College Football News Roundup – January 9


A college football news roundup that includes Steve Spurrier and Peyton Manning entering College Football Hall of Fame and UNC quarterback Mitch Trubisky going pro.


There’s nothing better than getting a long night’s sleep heading into a Monday. It is now one of my favorite things, and I’m not sure what that says about me other than that I’m getting old and boring. I fell asleep watching an episode of The 80s on CNN around 8:45 last night. I feel amazing today.

In college football, Cal has fired Sonny Dykes after four seasons in Berkeley, USC wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster has declared for the NFL Draft, and we make our picks for tonight’s College Football Playoff National Championship Game. Here are some other newsworthy notes in the latest college football news roundup.

Spurrier, Manning Enter HOF – Steve Spurrier and Peyton Manning spent the middle part of the 1990s battling each other in the annual Florida-Tennessee game, so it is somewhat appropriate that they enter the College Football Hall of Fame together.

Spurrier, who was already in as a player, will now enter as a coach after a career that saw him go 228-89-2 as a collegiate head coach at Duke, Florida, and South Carolina. He becomes just the fourth person ever to enter as both a player and coach, following Bobby Dodd, Amos Alonzo Stagg, and Bowden Wyatt.

Manning threw for 11,201 yards and 89 touchdowns during his four years in Knoxville, racking up a 39-6 record as a starter and leading the Volunteers to the 1997 SEC Championship.

Leaving Chapel Hill – UNC quarterback Mitch Trubisky has decided to forgo his senior season and enter the NFL Draft after a season that saw him throw for 3,748 yards and 30 touchdowns for the Tar Heels.

“Going to the NFL has been my goal ever since I was a little boy,” Trubisky wrote. “And now that I have that chance, I’m incredibly excited.”

No Kiffin Appearance – After being dismissed by Alabama head coach Nick Saban and being told that the Crimson Tide would not want his involvement leading up to the national championship game on Monday night, FAU head coach Lane Kiffin will watch the game from his new home in Boca Raton.

I was sort of hoping for a Shooter from Hoosiers appearance out of Kiffin tonight, where he walks onto the playing field drunk and yelling at Saban. Alas.

MORE: Alabama vs. Clemson Prediction, College Football Playoff National Championship Preview