🏈 🔵 Coaching Changes, NFL Combine Snubs, & Program Legends Set To Return Home
Ohio State, Notre Dame, & West Virginia are all making staffing moves in the heat of the offseason. Let's dig into college football's latest happenings!
Welcome to Blue Chip Journal by Adam Breneman — a 2x per-week newsletter with analysis, hot takes, and news on all things college football, NIL, and recruiting. Subscribe now and join nearly 13,000 other sports fans, and share this newsletter with all the college football fans you know!
My College Football Stock Report
Trending Upwards 📈
Pat White
Quarterbacks Coach, West Virginia
In December, West Virginia brought back famed head coach Rich Rodriguez, who previously led the Mountaineers’ program from 2001 to 2007.
Throughout Rodriguez’s final three years as West Virginia’s head coach in the early 2000s, his unit went 33-5 coupled with three New Year’s Six bowl victories.
The constant through it all proved to be dual-threat quarterback Pat White, who Rodriguez hired last week to become West Virginia’s newest quarterbacks coach.
“It’s really special to welcome Pat White back to Morgantown as a member of our football coaching staff,” Rodriguez said. “He has been involved in some of the biggest wins in program history, and he will be a great presence in our quarterback room.”
White’s production through the air and on the ground carried him to back-to-back Big East Player of the Year honors in 2006 and 2007.
Across his four-year stint in Morgantown, White amassed 4,480 rushing yards for 6.5 yards per carry, 47 touchdowns, and an absurd 91.4 rushing yards per game clip over 49 total contests.
Chris Hampton
Defensive Backs Coach, Oregon
With both National Signing Day windows in the rearview mirror, Oregon’s Chris Hampton deserves his flowers for the haul he put together for the Ducks’ 2025 class.
Oregon’s secondary is shaping up to be one of the most talented position groups nationally entering spring ball, largely thanks to Hampton’s recruiting prowess.
Hampton secured signings from four blue-chip commodities in the backend, with an average prospect rating of 98.13 on a 100-point scale, per 247Sports.
In December, Hampton helped flip five-star cornerback Na’eem Offord from Ohio State to boost Oregon’s class to the second-best in the country.
Overall, none of Hampton’s prospects he primarily recruited rank worse than 65th overall in the individual recruiting rankings.
Matt Patricia
Defensive Coordinator, Ohio State
In wake of former Buckeyes’ defensive coordinator Jim Knowles’ move to Penn State, Ryan Day has finally found his guy to lead the nation’s No. 1 unit from a season ago.
On Wednesday, ESPN’s Pete Thamel first reported that Ohio State finalized a deal with Matt Patricia to become the program’s new defensive coordinator.
Patricia served as the head coach of the Detroit Lions from 2018 to 2020 and has since served in defensive assistant roles in New England and Philadelphia in the NFL.
He hasn’t coached at the collegiate level since 2003 when he was a graduate assistant at Syracuse.
Front Office Sports caught up with Patricia on Radio Row at the Super Bowl nearly two weeks ago, where he hinted at a return to the college game.
“It’s intriguing,” Patricia said. “I think the way that it’s going to be run, look, there’s a salary cap, there’s NIL. You can get players now. Now, it’s free agency every day, I do understand that. I think you can build your rosters really quick… I love it, I love the direction it’s going.”
This newsletter is presented by... PrizePicks
PrizePicks is the easiest way to play daily fantasy. Getting started is very simple — register for an account, make a deposit, and pick more or less on 2-6 player stats to win payouts of up to 25x!
This season, place a $5 lineup, and use code “AdamB” to instantly earn $50 in bonus bets. Click on the link below to get started today!
Trending Downwards 📉
Kansas State’s Staff
When America’s Team comes calling, it’s hard to turn down the power of the Star.
Last week, Kansas State offensive line coach Conor Riley decided to leave head coach Chris Klieman’s staff for the same role with the Dallas Cowboys.
Aside from coaching the Wildcats’ offensive line since Klieman took over the program in 2019, Riley called plays for Kansas State as the offensive coordinator in 2024.
Riley produced six All-Big 12 offensive lineman throughout his tenure, including current Cowboys’ center Cooper Beebe, who finished his Wildcat career as an All-American.
To fill Riley’s role as play-caller, Klieman quickly promoted quarterbacks coach Matt Wells to the title ahead of the 2025 go-around.
NFL Combine Invite List
The NFL recently unveiled its list of combine invites ahead of the event’s start next Monday.
Although 329 players earned the right to show off their measurables in Indianapolis, there were still several snubs left off the docket.
Most notably, two Georgia defensive standouts — Chaz Chambliss and Dan Jackson — were left off the lineup when it was released on February 13.
Chambliss, a defensive end, finished his senior campaign tied as the Bulldogs’ sacks leader alongside Jalon Walker with 6.5 quarterback takedowns.
Additionally, he totaled 41 tackles and ranks as a top 20-available pass rusher on various draft boards.
Jackson, on the other hand, tallied 64 total stops this season, including three passes defended, two interceptions, and a forced fumble as Georgia’s leading force in the backend.
Between The Numbers 📊
43
Notre Dame is set to return tailbacks Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price to a rushing attack that accounted for 43 touchdowns in 2024 — good for the third-most nationally.
The Fighting Irish’s running back room recently lost position coach Deland McCullough to the Las Vegas Raiders following the team’s magical postseason run.
However, head coach Marcus Freeman made a swift recovery by hiring one of the nation’s top ground game mentors.
Last Tuesday, On3 first reported that Penn State running backs coach Ja’Juan Seider would be replacing McCullough in South Bend, a move that was confirmed a few days later.
Seider worked with the Nittany Lions for seven seasons, helping develop Miles Sanders, Nick Singleton, and Kaytron Allen into All-Big Ten talents.
His South Florida ties should only expand Notre Dame’s recruiting footprint, and fans should expect another 40+ touchdowns on the ground again in 2025.
🔥 New FREE Resources for Athletes
The #1 question I get asked in my DMs is:
“How do aspiring college athletes get noticed by college coaches or scouts?”
So, I just launched a new video training called the Get Coaches to Call Gameplan.
Inside I reveal ALL the secrets that top recruits use to get noticed at the elite D1 programs!
Any athlete, parent, or coach can use this to get ahead of the competition.
Mic Drop 🎤
Marshall Faulk | Running Backs Coach, Colorado
“Deion Sanders is an elevator,” Faulk told Front Office Sports. "He’s going to elevate you as a person and he’s going to force you to elevate your life. A lot of times, the light may look like its shining on him, but really, he’s shining a light on somebody… We’re good friends, and whatever I can do to help him out, I’m going to do.”
From a sheer resume perspective, there isn’t a staff in college football with better former players than the cohort Deion Sanders has built in Boulder.
With the addition of Marshall Faulk as the Buffaloes’ running backs coach, Colorado now holds claim to three NFL Hall of Famers on its coaching staff.
Besides Sanders and Faulk, Warren Sapp aids Colorado’s defensive line and recruiting department as a senior quality control analyst.
Despite losing quarterback Shedeur Sanders and reigning Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter this offseason, the Buffaloes should be well positioned to compete for a Big 12 title in 2025.
If you have any questions, comments, or feedback, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me by email at adam@brenemanmedia.com.
You can also find me on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn or Facebook.
Shoutout to Connor Krause for helping to write this newsletter and putting it together!
Interested in advertising with Blue Chip Journal? Email me.