Season preview: Our hop-on/hop-off 2026 Head Coaching Carousel tour

Lebanon, TN – Of 28 head coaching changes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) since last season, we’ll attend games featuring at least 12 new coaches leading teams for the first time.  In addition, several begin this season sitting on the proverbial “hot-seat.”  A few risk entering that most unwanted “portal” all coaches hope to avoid.  NILs and player transfers complicate recruiting and team-building more than ever before. College coaching becomes more of a challenge to many requiring more time spent than primarily just coaching. At this point, some even seek “safe” alternatives to coach the pros.

Since last season, several teams we watched lost their former head coaches. We made observations about them at games we attended in the past.   Based on our experience, the most intriguing opportunity led us to preview the coaching change regarding Penn State in particular, but also regarding their game vs. USC on October 10 at Beaver Stadium. Matt Campbbell steps in at State College. Across the field, USC’s Lincoln Riley needs to get his Trojans on track to the CFP. After five years, he still needs to show his current, antsy fan base that they hired the head coach they needed. We also share our projected impact of James Franklin moving on to Virginia Tech. Click here to review this in our previous report.  Below, we continue on to further intriguing head coaching changes we will witness in-person this season.

Mike Norvell starts his season with pants on fire

Following two seasons winning only two and five wins respectively, Florida State Head Coach Mike Norvell probably feels more heat than any other.  The downward spiral of Seminole Nation followed 2023, a 13-0 regular season decimated by QB Jordan Travis season-ending injury. That resulted in a hasty denial to the CFP, massive player losses through the transfer portal, and consequently, to a 63-3 blow-out loss to Georgia in the Orange Bowl.  Doesn’t seem fair. Especially to a head coach who had begun to redirect the Seminole program in the right direction, but here he is. 

Doesn’t look too promising for him over the course of the entire season. However, Week 0 of 2026, we start with his team hosting New Mexico State under HC Tony Sanchez.  In his first two seasons at Las Cruces, Sanchez’s record equals Norvell’s 7-17 record. Prior to taking over the Aggies in the post-Diego Pavia era, he struggled as head coach at UNLV to a 20-40 record.  With minimal quarterback experience for the Aggies entering 2026, this looks like a winnable opener for FSU.

A week later, the Seminoles climb back into reality.  SMU, ranked at No. 19 in Associated Press Top 20, comes to Tallahassee to be followed by a battle at vengeful Alabama.  The Tide looks to extract revenge after falling to the Noles last season, 31-17. After a visit from Central Arkansas, Norvell’s seat will be aglow from then on against ACC competition.  Things look bright for Norvell in 2026, but not in a positive way.

Ole Misses’ Golding golden, for now

This “new” replacement resumes his head coaching duties with little negativity. Pete Golding took over at Ole Miss after Lane Kiffin’s early departure last season to take over at LSU (note the new “Kiffin rule” as part of the Protect College Sports Act proposal).  Golding coached the Rebels in victories against Tulane and Georgia in CFP games last season. Eventually, his team exited falling to runner-up Miami, 31-27.  QB Trinidad Chamblis returns for a fifth year of eligibility after a great transition to starter in 2025.  RB Kewan Lacy returns with 1,567 yards and 24 TDs last season.

We will be in attendance when No. 9 Ole Miss meets No. 24 Louisville under 3rd year HC Jeff Brohm (28-12 in three years, 9-4 in 2025) in the Music City Classic on Labor Day in Nashville. Brohm looks to Ohio State transfer QB Lincoln Kienholz to lead his offense effectively as starter.  Junior RB Issac Brown returns as another top rusher in the FBS. Should be an interesting and challenging opener for both teams in Nissan Stadium.

Week 4: Weekend of head coaching question marks

During the weekend of September 25-26, we head to Birmingham, Alabama. There, the struggling University of Alabama-Birmingham hosts Navy who relished an impressive 11-2 season under HC Brian Newberry in 2025. On Friday evening, the UAB Blazers play under head coach Alex Mortensen. UAB promoted its former OC midway last season. He replaced fired former high school coach and Super Bowl QB Trent Dilfer. The Blazers finished 4-8 overall, 2-4 under Mortensen.

 The pressure mounts already as this program revived from discontinuation in 2018 by an avid alumni and fan base.  They seek to regain their fairly successful football program.  Not a lot of optimism for the Blazers this season. Three defensive transfers followed their new defensive coordinator Todd Grantham from 1-12 Oklahoma State. Blazer fans crave a fast fix. Doesn’t look possible this season. Only two starters return on offense; none on defense. Transfers will fill in many open spots. Mortensen has to demonstrate some fast development to improve. RB Rod Robinson II, a Georgia transfer, could bring some power to the UAB running attack.

For Navy: Steady as she goes

As for attending Navy at UAB, Head Coach Newberry will rely on Senior QB Braxton Woodson to step up and replace stalwart QB Blake Horvath. He led Navy in passing and rushing before graduating last spring. Woodson will have good experiences on his O-line to give him protection and open holes. However, two pro RB prospects emerged at Navy in Eli Henrickson and Alex Tecza.  Both natives of the Pittsburgh area, both now practice in training camp with the Pittsburgh Steelers.  New skill players will have to replace both three-year starters at USNA.

HC Newberry, a defensive guru, will rely heavily on returning defenders and the program’s capability to develop new skill players annually. US Military Academies cannot accept players from the transfer portal. Once beyond their second season, players (as do all academy students) commit to becoming Naval and Marine Corps officers upon graduation. So, many who enter USNA’s football program and remain into their junior year focus full speed ahead, committed to playing football into their senior season.

Big head coaching shoes to fill when Southern Miss visits Tulane

On Saturday in New Orleans following Navy at UAB, we will attend a Tulane game at Yulman Stadium for the first time. The No. 18 Green Wave (11-3), after a season jumping into the CFP, hosts Southern Mississippi. The Golden Eagles improved from 1-11 to 7-6 last season under first-year head coach Charles Huff.  However, with that success, Memphis hired him away, and he absconded with a large group of stellar players the Golden Eagles could have banked on this season. 

Only one starter remains from last year under new HC Blake Anderson. He remained after working as the offensive coordinator under Huff, a former assistant under Nick Saban at Alabama. We’d seen Anderson previously coach at Utah State. We witnessed his Aggies defeat Hawaii in 2021, 51-31, on the way to an 11-3 season.  A year later, we saw Alabama shellack the Aggies, 55-0, on his way to first of two 6-7 seasons. Anderson has a lot of rebuilding ahead of him before making the Eagles competitive again, but it most likely will not be this year.

Topsy-turvy Tulane

Will Hall also steps up at Tulane from OC to head coach.  He replaces Jon Sumrall after leading the Green Wave to a 20-8 record the previous two seasons. He surfed the Green Wave to two American Athletic Conference championships and their first bid ever as the Group of Six representative to last year’s CFP.  For Hall, Sumrall didn’t leave the cupboard as empty as did Huff at Southern Miss.  Hall’s priority focuses on replacing QB Jake Retzlaff. The running game and receiving corps return some key staters, but the O-line sought transfers.  Depth on defense returns from last season.  If Hall fills in at QB adequately, the momentum built by former head coaches Willie Fritz and Sumrall should make Tulane a viable challenger once again in the American Athletic.

Auburn takes new head coaching rout, hires South Florida’s Alex Golesh

The American Athletics’ success as a Group of Six Conference bodes well as a head coaching breeding ground for Power Four programs.  In Auburn’s case, the Tigers not only gain a winning head coach who rebuilt South Florida the last three season, but they lured away staff members and 13 Bull transfers, most from a very potent offense. QB Bynum Brown leads the way. Last season he passed for 3,158 yards and ran for 1.008. Key receivers Chas Nimrod, Keshaun Singleton and Jeremiah Koger followed. They join RB Jeremiah Cobb who posted 959 rushing yards for AU last year.

Defensively, the Tigers retain defensive coordinator DJ Durkin. Auburn considered him to replace ousted HC Hugh Freeze after three seasons.  All-SEC LB Xavier Atkins returns to lead a defense to improve mostly from 47 other transfers Golesh landed.  S Eric Winters and CB Rayshawn Pleasant add experience to Durkin’s schemes.  Auburn looks for Golesh to turn things around “on the Plain” just as he accomplished at USF. He turned the Bulls record of 4-49 during three seasons prior to his arrival around to 23-16 since.

Is Golesh that “Smart?”

Not sure how quickly he will turn things around for Auburn, but he faces a tough task on our slate this season. On October 17th, in our 750th game since 1979, the Tigers take on long-time rival and AP No. 3 Georgia in Athens. Of course, there’s no head coaching slouch on the other sideline. Kirby Smart kicks off his 11th season “between the hedges” with a mark of 117-21 including National Championships in 2021 and 2022.

North Texas State Mean Green now Lean

Finishing 24th in the nation last season with a 12-2 record, the Mean Green of NTSU came up short of a CFP bid in a 34-21 loss to Tulane. They led the FBS with 512.4 yards per game on offense and 45.1 points per game.  Their future remained bright until Big XII bottom feeder Oklahoma State (1-12) came calling and swooped in to abscond with HC Eric Morris. Again, a Power Four program swooped up another American Athletic head coach. 

And, similar to other attacks from above, the 1-12 Cowboys left new NTSU HC Neal Brown, OC arriving from Texas, with no starters on offense.  Stalwart Mean Green offensive players, now OSU Cowboys, include QB Drew Mestemaker (4,379 yards, 34 TDs), WR Wyatt Young (1,264 yards, 10 TDs) and RB Caleb Hawkins (1,457 yards, 23 TDs). In front of them, four offensive linemen from NTSU prep to block up front for them at T. Boone Pickens Stadium.

While the Mean Green offense thrived last year, the defense struggled. Aforementioned South Florida put up 63 points in their one regular season loss. They allowed 381.9 yards and 26.5 points per game.  They ranked 130th in rushing yards allowing 215.7 per game.  This resulted in some close wins over run-oriented teams in 2026. HC Brown reached out to upgrade this year’s defense with former Baylor DC Matt Powledge.  He brings some Baylor Bears with him to start bolstering a struggling defense. 

Mean Green head coaching goes from balanced to ground attack

North Texas will have much to do ahead with the team that has no returning starters on either side of the football.  Bad for the offense, but maybe good for the defense. Brown brings in a reputation as a run-oriented offensive strategist. He previously served as Troy head coach (35-16) and at West Virginia (37-36) for a total of ten years.  With several inexperienced QBs on this season’s roster, until Brown settles on his definitive starter.  It probably makes sense he relies on a running attack to restart his Mean Green first edition.

His version may have a tough challenge when we see them face the Midshipmen in Annapolis at the USNA Homecoming on October 24th. Navy returns a strong nucleus of defensive talent, probably the most of any American Athletic defense this season.  Of course, on offense they will rely on reloading with talent waiting in the wings to replace their two top RBs now at the Pittsburgh Steeler preseason camp.

At Kentucky, Will Stein steps up for first head coaching stint

Kentucky sought some excitement to replace HC Mark Stoops after thirteen years leading the Wildcats to a career record of 72-80. Looking to bolster an exciting new look offensive style, U of K brought back Kentucky native, Louisville graduate, former Cardinal QB and Oregon Duck OC Will Stein all the way back from Eugene, Oregon. There, he served the past three seasons as Oregon’s offensive coordinator under the highly successful HC, Dan Lanning.  With Stein as OC, the Ducks rolled to a record of 38-6. Quite impressive. In our history, we saw him coach seven games (6-1) as OC, both at UTSA and Oregon.

Right move to start: hired Texas A&M DC Jay Bateman

Stein, 36 years-old, totally focused on offense during his career, hired away Jay Bateman with two years at Texas A&M under Mike Elko. In total,12 years as DC altogether, working his way up through better programs.  Reports indicate that Stein will give Bateman a long leash. He hopes his knowledge and experiences can improve the Wildcat defense.  Stein can continue to do what he does best. He will run the offense as he also takes on new duties developing his experience with new experiences as first time HC.

His three years at Oregon had to be essential for his head coaching career.  Now, he’s making the most of it.  Some preseason publications allude to hopes of a result similar to Indiana. Unlike Curt Cignetti, however, Stein brings few players as Cignetti did from his former James Madison program.  AP No. 2 Oregon players tended to stay with their successful head coach, Dan Lanning.  Remaining intact, they should challenge for the CFP championship of 2026.

Stein builds in short-term for long-term

Certainly, Stein will face early struggles.  He made a nice portal snag of Ken Minchey, a third-year QB at Notre Dame. He fell behind Soph QB CJ Carr in tight competition. The All-Stater from Hendersonville, Tennessee will get his starting shot to make his move to finally demonstrate his QB skills. Like many other programs in this NIL/wide-open transfer portal era, Stein will be piecing together talent and skill sets from other programs. He looks to bring U of K back from two consecutive losing seasons. Challenges loom ahead.

From Mighty Oregon to “so-so” Kentucky

His biggest adjustment will be his move from a superior talent base at powerful Oregon to a lower echelon Power Four program. In Lexington, his coaching staff’s skills will have to develop the inherent talent to compete at a higher level than it has been. He and his newly formed staff need to enhance that talent in the beginning. Personnel improvements on display must become evident to attract better recruits in the future.

Despite Stein’s great won-loss records as OC at previous stops, wins we witnessed did not all come based on superior offense. A 16-13 win at Wisconsin in 2024 resulted in UW firing OC Phil Longo the day after. Last year’s 30-24 win over Penn State came in two OT’s – well played but not dominant. The 23-0 win over Texas Tech in the Orange Bowl came against a very inept offense that couldn’t keep the Duck offense off the field. Tech’s solid defense basically kept them in check. On the other hand, their offense couldn’t move the ball and played poorly. We won’t consider the 56-22 loss to Indiana as a blemish here.  The Hoosiers were just unstoppable by then.

Kentucky at Tennessee: no high Kentucky expectations here

On November 7, collegefootallfan.com will attend a game at Neyland Stadium for the first time since we relocated to the Volunteer State five years ago. Scheduling conflicts and expensive, after-market ticket prices kept us away until this season. This will be only our second time there in our history. A friend’s daughter enters her senior year at UT, so it’s cause for a tailgate celebration. Luckily, we found the right prices at the right time.

We will figure out how the Wildcats will make out leading into this game with earlier dates vs. Alabama, at A&M, vs. LSU and at Oklahoma. Since 2001, the Wildcats have only defeated the Vols in three of the previous 26 meetings. Last win in this annual series occurred in 2020 at Lexington. The last time the Wildcats won at Neyland occurred back in 1984. Now, we understand why this SEC game doubles a Tennessee Homecoming. We don’t envision either streak ending this season with Will Stein taking over. It will take a few years for the Cats to get up to speed with the Vols. We may go back to Lexington again for future clashes if we see Stein improve the program as he intends to.

New PAC-12 game features two diverse head coaching changes

We will venture to the state of Washington on November 14 to attend our first game ever in the Evergreen State.   First-year head coach Kirby Moore, Boise State grad and brother of former Bronco QB Kellen Moore, now HC with the New Orleans Saints, makes his debut with the Washington State Cougars. We saw the two brothers play for BSU in their 2010 season opener in a 33-30 win over Virginia Tech in Landover, Maryland.  Kirby served as OC at Missouri the past three seasons for HC Eliah Drinkwitz. The Tigers amassed a record of 29-10. Kirby Moore’s offense averaged 30.6 points per game.

WAZU will host Colorado State under their new Head Coach Jim Mora.  CSU took an entirely different route in their head coaching change.  They went deep on experience.  Mora holds a ten-year collegiate career record of 73-53. In six years at UCLA, he left a final record of 46-30.  In the past four year, he improved a downtrodden Connecticut program. He led them to a mark of 27-23.  The last two seasons, as an FBS independent, Mora led the Huskies to nine wins in each and to two Fenway Bowls. Prior to college head coaching, he ran the Alanta Falcons and Seattle Seahawks over four seasons accumulating a record of 31-33.

PAC-12 collision course?

Moore’s first priority requires a new starting QB. His best options come from FCS UC Davis transfer Caden Pinnick.  He arrives as Big Sky Freshman of the Year from a strong conference. UC Davis finished 9-4.  Owen Eshelman also returns as a redshirt freshman.  Experienced protection returns upfront for the Cougar’s. Their running game from a year ago returns three good backs who combined for 1,006 yards and five TDs. Kirby Vorhees led all with 598 yards. WR Tony Freeman returns with 590 yards and three TDs.

Transfers will be called upon to replace six starters on defense who bolted to Iowa State with former HC Jimmy Rogers.    The Cougar offense could be solid if either QB plays up to expectations. However, the success of a winning season depends on the development of the defense relying on many new players.  Moore will rely on new DC Trent Bray. He steps in following two seasons as defensive coordinator and two as head coach at Oregon State. We saw the Beavers fall in their first of ten games vs. California in their opener last season.  For WAZU’s stake, we hope he arrives as the better DC he was when OSU won 18 games compared to the seven wins as head coach.

Mora’s moves

CSU’s roster seems similar to Washington State’s.  Experienced transfers from the portal on the line, experienced players at skill positions, but little QB experience.  UConn transfer Mel Bown who led the Huskies with 925 rushing yards the last two seasons will be called on as primary runner.  UConn transfer WR Jackson Harper and returning WR Tommy Maher provide talent for the passing attack.  QB options come in Hauss Henry who played five games last season for 1-12 Oklahoma State. The other comes is K’saan Farrar who started one game for UConn in 2026.  Former UConn QB Coach Pryce Tracy will be called upon to initiate an explosive offense similar to one he and Mora coached at UConn. It requires a capable Run-Pass Option QB that relies on a strong running game to the outside.

Mora’s DC Tyson Summers returns to CSU after taking over for fired HC Jay Norvell. Injuries decimated the Ram defense last season. LB Oumar Diomande follows Mora from UConn as a key to his new Ram defense.  He led UConn in tackles last season as did FCS Montana transfer LB Cale Otlewski. Six defensive linemen return.  Six transfers bulk them up to be a primary strength for CSU this season.  Four transfers join the secondary to bring more experience. Mora’s transfers look like they strengthened a defense that suffered excessive injures last season.  This unit could bring them success, but quarterback success seems to be key to make the Rams competitive.

A little Collegefootballfan.com history and an FCS side trip

A few personal notes here. In our history, Colorado State won both games we saw them play. They defeated Colorado in the 2006 Rocky Mountain Showdown in Denver, 14-10.  In 2023, they defeated Middle Tennessee in Murfreesboro, 31-23. In the annals of our history, Washington State stands 1-1. In their 2003 season opener at Notre Dame, we saw them fall in overtime on a field goal, 29-26. In 2015 at Rutgers, in typical Mike Leach fashion, the late, great head coach avoided punting the entire game to take a hard-fought, fun and sometimes sloppy 37-34 victory.

Regarding our future, prior to this game to be played 7 pm PT in Pullman, we plan to attend a 1 pm game a short drive away in the Kibbe Dome in Moscow, Idaho.  FCS Idaho hosts tough Big Sky foe, UC Davis.  We’ll see how UCD compensated for their loss of QB Caden Pinnick to Washington State. Click here for our entire 2026 schedule.

Aforementioned Memphis

As noted previously, Charles Huff left Southern Miss behind for Memphis. He took a core of Golden Eagle talent with him to compete for the American Athletic title. Memphis finished last season at 8-5. Arkansas (2-10) lured away HC Ryan Satterfield (50-25 over six seasons) and Memphis took Huff.  With Huff came a group of solid defensive players among 17 Golden Eagles that left replacement HC Blake Anderson scrambling at the other “SMU.” LB Mike Montgomery (105 tackles) and S Ian Foster transferred as key All-AAC player take-aways to Memphis’s D. DE J’Mond Tapp, transfer from Texas but originally All-Sun Belt at Southern Miss returns. The Tiger DC Lance Guidry, former defensive analyst at LSU, looks to develop talent around Montgomery to solidify his new defense.

Huff will rely on new OC Kevin Decker, of late from Old Dominion, to develop two QBs with little FBS experience. Marcus Stokes comes from D2 West Florida as a Harlon Hill Trophy candidate for Top D2 player.  Air Noland transferred from South Carolina where he played in only two games. Transfer RBs from Southern Miss, Cincinnati and Colorado fall into the emerging backfield. Dallen Hayden gained 1,185 yards in four seasons between Ohio State and Colorado. Huff coached Marshall to the Sun Belt title in 2024 and improved winless Southern Miss last season.  Memphis hasn’t won the AAC title since 2019. Memphis hired Huff to bring back the championship.

Key conference battle for many seasons

We will see the Tigers visit Navy in what could be another key AAC battle on November 21.  We’ve seen these two visit one another in the past. We witnessed a few good battles which decided the championship between the two. A lot of good football remains be to played before then. From our experience, we know these two fight hard whenever they meet.  We travel to Annapolis a second time this season figuring that this game could be for all the AAC marbles.

More American Athletic action before getting off the head coaching carousel

Our head coaching carousel concludes on November 28 (possibly the day before on Friday after Thanksgiving Day). After Turkey Day with family living in Orlando, heading over to Tampa for the game between Tulane at South Florida.  It will be USF’s final game at Raymond James Stadium. In 2027, the start playing in a new on-campus facility. Above, we reported on Will Hall taking over for topsy-turvy Tulane. Regarding South Florida, Alex Golesh left USF behind with a 9-4 record to leave the AAC for Auburn in the SEC. He took the brunt of his very good offense with him.  So, what did South Florida do?

USF hired Brain Hartline with no prior head coaching experience.  However, Hartline comes from Ohio State. There, he had heavy influence as OC recruiting and developing some of the best WR talents moving on to the NFL (i.e. Jaxon-Smith Nnjigba, Marvin Harrison, Jr., Jeremiah Smith, Emeka Egbuka, to name a few).  Through the busy transfer portal, he lured WR Bryson Rogers from OSU along with several others from other Power Four programs.  Think they’re any good? To spread the ball around, LSU QB Michael Van Buren, Jr. joins him (player to be named later in the Joe Burrow transfer of 2019?).

Defense, defense!

Hartline hired DC Josh Aldridge who mentored East Carolina as same last season. The Pirates led the American Athletic in total defense. They allowed 348.8 yards per game and only 20.3 points per game. You already know there were well-coached teams in the AAC. Also, USF defeated Boise State and Florida last season.  Of course, much of the offense went elsewhere. Defensive lineman CJ Hicks of Ohio State comes in with 44 games under his belt. Other transfers need to step up. Safety Tavin Ward returns to lead a secondary full of transfers from P4 programs. Like many teams in the AAC, Harline puts together a puzzle of new pieces to come up with the best combination of players to vie for a pretty wide-open conference title.  Should be a fun year in the AAC.  We get to see seven programs in action.

 Only Navy among the ones in this article returns their head coach. The other missing is Army. The Cadets have been under the head coaching of Jeff Monken there for ten years now. Of course, we’ll be there for the final regular season game of the year when Army meets Navy in The Meadowlands on December 12. Despite both belonging to the AAC, this traditional season ending for both does not impact the final conference standings. 

Famous last words on some other 2026 head coaching changes

Here’s our impressions based on programs and coaches seen the last few years:

California – Tosh Lupoi (Oregon DC)- got a great foundation with Jaron-Kewea Sagopolutele at QB. Outstanding vs. Oregon State in opener last year.

Oregon State – JaMarcus Shepherd (Alabama Assistant HC) -if he relies on Malik Murphy at QB, he’s doomed. Over-rated “big-arm.” Unimpressive at Duke in 3 games. Worse in game vs. Cal last year.

Middle Tennessee – Derek Mason on “hot seat.” Rode coat tails of James Franklin recruits at Vanderbilt. 6-18 in two years here. Program lacks energy. New MTSU president after this year will replace him.

LSU – Lane Kiffin (former Ole Miss HC) – Lots of NIL money. No excuses!

Arkansas – Ryan Silverfield (former Memphis HC) – Saw him go 2-0 defeating Navy and Iowa State in Liberty Bowl. Just don’t see him taking a 2-10 program in the SEC to a much higher level.

North Carolina – Bill Belichick on “hot seat.” Getting old. Should go enjoy retirement with his girlfriend. Give UNC a chance.

Penn State – Matt Cambell (former Iowa State HC) – Click link here

Virginia Tech – James Franklin (former PSU HC) – Natural salesman. Weak in player development and key game execution.   4-21 vs. Top Ten at PSU. Best win at Vandy came in 2013 against 8-5 Georgia. Virginia Tech fans will be disappointed. Click link here.

Florida – Jon Sumrall (former Troy and Tulane HC) – saw him coach Troy twice. Once in Sun Belt Championship game. No let up at Tulane. Best hire among all teams.  He will take Florida far in the next couple of years.

Read more fun history of many games attended our first 42 Seasons!

If you haven’t already, please click on the title about this life-long adventure: Fifty Years of Tailgate Tales: The Good, the Fun, and the Ugly on Amazon.com. Among 740 college games attended to date now, we’ve seen all 136 Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams play in person at least once. In 2026, in case you aren’t aware, North Dakota State and Sacramento State join the FBS this season. “Fifty Years” tells our story of how we got to attend our first 652 games!

Read the reviews on the book page and order your copy today. If you’re trying to follow NILs and transfer portals, read what we predicted in 2023. Hopefully, you’ll understand how much we love this sport and what we propose for it to survive successfully. In addition, we offered solutions to issues occurring that we anticipated when we wrote Fifty Years of Tailgate Tales.

Please buy your copy today and read about the many great memories captured. Maybe some will bring back some of the same memories you encountered when we did. And to us this isn’t a job. It’s our lifelong adventure!

Edited and written by Stephen J. Koreivo, member of Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) and Author of Fifty Years of Tailgate Tales: The Good, the Fun and the Ugly.”

   


Your thoughts?