It’s the story of two men, superior athletes tied in multiple ways, now joined with a common goal.
DeMeco Ryans, the All-American linebacker from Alabama and the winner of the 2005 Lott IMPACT Trophy, is the new head coach of the Houston Texans.

Will Anderson, Jr, the All-American linebacker from Alabama and the winner of the 2022 Lott IMPACT Trophy, is Ryans’ prize defensive catch in this year’s NFL Draft.

Anderson was the third overall pick in the draft and is expected to be the centerpiece of a unit that Ryans hopes to bring the Texans back into playoff position.

Houston fans are in for a treat. You don’t win the Newport Beach-based Lott IMPACT Trophy unless you are a man of character. IMPACT is Integrity, Maturity, Performance, Academics, Community and Tenacity – traits the new Texans’ head coach and his new linebacker share in abundance.

Anderson was actually Houston’s second pick in the draft after quarterback CJ Stroud (Ohio State) was the second overall selection.

The only other time in NFL history when one franchise held both the second and third overall selections was back in 1962 when the Los Angeles Rams picked Quarterback Roman Gabriel from North Carolina State with the second pick and Defensive Tackle Merlin Olsen from Utah State with the third pick. That one worked out sensationally as Gabriel was the Ram starter for a decade and Olsen became one of the most decorated defensive lineman in history. For the Lott Trophy, it marked the second straight year that the winner of the award was drafted in the first three rounds – Aiden Hutchinson of Michigan was a second round pick by the Lions in 2022.

Four of the last five Lott Trophy winners have been selected in the Top 10 of the NFL draft and overall, in 19 years, the Lott winner has been a first-round pick 11 times.

Two of the Lott 2022 finalists were also picked early with Defensive End Felix Anudike-Uzomah of Kansas State going in the first round (31st overall) to the Kansas City Chiefs and Defensive End Tuli Tuipulotu of USC going to the Chargers in the second round.

The other Lott finalist in 2022, Tommy Eichenberg, has returned to Ohio State for his senior season.

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Here we are on the eve of another college football season and while much of the attention and focus has been on the transfer portal, the endorsement opportunities for the players and the mind-boggling conference realignments, let’s not forget the actual playing of the games themselves.

And few teams throughout the country will command the spotlight more than the two Los Angeles ones – USC and UCLA.

The Trojans are the gleaming new-look team in all the land with a high-profile head coach, Lincoln Riley (55-10 at Oklahoma), and nearly two dozen transfers on their roster.  The only change they didn’t make was moving their home games from the LA Coliseum to the Hollywood Bowl but stay tuned.

All those transfers, led by quarterback Caleb Williams, the former five-star recruit from Oklahoma, and wide receiver Jordan Addison, who won the Biletnikoff Award last season at Pitt make USC a at least an outside real contender to land in the College Football Playoff.

The Trojans are already listed a co-favorite in the Pac-12.  They should be 6-0 when they head to Utah on Oct. 15 for the showdown with the other conference favorite.   After that it’s three winnable games and on to UCLA and Notre Dame.

And at UCLA, after an encouraging 8-4 season with a quarterback, Dorian Thompson-Robinson who has been at Westwood since Tom Brady was still in his 30s, optimism floats high.

There’s also talented running back Zack Charbonnet, who ran for 1,137 yards and scored 13 times after transferring from Michigan.

Let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves, though.

USC is only ranked No. 15 in the Coaches first pre-season poll and UCLA is not in the top 25.

So, we’ll see starting Sept. 3 when the Trojans (against Rice) and the Bruins (against Bowling Green) open what should be a most interesting season.

It’s also the 19th anniversary of the Lott IMPACT Trophy with the annual black-tie event scheduled for December 11, 2022 at The Pacific Club in Newport Beach.  By then, the fate of USC and UCLA will already be determined.

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OK, college football fans.  Get out your Atlas.  Check your air mileage points and your Best Western rewards.

Forget those trips to the Bay Area.  No more weekends in Phoenix or Portland.  You’re headed to Madison, Wisconsin and Lincoln, Nebraska.

Welcome to the Big Ten, you USC and UCLA fans.

The West Coast just tilted East. Looks like they’ll make it official with the Trojans and Bruins abandoning the Pac-12, which was once the Pac-6 and once the Pac-10.

Why did this happen and what does it mean?

Well, any question that starts with why almost always means the answer is money and that’s certainly the case here.  Once Texas and Oklahoma announced they would leave the Big-12 for the SEC, it was almost inevitable that the two of the remaining marquee football schools, USC and UCLA, would have to find a more attractive landing spot than a conference that listed Arizona and Washington State as its members. Projections are that TV paydays could double for the mega conferences.  Follow the money.

Long-time Big Ten members received $54.3 million in TV revenue last year while Pac-12 schools were less than $20 million.  The Big Ten’s 6-year, $2.64 billion contract expires at the same time USC and UCLA land in the Midwest.

And what does it mean to the overall college football landscape?

Beginning in two years, there will be two Behemoth Conferences– the SEC and the Big 10.  And only two.  That leaves schools like Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Clemson (currently in the ACC) fighting uphill to get to the bank and, likely, the national championship game.  That may not be true for the National Championship game, though.  Would the selection committee dare to take two SEC schools and two Big Ten schools?

None of this should come as a surprise.  The players, after all, are basically free agents now in college football, why not the teams.

And what’s the big deal if you add Michigan and Ohio State to the Trojan or Bruin schedule.  What fun that will be.

But it’s the MIDWEST and HOLLYWOOD.  Can a marriage like that work? 

The Pac-12 will become the Pac-10 (once again), the Big 10, which is really the Big 14, will be the Big 16.  The Big 12, which was the Big Ten (but that name was already in use by the Big 14) is now the Big 8 (with 3 new teams, including Cincinnati expected to join, perhaps making it the Big 11?).

For kicks – why not add one more conference – Notre Dame, Clemson, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Florida State, Miami, and Stanford.  Name it The Leftover Eight!  Nice ring to it.

Note: This is all on an interim basis, like Phil Nevin.

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In 2004, when the founders of the Lott IMPACT® Trophy first formulated the idea for a unique college football award, the word IMPACT was a critical inclusion in the name.

It was important that the individuals chosen were not only great players on the field, but ones who would make an IMPACT both on and off the field.

Now, 18 years later, many of those players continue to make an IMPACT, even those who have left the playing field.

Here are some of them:

*Dr. Myron Rolle (2008 Finalist from Florida State). You can now read about the remarkable life of Rolle, from a college All-American, to the NFL, to a Rhodes scholarship to the prestigious Harvard Medical School/Massachusetts General Hospital. It’s all in his new book: “The 2% Way: How a Philosophy of Small Improvements took me to Oxford, the NFL and Neurosurgery.”

Before he became a doctor, Myron attended the Lott IMPACT® Trophy banquet in December of 2014, when it was noted that he had been the lead in a production of “Fiddler on The Roof.”  He was then encouraged to stand and sing, Rolle stood and dazzled the audience with a rendition of “If I Were a Rich Man.”

*Derrick Brown (2019 Winner from Auburn). Now a star with the Carolina Panthers, Derrick’s Foundation recently gave out nine scholarships at his high school (Lanier) in Sugar Hill, Georgia.  Brown also runs a free football clinic every June for youngsters in the area.

*Emmanuel Acho (2011 Finalist from Texas). He’s a rising media star and New York Times best-selling author who recently gave the commencement address at the University of Texas.

*Jordan Davis and Nakobe Dean (2021 Finalists from Georgia).  Now teammates with the Philadelphia Eagles, they were participants in the Eagles Autism Challenge.

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It was a bonanza for Lott IMPACT Trophy finalists at the annual National Football League draft with three 2021 finalists being selected in the first round.

Michigan’s Aidan Hutchinson, the winner of the Lott Trophy last year, was chosen 2^nd overall by the Detroit Lions.  His selection that high marked the second time a Lott finalist has been selected No. 2, matching Chris Long of Virginia, who was chosen No. 2 in the 2008 draft by the Rams.

Jordan Davis of national champion Georgia was picked No. 13 overall by the Philadelphia Eagles and Devin Lloyd of Utah was the 27^th pick in the first round when he was chosen by the Jacksonville Jaguars.

In a major surprise, Georgia’s Nakobe Dean was not chosen until the 3^rd round when he went to Philadelphia to join Bulldog teammate Davis.  (All in all, Georgia had five first round picks and a record 15 overall selections).

Dean, a Lott finalist along with Davis and Lloyd, won the Butkus Award as the top linebacker in the country and had been expected to be selected in the first round. The Eagles got a steal.

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Dabo Swinney, the respected and successful head football coach at Clemson recently issued this warning:

“I think there’s going to be a complete blowup … especially in football, and there needs to be. I think eventually there will be some type of break and another division. Right now, you got everybody in one group, and it’s not feasible. Alabama has different problems than Middle Tennessee, but we’re trying to make them all the same and it’s just not. I think you’ll have 40 or 50 teams and a commissioner and here are the rules.”

Is Swinney right or just crying wolf?  There are, of course, two major changes in college football: the transfer portal, which allows players to leave one program and transfer to another program with no restrictions (previously a player had to sit out one season) and the ability of a player to use his name, image, and likeness (commonly referred to as NIL) for compensation.

“I am for anything that incentivizes education,” Swinney said. “People will come after me because I’ve always said that I’m against the professionalism of college athletics, and I am. My transfer portal is right there in that locker room because if I’m constantly going out every year and adding guys from the transfer portal, I’m telling all those guys in that locker room that I don’t believe in them, that I don’t think they can play.”

NIL is beginning to have an effect on recruiting – and perhaps in a major way.

“There was no doubt it (NIL) was going to seep into recruiting at some point,” new USC head coach Lincoln Riley told the LA Times. “I think anybody that cares about college football is not real pleased with that because that wasn’t the intention, we all get that. A lot of people voiced concerns when NIL came up that there had to be a plan for that, and instead we instituted NIL without any plan for that, so that’s why we’re at where we’re at. I’m sure at some point there’s going to be a market correction, if you will, with recruiting. Hopefully there will be, because in a perfect world they stay separate.”

But are the transfer portal and NIL the only problems facing college football.  Apparently not.

Last season marked the seventh straight year and ninth year in the last 10 that FBS attendance has declined. The NCAA has been tracking FBS attendance since 1976, two years before then-Division I-AA (Football Championship Subdivision) was created.

Average attendance in the Pac-12 was 43,865, the lowest ever since the league expanded to 12.  By contrast, the SEC attendance was 72,195.  Another problem facing major college football – the vast differences in fan basis from region to region.

It still might come down to the basics. For an aging fan base facing rising ticket, parking, and concession prices, it’s easy to go to a default setting on game day. For younger fans with shorter attention spans, it’s about keeping their attention, period.

“We really are competing against the 70-inch TV and the beer that is cold in your refrigerator and no lines at the restroom,” Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby said. “We have to continue to make sure we enhance the game day experience.”

All of this makes the Lott IMPACT Trophy, which was founded in 2004, even more important on the college football landscape.  The Trophy is more than just an award, but a celebration of all that is good in the game.

The Lott Trophy proudly recognizes the character of the young men who are also excelling on the playing field.  And as long as that dynamic continues, college football will thrive.

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As they say, this is not your father’s USC football roster. Gone are the days when the Trojan stars were locally grown in Los Angeles, Long Beach, Orange County, Riverside and maybe an occasional trip to the San Diego area to get Marcus Allen or Junior Seau.

They arrived at Heritage Hall, strapped on the cardinal and gold and played for four years.

The Trojans rarely even recruited junior college players with the notable exception of one Orenthal James Simpson from San Francisco City College.

All their Heisman winners were from California – Mike Garrett from L.A.’s Roosevelt High, O.J. from San Francisco, Charlie White from the San Fernando Valley, Allen from San Diego’s Lincoln High, Carson Palmer from Santa Margarita in Orange County, Matt Leinart from Mater Dei High in Santa Ana and Reggie Bush from Helix High in San Diego.

But look at their roster today. Thanks in large part to the transfer portal that allows college players to be virtual free agents all the time, USC has 24 transfer players – and counting. Coach Lincoln Riley says they are not done, looking to add more transfers later this spring.

The transfers come from 15 different colleges across the country – Colorado, Auburn, Virginia, Washington, Oregon, Texas and Oklahoma among them. These are now your Trojans, the new guys in town. Strangers in shoulder pads. Most of them couldn’t find the 405 Freeway without a GPS.

Of course this has generated lots of enthusiasm in the faithful. Some of the transfers – like quarterback Caleb Williams from Oklahoma – are among the best players in the nation, giving new hope to a program that has scuffled along in recent years.

“We didn’t take players from Oklahoma,” Riley told TV host Colin Cowherd. “We took players from the transfer portal. Those players and their families had to make a decision to either stay at that university, just like any other player has to make, or to enter the portal where then they can be recruited by anybody in the country. That’s up to those players and their families and we have nothing to do with that.”

It is not just USC, of course. Six players on 2021 All-American teams were transfers; 10 on the All-SEC team began college at another school.

And you can’t let your guard down. A player who originally did not choose your school might just come back if lines of communication stay open and positive.

“Sometimes you get in these heated battles,” an SEC coach said. “You can easily get mad at the kid in the end, but it’s just better to always take the high road. With the portal, it’s even more important these days.”

This 365-day recruiting process will become more and more draining on college coaches. A player could become disgruntled at any moment for any reason and pick up and enter the portal, forcing the coach to re-recruit him. Maybe over and over, too.

Good or bad, the transfer portal is the newest wrinkle in this grand old game.

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Undrafted.  Unwanted. Unnecessary.

Many hopes and dreams are crushed during the annual National Football League draft lottery when teams salivate over bringing top prospects into their fold. Those drafted, especially in the early rounds, are featured on TV and get their picture made with the smiling Commissioner.

But what of those players who go undrafted?  Are they doomed for failure? Forever?

Not always.  In fact, 17 players who were never drafted have made it to the Hall of Fame, including quarterbacks Kurt Warner and Warren Moon. And some of the best defensive back in league history – “Nigh Train” Lane, Willie Wood and Willie Brown —  were never chosen either.

Center Doug Smith, an anchor in the middle of a very good Rams’ offensive line for over a decade, was undrafted out of Bowling Green.  He played between two first round draft choices – guards Dennis Harrah (Miami) and Kent Hill (Georgia Tech).  Smith, indeed made six Pro Bowls in his stellar career.

Paddy Fisher, who won the Lott IMPACT Trophy in 2020, was undrafted out of Northwestern and has yet to catch on to an NFL team despite his sterling college career where he was Big Ten Linebacker of the Year twice and an All-American.

A total of eight different Lott finalists went undrafted over the years, notably Jim Leonhard of Wisconsin, who defied the odds and played 10 years in the NFL before moving on to become the defensive coordinator at his alma mater.

This year’s NFL Draft, scheduled April 28-30 in Las Vegas, could be the first in the history of the Lott IMPACT Trophy to have all four finalists chosen in the first round.  Lott winner Aiden Hutchinson of Michigan may be the first overall pick (another first for Lott players), Devin Lloyd of Utah and Nakobe Dean of Georgia are both coveted linebackers who are expected to be chosen in the first round and Jordan Davis, another Georgia star, dazzled at the recent combine.  The 341-pound defensive tackle clocked an amazing 4.78 in the 40-yard dash.  An incredible time for a man his size and faster than current Kansas City quarterback Patrick Homes did when he was tested a few years back. Looks like he’s headed for the first round, too.

Some NFL veterans who won ther Lott trophy could be on the move, too.  Four of them are free agents – Jerry Hughes (Buffalo), Anthony Barr (Minnesota), Josey Jewell (Denver) and Jabrill Peppers (New York Giants).

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HEAD COACHES? – Both DeMeco Ryans (2005 winner from Alabama) and Jim Leonhard (2004 Finalist from Wisconsin) look to be positioning themselves for head coaching jobs sooner than later.

Ryans is the defensive coordinator of the San Francisco 49ers, a unit that held Aaron Rodgers and the Packers to just 10 points in the playoffs.  Leonhard is the defensive coordinator at his alma mater, Wisconsin, a unit that held opponents to 64.8 yards rushing per game, breaking 70-year-old school record and leading the nation.

Both men are hugely popular and considered rising stars in the coaching profession.   Ryans has been interviewed for the head coaching job in Minnesota.

Ryans, 37 and the father of three, is in his first season as coordinator in San Francisco.  Following his All-American career at Alabama, he was a terrific NFL player in Houston and Philadelphia, being named the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year and making the Pro Bowl twice.

Leonhard, 39 and also the father of three, was undrafted, but played 10 years in the NFL.  He’s in his fifth season as defensive coordinator at Wisconsin.

Both men are on the Lott IMPACT Trophy Board of Advisors.

*****

James Laurinaitis (2008 Winner from Ohio State) has also jumped into the coaching ranks.  He recently joined former teammate Marcus Freeman at Notre Dame after his fellow ex-Buckeye linebacker was named head coach of the Irish.  Laurinaitis, who had a solid 10-year NFL career with the Rams, had been in broadcasting since retiring….

Dr. Myron Rolle (2008 Finalist from Florida State) was named to the CoSIDA All-American Academic Hall of Fame.  Dr. Rolle, who is also on the Lott Advisory Board, was a Rhodes Scholar and is now in residency at Harvard Medical…

Aiden Hutchinson (Michigan), the 2021 Lott winner, was named to the Academic All-American first  team.  Also honored on the first team were 20212 Watch List candidates Thomas Booker (Stanford), Silas Kelly (Coastal Carolina) and Kekaula Kaniho (Boise State).

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OK, Class in session, Professor Pete presiding.
Today’s lesson is on the college football transfer portal, a most complicated and challenging subject, comparable to any physics class you may have encountered back in the day.

You see, the transfer portal allows college football players to say bye-bye to the school that offered them – and they accepted – a four-year scholarship in return for their skills on the gridiron on fall Saturdays.  And the player can leave for any reason – not playing enough, no longer liking the head coach, disappointment in his classes, cheerleaders not pretty enough, etc.  Any reason he wants – and with no penalty!  He no longer has to sit out a year to be eligible to play.  In other words, here today gone tomorrow, eligible Wednesday.

Let’s look at a sample case:
QB No. 1: In 2017, quarterback  J.T. Daniels of Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, California, is the No. 1 college recruit in the country after throwing for 152 touchdowns in a brilliant prep career.  He chooses USC and Trojan eyes are smiling.  His freshman year is just OK, throwing for 14 touchdowns and 2,620 yards but USC goes 5-7.

In the first game of his sophomore season (2019), Daniels tears his ACL against Fresno State and is out or the year.

QB No. 2: Enter Kedon Slovis who becomes the USC starter and has a terrific season.  He slips a little in 2020, gets hurt and loses his job in 2021.

Daniels enters the transfer portal and goes to Georgia.

QB: No. 3:  Meanwhile back at Mater Dei, Daniels’ alma mater, the quarterback is Bryce Young, who is also terrific and announces he’ll go to USC, but Slovis is entrenched there so Young opts for Alabama.

QB: No. 4 Jaxson Dart is the new USC quarterback for 2021 and he has a great debut in replacing the injured Slovis, who enters the transfer portal and decides to go to Pitt.  After the season Dart surprises and he, too, enters the transfer portal because he believes the Oklahoma quarterback might be coming to USC.

QB No. 5: Caleb Williams is the stud Oklahoma quarterback and he also enters the transfer portal with most people believe he’s headed to USC to join his former head coach Lincoln Riley for the 2022 season.

OK, Class, review.  Daniels is still at Georgia, but lost his starting job this year and is expected to transfer again.  Young won the Heisman at Alabama.  Slovis will replace Kenny Pickett at Pitt.  Dart and Williams are still being recruited. Remember, this is all in pencil, OK.

Who’s next?
The transfer portal is both a form of free agency and musical chairs.  Players transfer most often with a chance to upgrade themselves in a better program with a better opportunity.  At any given time there may be over 1,000 student-athletes in the portal with only so many positions open at only so many universities.  Dart may be an example.  It was rumored he was looking at UCLA, but then the Bruins’ starter, Dorian Thompson-Robinson decided to return, leaving Dart still looking for a landing spot.  Now Dart is considering either Ol’ Miss or Oklahoma – where he would replace Williams in what would essentially be a straight trade.

It is a monster on the loose.  A free for all with no rules.  Watch out.

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