Player Notes

Every position battle must start somewhere, and Tennessee football opened some key competitions when preseason practice kicked off Wednesday.The Vols have a month to nail down starting spots before their season opener against Virginia in Nashville on Sept. 2.Key players from last season’s team left for the NFL. Now their positions must be filled by a combination of experienced backups, transfers and ...

Stan Drayton paused for a moment, reflected, and repeated the question.“Lessons learned?” He began to expound on that thought. “There’s a lot of lessons learned.”The head coach has one season under his belt leading Temple football. His first year was filled with roster changes, getting to know players, and trying to build consistency to win games for a team that has won seven games since 2020.So what ...

The first practice of fall football camp is in the books for TCU. It’s the first step in what the Horned Frogs hope will be another successful campaign after going 13-2 last season.Second-year head coach Sonny Dykes didn’t push the team too hard as TCU practiced about 90 minutes in shoulder pads and shorts Tuesday morning.Dykes was pleased with what we saw from the Horned Frogs on opening day, especially ...

Syracuse, N.Y. — Syracuse football begins fall camp Wednesday.It’s been just over three months since the Orange’s spring game. A host of new talent joins the team from the transfer portal, junior colleges and the high school class of 2023. There are also players returning from season-ending injuries or time off for other reasons who will be back in the swing of things.Here are the players and position ...

Syracuse, N.Y. — Only one Syracuse football player landed on the 2023 All-ACC preseason team, and there’s no surprise in who it is.Orange tight end Oronde Gadsden II was the sole player selected at his position, receiving 89 of 176 votes to land on the team. Media members who attend ACC Kickoff elect the team at the same time they submit preseason rankings.Clemson led with seven players making the ...

Syracuse, N.Y. — Four Syracuse football players wore green no-contact jerseys Wednesday morning, the first day of fall camp.Linebacker Stefon Thompson, tight end Dan Villari, linebacker Austin Roon and walk-on defensive back Cam Reirden all could not participate in contact drills.Dino Babers said after practice he has not been given a timeline for when the players are expected to be full-go. It’s likely ...

STANFORD – Stanford coach Troy Taylor won’t have to deal with high expectations in his first season on The Farm.The Cardinal was picked to finish last in the Pac-12 in the preseason media poll, and oddsmakers have set its expected record at a conference-worst 3-9 – matching its record in 2021 and 2022.It’s a far cry from when former coach David Shaw took over a 12-1 team in 2011. Shaw led Stanford ...

Will Hall believes he’s got his best team yet.The third-year head coach at Southern Miss made that clear at Sun Belt media days when a reporter pointed out he has “arguably” his most talented roster and Hall quickly quipped: “Not arguably.”That theme returned Tuesday when USM opened fall camp with a two-man quarterback race and a roster packed with the full allotment of 85 scholarship players.“You ...

TAMPA — He can do the talk, that much we know. Give the man a microphone, and Alex Golesh will give you a soliloquy.Some of it, inevitably, sounds like a mimeograph from Bear Bryant’s desk drawer in 1965. The usual coach-speak about accountability and adversity.But USF is not Alabama, and recruits aren’t buying yesterday’s BS. And this, interestingly, is where Golesh seems to excel. It’s not his pedigree, ...

TAMPA — He can do the talk, that much we know. Give the man a microphone, and Alex Golesh will give you a soliloquy.Some of it, inevitably, sounds like a mimeograph from Bear Bryant’s desk drawer in 1965. The usual coach-speak about accountability and adversity.But USF is not Alabama, and recruits aren’t buying yesterday’s BS. And this, interestingly, is where Golesh seems to excel. It’s not his pedigree, ...