We are officially less than one week from seeing our first legitimate football games of the new season.

This Saturday’s 11AM CDT (on ESPN) college football kickoff begins with Iowa State visiting Kansas State in the first game of the 2025 season.

A limited number of games will be played on Saturday, August 23.  FCS member Idaho State visits UNLV, Fresno State travels to Kansas (5:30 PM CDT on FOX), Sam Houston goes to play at Conference USA foe Western Kentucky, and Hawaii hosts Stanford (6:30PM on traditional CBS).

The following weekend on Saturday, August 30 features the majority of college football teams taking the field for their first game of the year.

Several delicious opening games on August 30th begin with Texas at Ohio State at 11AM Central.  Alabama visits Florida State that afternoon, and the LSU Tigers play a night game at Clemson’s version of Death Valley to end a big day of college football.

I plan to get together with a couple of long-time friends to watch a few of those August 30th games.  We talk occasionally and share the same question entering this football season.

What can we expect to see this year?

College football and the National Football League are like Christmas presents sitting under the tree.

They are neatly wrapped-up as you try to guess the contents for weeks ahead of time.

Those presents are about to be unwrapped soon for football fans.

Expect some big surprises this year as the NIL Grinch continues to plague college football.

The Scrooge of the NFL may cause some disappointments, too.

College Football’s NCAA Transfer Portal and NIL Conundrum

The roster for many college football teams will feature a larger number of transfer players than in any previous year.

Those big money schools have accumulated a vault full of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) loot to spend on players. 

Most will enter this fall’s football season believing that their incoming transfer players are going to bring them greater success on the field.

Says who?

How did that work out for Florida State (2-10) last year?

Coach Brian Kelly’s LSU Tigers have added 18 new transfer players for this season. 

LSU has spent $13.5 million trying to buy loads of new talent to hoping to improve the results for this year’s football team.

It became legal effective July 1, 2025.

This June’s “Big, Ugly, Settlement Agreement” (read my summary here) permits the athletic departments of universities to be the parties writing the checks to pay athletes – including the incoming transfer portal bonus babies.

I can remember when LSU’s elite recruits were sighted zipping around campus in their expensive new cars.

Those were the days, eh?

Cash has returned as king in 2025.  But will these changes bring the expected results for college football teams?

Clemson remains on the outside of the NCAA Transfer Portal game

Coach Dabo Swinney’s Clemson Tigers are an anomaly in today’s major college football programs. He has largely stayed away from utilizing the NCAA transfer portal over the past few years.

The 55-year old Swinney has led Clemson to a couple of national championships (2016 and 2018) during his 16 years at the helm.  He has received a lot of flak in the past two seasons from Clemson supporters by not going fishing for expensive new transfers like the majority of top programs have done.

Swinney prefers to recruit and retain highly-rated high school stars in his program.  He believes that their long-term knowledge of the Clemson playbook along with practice and execution on the field can overcome any “Players for Hire” shopping their services via the NCAA’s transfer portal.

Ask Clemson’s 6’9” 385 pound offensive lineman Dominic Cardone.

He is a walk-on at Clemson.  Cardone grew-up dreaming of playing for the Clemson Tigers football team.  He did not receive an athletic scholarship from Clemson but earned a spot on the the team as a walk-on.

Dominic Cardone gladly accepts his role to help prepare a few of his team’s defensive linemen for a future career in the NFL.

Ironically, the NCAA’s recent “Big, Ugly Settlement Agreement” may end the days of college football walk-on players like Dominic Cardone.  Today’s new rules governing college football will permit few (if any) walk-ons as football rosters become smaller and limited to only players on scholarship.

It seems counter-intuitive that college football would move to cut thousands of non-scholarship athletes and, instead, force teams into a smaller roster of paid (scholarship) players.

Clemson’s giant offensive lineman Dominic Cardone has willingly accepted his role on the football team.  He wouldn’t change a thing about his non-scholarship walk-on experience at Clemson University.

Cardone said, “There’s cliches you could say about walk-ons, but I think we’re truly the heart and soul of the team. If that’s…getting destroyed by first round picks, I just want to do whatever I can to make this team better.”

The two teams of Tigers (Clemson and LSU) will square off on Saturday, August 30 (6:30PM on ABC) at South Carolina’s version of Death Valley.

We’re going to quickly find out which team’s personnel philosophy has paid off.

NFL – Will splashy free agent signings, trades, and draft choices quickly make a team better?

Sunday night’s nationally televised 38-0 preseason shellacking by the Chicago Bears over the Buffalo Bills left football fans scratching our collective heads.

Sure, it was a preseason game and should be heavily discounted.

Buffalo is considered to be one of the AFC’s top contenders again this season.  The Bills have posted six consecutive seasons with ten or more wins.

Unfortunately, the Kansas City Chiefs have “owned” the Bills 4-0 in post-season encounters during that same six year period.

Buffalo fans desperately want their beloved team to return to its first Super Bowl appearance since the 1993 season.

FOX Sports should demand a refund after the goose egg which Buffalo laid on national television Sunday night in Chicago.

Conversely, the Chicago Bears have posted only one winning season (2018) in the past 11 campaigns.  The team known as the “Monsters of the Midway” has performed more like the “Teddy Bears in the Baby Crib” over the past decade.

Chicago’s 2024 NFL draft brought a splashy #1 draft pick last year in quarterback Caleb Williams. 

He was joined in the first round by sure-handed wide receiver Rome Odunze.

This spring’s 2025 NFL draft had Chicago selecting former Michigan tight end Colston Loveland at #10 overall and former Missouri standout wide receiver Luther Burden III early in the second round.

The Chicago Bears’ offense is definitely legit.

Should Bears’ fans jump onto the bandwagon based on the team’s performance in its second preseason game?

Conversely, Buffalo’s porous defense was exposed yet again. 

The 0-2 Bills played Sunday’s game utilizing mostly second and third team players.  Buffalo has now allowed 72 points in two NFL pre-season games.

Buffalo’s lack of focus and effort seems to be a legitimate cause for concern entering the regular season.

Splish, Splash!  Don’t be distracted by these NFL teams

Cleveland – The Browns’ selection of former Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel (3rd round) and Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders (5th round) was a big surprise. 

The Browns already have disappointing-and-oft-injured QB Deshaun Watson under an expensive contract.  They added former Pittsburgh #1 pick Kenny Pickett and 40-year old Joe Flacco.  That makes five quarterbacks!  Cleveland is 2-0 in preseason.  It is a mirage.

Pittsburgh – The Steelers finally made a deal to sign 41-year old quarterback Aaron Rodgers.  Pittsburgh then paid $40 million per year to sack-specialist linebacker T.J. Watt even though the Steelers’ defense has other needs to fill. 

Terrible Towel waving fans in the Steel City should be ready for anything this season.

Detroit – The Lions have never played in a Super Bowl. The past two seasons (12-5 in 2023 and 15-2 in 2024) have ended with heartbreak for Detroit fans.  Two top assistant coaches left for head coaching jobs during in the off-season.

Quarterback Jared Goff lost confidence in the playoffs last season by tossing three interceptions in a shocking 45-31 home loss to Washington.  Head Coach Dan Campbell (as usual) will continue to make questionable “Go for it!” decisions on fourth down.  No, thanks.  I have officially jumped off the Detroit bandwagon in January.

Kabuki Theater has become the norm

NFL teams entering into high-priced player contracts and making wholesale roster changes rarely pay off.  Don’t buy into the theatrics being displayed by some pro football teams during these preseason games, either.

It’s a good bet that all four teams left standing in January participating in the NFC and AFC Championship games will not come as a big surprise.

Fans of many college football and NFL teams should be wary of seeing shiny new wrapping.  You may be tempted to believe that your team’s fortunes will significantly change for the better this season.

Right, Charlie Brown?

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