the legal action.
After months of threats and warnings from Florida State, the lawsuit was filed in Leon County Circuit Court. The suit claims the ACC has mismanaged its members’ media rights and is imposing “draconian” exit fees. Breaking the grantof-rights agreement and leaving the ACC right now would cost Florida State $572 million, according to the lawsuit.
Notre Dame hires LSU assistant
Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman is bringing Mike Denbrock back to the program as offensive coordinator, luring him away from LSU and former Fighting Irish coach Brian Kelly, two people with direct knowledge of the move told The Associated Press on Friday.
Denbrock, 59, will replace Gerad Parker, who earlier this week was named head coach at Troy after one season as offensive coordinator at Notre Dame. Denbrock will be Notre Dame's third offensive coordinator since Freeman became head coach after the 2021 season, when Kelly left for LSU.
Florida hires Tulane assistant
Florida announced the hiring of Gerald Chatman as the team’s defensive line coach on Friday.
Chatman joins the Gators after serving as Tulane’s D-line coach in 2023.
The Green Wave ranked eighth nationally in run defense, giving up 93.5 yards a game, and tied for 22nd in the country with 34 sacks.