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LSU’s athletics department released data a few weeks ago showing that Louisiana’s flagship public university raked-in more than $200 million in sports revenues over the past year.  The athletics department also spent all but $3 million of the money.  It turned a profit of $3 million.

About 40 miles west of Baton Rouge, the athletics program at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette is currently fighting for survival.  The school’s athletics department recently cut 35 staff positions to trim its budget from $46 million to $42.7 million per year.

Why is UL-Lafayette’s athletics program losing money?

The Ragin’ Cajuns’ athletics programs have lost upwards of $5 million in each of the past few years.  Much of the shortfall can be attributed to the school’s football program.

The UL-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns have fielded winning teams in four of the past six football seasons.  Local fans are quite aware that their local team had become a top competitor within the Sunbelt Conference.

UL-Lafayette (like so many mid-major and smaller universities) is having trouble keeping pace with the rising costs in college athletics.  Fan support at home athletic events has not significantly increased as costs have skyrocketed.

Big money support from the school’s alumni and corporate base has also failed to move the revenue needle enough to cover the increasing costs.

In fact, the Ragin’ Cajuns have a lot of company in dealing with a growing phenomenon called “donor fatigue.”  It is the economic reality that most mid-major athletics programs simply cannot expect to compete for national titles with the giants of major universities.

UL-Lafayette’s annual athletics budget is 25% of nearby LSU

LSU’s rabid fan base fills-up 102,000 seat Tiger Stadium for most football games. 

A seemingly never-ending demand exceeds the annual supply for prime seating in Baton Rouge.  LSU athletic donors are effectively bidding against themselves for better accommodations by donating more and more money into the school’s athletic funds.

A quest for national championships by LSU in football, basketball (well, at least the women’s team), baseball and gymnastics has driven sports fanaticism.  LSU’s athletic supporters have (thus far) been willing to dole out incredible amounts of cash to support that drive for success.  Of course, those same donors get to retain prime seating accommodations at the school’s athletic events.

The incredibly deep pockets of key athletics donors agreed to cover LSU’s massive $54 million buy-out of football coach Brian Kelly last fall.

That same huge war chest of funding helped to guarantee the hiring of new coach Lane Kiffin at a price of $90 million over the next seven years.

Louisiana’s second-largest public university is struggling to pay the bills

UL-Lafayette has nearly 20,000 students.  It is the second largest public university in Louisiana behind only LSU (34,000 undergrads plus 7,000 graduate students).

The football team for UL-Lafayette plays in the $65 million recently-renovated 30,000 seat Cajun Field.

This ambitious stadium upgrade took nearly two years to complete and was put into service last fall.  The football stadium was originally constructed in 1971.

The revamped Cajun Field offers better outdoor seating options, luxury boxes, and other improved aesthetics to provide a better fan experience.  Funding for this upgrade came from the school’s largest donor groups and a few key corporate sponsors.

Donors were provided the opportunity to spend money for naming rights within the upgraded stadium. You could have placed your name on the stadium’s new scoreboard for $3 million.

The “SwampSwamiSports.com” concession stand would have cost me a cool $250,000 to have my name on it (ha ha – good luck with that one!).

You could even place your name on the stadium’s four oak trees for a pledge of $50,000.

Last fall’s initial season in the Cajuns’ upgraded football stadium produced an average home attendance of 19,981 per game.  That is 2/3 of capacity.  UL-Lafayette’s game against nearby McNeese State produced the season’s largest crowd of 26,067.

Ten years earlier, UL-Lafayette’s 2015 average home football attendance was 21,596 per game.

In other words, the athletic support from the school’s home market seems to have remained relatively flat from year-to-year.

The Ragin’ Cajuns $40 million annual athletics budget is near the bottom of the Sunbelt Conference

UL-Lafayette has been a member of the Sunbelt Conference since 1991.  The league was comprised of 14 members last fall for the 2025 football season.

Last year’s Ragin’ Cajuns athletics budget of more than $40 million placed it ahead of only Arkansas State, Georgia Southern, Southern Miss, and in-state rival UL-Monroe ($20.9 million).

The Sunbelt expanded in the year 2022 to include James Madison University and Old Dominion University in Virginia plus Marshall University in West Virginia.

A road trip from Lafayette, Louisiana to each those schools requires more than 1,000 miles each way.  That means that air travel is needed for not just football but basketball, baseball, softball, and other team sports playing on the road at those destinations.

One source estimated that the increase in travel costs to play the recently-added Sunbelt members added a few million dollars in transportation expenses (mostly via air) for the Ragin’ Cajuns.

Should UL-Lafayette try to increase athletics revenues, cut costs, or both?

Playing in the Sunbelt Conference brings both UL-Lafayette and in-state rival UL-Monroe more than $2 million apiece in media revenues from ESPN and other sources.  A departure out of the Sunbelt Conference to drop back into the FCS level would mean an immediate loss of media revenue for athletics.

A very significant near-term problem for Louisiana’s mid-major football programs is the SEC’s decision to play nine conference football games beginning this fall.  Going from eight to nine SEC games leaves just three non-conference opportunities available in the football schedule for LSU and other regional SEC teams.

The LSU Tigers have been quite generous in scheduling Louisiana-based teams to come play at Tiger Stadium for non-conference games in recent decades.  Those road teams generally pocket more than $1 million to become “Tiger Bait” for their three hour fall visit to Baton Rouge playing in a non-conference football game against LSU.

UL-Lafayette’s Ragin’ Cajuns played only one big “money game” last fall at the SEC’s University of Missouri.

In-state Sunbelt rival UL-Monroe played two payday road games in 2025 – at SEC powerhouse Alabama and at the Big Ten’s Northwestern University. 

The Warhawks’ athletics war chest (half the size of UL-Lafayette) depends heavily on at least two money games per year to keep the school’s athletics budget adequately funded.

SEC football teams will now have one less spot to fill in their football schedule.  That means increased competition among today’s mid-major football programs seeking for the chance to land one or two payday games every season.

This will likely to drive the monetary guarantees for these games down in the years to come.

LSU Director of Athletics Verge Ausberry will have even more football teams knocking on his door to fill future non-conference games in Baton Rouge.  Those paydays are likely to decrease for Louisiana’s current Sunbelt Conference members such as UL-Lafayette and UL-Monroe.

Do students want to pay additional fees to help cover the growing costs of athletics?

UL-Lafayette’s last increase in annual student fees dedicated to cover athletics came about 20 years ago.  It added just $10 per semester per student.

Sunbelt member James Madison University (21,000 students) is similar in size to UL-Lafayette.  The Virginia-based school charges students a whopping $2,456 (correct) per academic year to pay for college athletics.

This provides JMU with $50 million directly from students – whether they attend sporting events or not.

Even UL-Monroe passed an increase in student fees dedicated to athletics from $20 to $75 per year beginning in 2025.  It will add about $600,000 annually to the Warhawks athletics budget.

Getting UL-Lafayette’s students to kick-in additional cash for athletics may be a hard sell.  Don’t go looking-up many of the school’s primary athletics donors, either.  They are proudly pointing at the Ragin’ Cajuns’ $65 million renovated football stadium as proof of their recent philanthropy.

What is happening at UL-Lafayette is not unique.  It is occurring all across the country as many universities struggle to determine if they should remain playing in the upper tier of college athletics.

The rising costs necessary to sustain expensive college athletic programs are causing university administrators to (finally) take a much harder look at the economic realities.

Many college athletics programs are currently on life-support.

Who’s next?

The post UL-Lafayette cuts 25% of Athletics Staff after Revenue Shortfalls appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

In case you weren’t depressed enough by the recent cold weather, icy roadways, loss of electricity and drinking water issues, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists just released its 2026 Doomsday Clock on Tuesday.

This group of global Brainiacs said that the world’s destruction is now just 85 seconds away.  It has moved four seconds closer than the 89 seconds it was a year ago.

The scientists’ symbolic Doomsday Clock has been around since 1947 after World War II ended.  This pessimistic bunch cited “hard-won global understandings are collapsing, accelerating a winner-takes-all power competition and undermining international cooperation.”

Nuclear wars, climate change, misuse of biotechnology, and, newly added, the rapid development of artificial intelligence are now leading the concerns expressed by the worldwide group of scientists.

Don’t panic – yet.   Most of us have succeeded in living productive lives for decades despite these looming ominous threats.

But what about college sports?

People on the left and right side of the political aisle may disagree about the urgency of the threats mentioned by the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists.

Both sides are likely to agree that America’s longtime college sports environment has been undergoing seismic changes in recent years.  The tectonic plates which have long supported college athletics have been shifting around faster than the San Andreas fault.

College sports began as a way to develop friendly athletic competitions between regional colleges and universities.

A rowing competition in August, 1852 between Harvard and Yale was considered the first official intercollegiate sporting match.

The Harvard Crimson won “The Race” which covered two miles.  The Yale Bulldogs finally broke into the winner’s column in the fourth annual race.

Harvard still leads the series 97-60, but Yale has been victorious in seven of the last ten matches.

The evolution of athletic conferences

Other colleges and universities quickly saw the benefit from developing annual sporting competitions with nearby regional schools.

The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA) originated in 1892.  This group would eventually spin-off today’s Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and the Southeastern Conference (SEC).

The Western Conference (1896) became the predecessor for today’s Big Ten Conference.

Remember the “Big 8” Conference?  It began in 1907 and has evolved into today’s Big 12.   A west coast group of schools called the Pacific Coast Conference began a sports affiliation in 1915 which later morphed into the Pac-12.

Dozens of other conference affiliations began around the country for larger and smaller colleges and universities – primarily based on regional proximity.

From 1900-2000, the “new” NCAA was (generally) able to manage college athletics

For most of the 20th century, the number of college athletic conferences continued to grow and evolve.

The larger schools had enough money to construct significant facilities dedicated to football, basketball, and other sports to entice the top student-athletes.  The “major” schools generally remained in geographically-friendly conferences to minimize travel costs and classroom interruptions for student-athletes.

Mid-majors and smaller schools found alignments with regional rivals of similar school size and interests.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) began in 1906.  It was intended to establish rules ensuring fair play for intercollegiate sports and protection of the competing athletes.

The NCAA eventually divided colleges into the scholarship-driven Division I and Division II groups plus the non-athletic scholarship Division III.  Each division features its own national championship competitions in most sports.

Many athletes attend college to refine their skills in hopes of quickly turning pro

The term “student-athlete” has been used in connotation with college athletics for much of the last century.

Athletic scholarships have been provided to talented sports participants.  It included the value of school tuition, room, and board in return for the student’s athletic participation.  This relatively small portion of the student population was expected to maintain close to a “C” grade point average in order to retain their scholarship from year to year.

As expected, marginally qualified academic performers in high school started being recruited by some colleges for their athletic abilities.

These weaker college students started being shuffled into “Beginner Basket Weaving” (just kidding – maybe) and less strenuous academic classes to keep them eligible for sports participation.

The pro football’s NFL requires prospective players to be at least three years removed from high school.  College football has developed as the primary conduit necessary for players who dream of donning an NFL uniform some day.

The term “one and done” refers to the NBA’s minimal requirement that future pro basketball players must be one year removed from high school.  That’s why most of your favorite freshman college basketball stars vanish every spring.

The women’s WNBA currently requires future US players to be age 22.  Expect that to be challenged in courts and changed soon.

This explains why many of today’s major college football and men’s basketball players only want to stick around for the bare minimum of time.

What a surprise!  Disputes over cheating became more frequent

NCAA investigations have revealed artificially enhanced high school grade-point averages.  Other allegations include under-the-table money and other valuable enticements being provided to athletes and/or their families prior to or after arrival at some colleges.

SMU’s famous “Death Penalty” recruiting violation case was handed down by the NCAA in the 1980’s.

It forced the school to cancel football entirely in 1987 and 1988.  This sent a message to other schools that the NCAA was serious about enforcing its rules.

Much like WWE legend The Undertaker, SMU gradually arose from its football coffin and even qualified for the 12-team College Football Playoffs in 2024.

Unfortunately, the NCAA has appeared to prefer focusing on administrative issues like adding the 3-point shot to college basketball (1986) rather than pursue investigations against member institutions (which supply a cadre of high-dollar attorneys) about alleged cheating allegations.

Which brings us to today’s NCAA transfer portal and the NIL-A-Palooza

Implementation of the NCAA’s transfer portal in 2018 began allowing student-athletes to transfer from one college to another in the same way that all other students are permitted to do.

Previously, athletes had been barred from participating in sports at their new school for up to a full year. This was (supposedly) done to encourage athletes to keep their commitment to the original institution’s athletic program.

It was in 2021 that the game-changing Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) program began.

Chuckle if you wish, but the NIL was initially intended to give cash-starved college athletes an opportunity to earn some extra spending money via local advertisements and promotional appearances.  Most figured that this would fetch, at best, a few thousand dollars per year for some students to buy pizza, attend an occasional movie, buy clothes, and the like.

Au contraire! They were quite wrong.

The actual result of the combination of the NCAA transfer portal and the NIL cash has been the creation of a very lucrative pay-for-play system.

College coaches are legally gambling by offering scholarships and massive NIL cash incentives to transfer portal players.

Has the NCAA been actively involved in verifying whether the transferring athletes have met the academic standards of their previous school and the incoming entrance requirements of the new college?

If the NCAA isn’t doing this, are we supposed to trust the coaches and athletic administrators to simply police themselves?

University of Texas junior quarterback Arch Manning was identified by one publication as having an NIL value of more than $4 million per year.  A few of this January’s top transfer quarterbacks may have received offers of $5 million or more to change football teams for next season.

A record 3,300 FBS major college football players entered January’s transfer portal.

There are 136 football teams in the FBS classification.

That means that an incredible 24 football players per school were playing musical chairs this month.  Current rules allow no more than 85 full scholarship football players per institution.

New LSU football coach Lane Kiffin just returned to Baton Rouge with the #1-rated transfer portal class.  He signed more than 40 new players for the Tigers this fall.  Coach Kiffin was expected to spend more than $20 million to buy talent – for just one season.

This same game is being played by college participants in men’s and women’s basketball.

Even top baseball, softball, gymnastics, soccer, volleyball, tennis, and golf stars are being lured to certain colleges with NIL cash offers.

What is the NCAA going to do about all of this?

Not much.

The NCAA has been busy dealing with lawsuits filed by attorneys representing athletes demanding one additional year of college athletic eligibility.  Most cases are due to injuries which kept the player from participating for more than half of a previous year.

The money being offered to remain one more year in college has become so high that increasing numbers of athletes want to stick around to build their financial nest egg.

Why enter a professional sports draft when you are not assured of being selected by a team or making the final squad next season?  A growing number of college football players are opting for the “sure thing” by taking NIL cash which is likely more than they would earn as an NFL rookie.

Starting football players for this month’s national champion Indiana Hoosiers had an average age of 23.

Coach Curt Cignetti apparently knows how to play this transfer portal/NIL game quite well, too!

The NCAA is considered to be (at least for now) a tax-exempt non-profit entity under IRS Section 501 (c)3.  It earns more than $1 billion in annual revenues – primarily associated with the television rights paid by networks for the men’s and women’s March Madness college basketball tournaments.

Non-profits traditionally earn most of their income from charitable donations.  The NCAA might also be busy protecting its own business plan right now.

Perhaps the NCAA doesn’t have much of an appetite to waste its financial and legal resources pursuing rogue schools and players.  All parties now arrive at the courthouse armed with their own high dollar attorneys.

Does this mean that major college sports are operating on a Doomsday Clock?

Perhaps.

There is only one sure way to get things to change.  A large enough percentage of fans must stop buying season tickets, donating money to their schools’ athletics departments, and watching televised major college sports on television.

When revenues noticeably drop, things might change.

Will that happen anytime soon? 

Don’t hold your breath!  

The post The Doomsday Clock…of College Sports? appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

If you live along the I(ce)-20 corridor from Dallas eastward through northern Louisiana into central Mississippi, you are fortunate to have electricity today (Monday, January 26).

Some locations received a few inches of sleet and snow for the kids to play in.  Unfortunately, it was a layer of freezing rain which added another 1/2” or more of ice onto trees and power lines across the region on Saturday and Sunday.

Several of the region’s electricity providers have power outage maps which are redder than Santa’s suit.

Hundreds of thousands remain without power today.  Temperatures across the region are not expected to budge above freezing until Tuesday afternoon.

Let’s try to warm things up today with a review of several interesting sports stories from this weekend which you may have missed.

AFC Championship Game – New England Patriots 10, Denver Broncos 7

If you like snow, the second half of Sunday’s AFC title game in Denver was definitely the game for you!

A 1 PM local kickoff started under sunny skies in the Mile High City.  Denver (playing without injured starting quarterback Bo Nix due to a broken ankle suffered one week ago) thrilled its orange-clad fans during the first quarter.  Back-up quarterback Jared “Stiddy” Stidham sparked the home team with a couple of timely completions in taking a 7-0 opening quarter lead.

Who would have believed that seven points was all that Denver would score on Sunday afternoon?

The resilient New England Patriots tied the game at 7-7 heading into halftime after “Stiddy” fumbled the football deep in Denver territory late in the second quarter.  New England quarterback Drake “Look ma…I can run!” Maye scampered in for a game-tying touchdown.

Earlier snow flurries quickly turned into a Colorado snowstorm during the second half of this game.

New England took advantage of the wind in the third quarter and booted a short field goal to grab a 10-7 lead going into the deciding fourth quarter.

Denver’s defense provided its offense with several scoring opportunities. Alas, the Broncos failed to convert excellent field position into any points. 

Former New Orleans Saints kicker Wil Lutz missed two field goal attempts.  “Stiddy” became unsteady with his second half passing game.  He also didn’t show much of an inclination to run the football when the opportunity presented itself.

Denver finished a woeful 181 yards of total offense in the AFC title game.  New England wasn’t much better with just 206 total yards – mostly on the ground.

NFC Championship Game – Seattle Seahawks 31, Los Angeles Rams 27

Seattle came into the NFC title game with one of the league’s best defenses and the home field advantage.  The visiting Los Angeles Rams rolled into Seattle after having won two difficult road playoff games by three points each at Carolina and Chicago.

The Seattle Seahawks offense took center stage in this high scoring back-and-forth title game Sunday evening. 

Surprising quarterback Sam Darnold (who is playing for his fifth team in eight NFL seasons) sparked the Seahawks by completing 25 of 36 pass attempts for 346 yards and three touchdowns.   More importantly, Darnold did not throw an interception or lose a fumble during Sunday’s game against the Rams.

Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford looked sharp (as always) in keeping his team within striking distance.  He also passed for more than 300 yards with three touchdowns.

The game’s outcome was unfortunately determined by a fumbled punt return by Rams’ special team player Xavier Smith early in the third quarter.

Smith had dropped an earlier punt but quickly fell onto the ball.  On his second punt return attempt, Smith fell backwards while trying to secure the ball and fumbled deep in Rams’ territory.  The Patriots recovered and quickly took advantage.  One play later, Sam Darnold connected on a 17-yard touchdown pass to give Seattle a 24-13 lead which they would never surrender.

The NFC #1 seed Seattle will now face the AFC’s #2 seed New England Patriots in the NFL title game in two weeks on Sunday, February 8 at 5:30PM CST and televised by NBC.  This year’s game will be played in Santa Clara, California on the home field of the San Francisco 49ers.

Pittsburgh Steelers just hired…who?

Former Dallas Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy was fired one year ago by team owner Jerry Jones. McCarthy posted three winning seasons out of his five years in Dallas.  However, his Cowboys’ teams went a woeful 1-3 in the NFL playoffs despite posting three consecutive 12-5 regular seasons from 2021-2023.

Ironically, Pittsburgh Steelers’ longtime coach Mike Tomlin resigned two weeks ago after his team failed to win a playoff game for a record-tying seventh consecutive time.

Saturday afternoon brought a surprising announcement that the Steelers had hired 62-year old Mike McCarthy to become the team’s fourth head coach since the year 1969. 

Each of the previous three Steelers’ coaches (Chuck Noll, Bill Cowher, and Mike Tomlin) have taken Pittsburgh to one or more Super Bowl victories over the past 56 seasons.

Before coming to Dallas, Mike McCarthy’s 13-year tenure in Green Bay (2006-2018) produced one Super Bowl champion at the conclusion of the 2010 season.

Those Green Bay Packers were led by young quarterback Aaron Rodgers as they took a 31-25 win over Mike Tomlin’s Pittsburgh Steelers.

A now-42 year old Aaron Rodgers became the Steelers’ quarterback last fall.  He piloted the Black and Gold to a 10-7 regular season and AFC North title.  However, the Steelers (and Aaron Rodgers in particular) were manhandled by the Houston Texans in an ugly 30-6 home playoff loss two weeks ago.

Coach Mike Tomlin resigned the following day after 19 years in Steel City.

Terrible Towel waving fans (like me) are now wondering what Steelers’ team owner Art Rooney II saw in Mike McCarthy to warrant giving him the head coaching job.

Pittsburgh’s woeful offense struggled under coach Mike Tomlin.  Mike McCarthy’s success has come on the offensive side of the football, but his teams’ defenses in Dallas had been less than stellar.

Can Mike McCarthy inject life into the Steelers’ offense while maintaining a top level defense?

Dallas Cowboys fans are having a good laugh about the mighty Pittsburgh Steelers hiring their ex-coach. 

Should Mike McCarthy succeed with the Steelers, Cowboys fans will have confirmation that the coach’s failure in Dallas was likely another case of meddling by team owner/general manager/face-of-the-franchise Jerry Jones.

Speaking of meddling, Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney filed tampering charges vs. Ole Miss over a recent NIL transfer

LSU’s new football coach Lane Kiffin has been jetting around the country signing NCAA transfer portal players by the dozens. 

In South Carolina, Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney has been roundly criticized for the past few years for his well-known reluctance to participate in the NCAA Transfer Portal/NIL transfer sweepstakes game.

The Clemson Tigers recently dipped into the transfer portal to lure University of California standout linebacker Luke Ferrelli with a nice NIL offer. 

Ferrelli arrived at Clemson in mid-January.  He signed a revenue-sharing contract with Clemson and was already attending classes and football team meetings last week.  

Until last Thursday, that is.

Ole Miss apparently waved significantly more money (a reported $1 million per year for two seasons) under the nose of Luke Ferrelli during the final days of the latest NCAA transfer portal period.  It was enough to convince the young man to leave Clemson immediately and report to Oxford to play for the Ole Miss Rebels beginning this fall.

Clemson is understandably fuming about this situation. 

Coach Dabo Swinney and Clemson’s legal staff plan to file tampering charges against Ole Miss.

Last Friday afternoon, Coach Swinney said, “It’s not about a linebacker at Clemson.  I don’t want anyone on our team that doesn’t want to be here.  It’s about the next kid and about the message being sent if this blatant tampering is allowed to happen without any consequences.”

He added, “This is like having an affair on your honeymoon!”

It appears that Clemson’s Dabo Swinney doesn’t want to annul the transfer linebacker’s hasty shotgun marriage to Ole Miss last week.

Coach Swinney (like most college football fans) urgently wants the NCAA to enact some common sense rules to govern the Transfer Portal and then enforce them with stiff penalties for the offending parties.

Good luck with that one, coach!  The NCAA that once struck fear into college athletics programs for wrongdoing seems to have vanished over the past decade.

You can only hope to be as successful as Mayberry’s Gomer Pyle when he made a citizen’s arrest of Deputy Barney Fife!  

The post Icy Monday Sports Update appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

NFL head coaches who finish the season with lousy records generally expect there is a good chance of getting the ax.

This year, nine of the 32 NFL head coaches have been terminated.  That’s 28%!    Add one more coach (Mike Tomlin) who voluntarily stepped-down in Pittsburgh after 19 seasons last week.

As my old Sesame Street buddy “The Count” might say, “That’s 10!  Ten coaching vacancies this year.  Ah-ha-ha!!!”

The ninth fired head coach in this year’s NFL’s “hit parade” came as a rather big surprise.

Sean McDermott of the Buffalo Bills was fired on Monday after his team’s 33-30 overtime loss at Denver in the second (divisional) round of the NFL playoffs.

What did Buffalo’s head coach do wrong to justify being fired?

Before the season began, Sean McDermott’s Buffalo Bills were considered one of the top two AFC contenders for this year’s Super Bowl.

The team finished the 2025 regular season schedule behind the surprising 14-3 New England Patriots in the AFC East.  The Bills still qualified for the NFL playoffs with a not-too-shabby 12-5 record.

Buffalo traveled to Jacksonville two weeks ago for an opening round Wild Card game.  The Bills scored a dramatic touchdown in the final minute to claim a 27-24 win over the 13-4 AFC South champion Jaguars.  Then it was on to Denver last weekend to face the #1 AFC seed Broncos.

Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen played another outstanding game but his two interceptions and two lost fumbles gave Denver some key scoring opportunities.  The Broncos eventually prevailed 33-30 in overtime.

Denver will host this week’s AFC Championship game against Buffalo’s rival, New England, at 2PM (CST) Sunday afternoon on CBS.

The Buffalo Bills have now appeared in the AFC Playoffs for seven consecutive years.  In each season, Buffalo has failed to reach the Super Bowl despite having one of the NFL’s top quarterbacks operating the team’s offense.

The 51-year old Sean McDermott had been the defensive coordinator in both Philadelphia and Carolina prior to accepting Buffalo’s top job in 2017.

Fans in Buffalo should remember that the Bills had cycled through nine head coaches in the team’s previous 17 seasons since their last playoff appearance in 1999.

Coach Sean McDermott quickly rejuvenated the Bills and led them into the playoffs in eight of his nine seasons in Buffalo.

Why would Buffalo Bills team owner Terry Pegula fire a coach who led this year’s team into the second round of the playoffs?

That’s what many people are trying to figure out this week.  Coach Sean McDermott’s Buffalo Bills won nearly 2/3 of its games during his nine seasons with the team.

Sure, the Bills failed to make the Super Bowl.  There are 30 other NFL teams which can say the same thing in any particular year.

Yes, the Bills didn’t have to face and lose another playoff game to Kansas City and Patrick Mahomes for the fourth straight time this season.  The Chiefs failed to make the playoffs but they did not fire head coach Andy Reid (yet – ha ha).

Sean McDermott has been Buffalo’s only head coach for the eight year NFL career of reigning MVP quarterback Josh Allen. 

Just remember that Josh Allen can only pass the football to Buffalo Bills receivers who had been selected and signed by the team’s General Manager – not the head coach.

This year’s group of wide receivers in Buffalo was rather weak by NFL standards.  After wide receiver Khalil Shakir, Buffalo’s two tight ends were ranked #2 and #3 on the team in receiving yardage this season.

Nothing against Dalton Kincaid and Dawson Knox, but neither of the Buffalo tight ends possess game-breaking speed.

Was it the fault of head coach Sean McDermott that Buffalo did not have a more competitive group of wide receivers on the roster for MVP quarterback Josh Allen to throw the ball to this year?

Isn’t the team’s General Manager who is charged with finding and signing the talent for most NFL teams (unless you live in Dallas)?

Did the Buffalo Bills fire the team’s General Manager, too?

No.  In fact, 49-year old General Manager Brandon Beane was just promoted and given the upgraded title of President of Football Operations!

Brandon Beane spent 19 years in Charlotte.  Beginning in 1998 as an intern, Beane worked his way up to become the team’s Assistant General Manager in 2015.  In May, 2017, he was hired by Buffalo to become the Bills’ General Manager.

Ironically, head coach Sean McDermott also came to Buffalo via the Carolina Panthers.  McDermott had been hired by owner Terry Pegula four months earlier in January, 2017.

Apparently, Buffalo’s team owner believed that his new head coach and new General Manager from Carolina would work well together in Buffalo.

The duo led the Bills’ return into the NFL playoffs in eight of the past nine years. Buffalo has won ten or more games in seven consecutive seasons.

Should the credit go to the team’s GM (Brandon Beane) and/or the team’s head coach (Sean McDermott)?

Buffalo’s owner just fired a successful coach after his team lost to Denver

Let that one sink in.

Terry Pegula said that he became so negatively affected seeing the faces of his football team in the locker room following Saturday’s 33-30 overtime loss in Denver that he decided to fire the team’s head coach on Monday.

“My decision to bring in a new coach was based on the results of our game in Denver,” said the owner on Wednesday.  “I want to take you in the locker room after that game.  I looked around.  First thing I noticed was our quarterback with his head down, crying.  I looked at all the other players.  I looked at their faces and our coaches’.”

Pegula added, “I felt like we hit the proverbial playoff wall, year after year.  So, I just sensed in that locker room, like, where do we go from here with what we have?  And that was the basis for my decision.”

Sean McDermott has plenty of company in the “I’ve been Fired” NFL coaches’ club

A head coach in the NFL is generally considered to be the face of the franchise in the eyes of the fans and media.

Even a grumpy but very successful coach like Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots kept his job as long as the post-season hardware kept coming home.  Belichick eventually agreed to step down in New England in 2023 after 24 seasons and six Super Bowl titles.

Likable coaches get the ax, too!

Coach Tony Dungy was fired by Tampa Bay after six successful years with the Buccaneers.

Much like Sean McDermott in Buffalo, Dungy took over a perpetual loser in Tampa Bay.  He quickly rebuilt the team into a playoff regular in four of his six seasons.  Tony Dungy was then fired by Tampa Bay after the 2001 season for (yes) failing to advance the team into the Super Bowl.

Sound familiar?

Fortunately for Tony Dungy, he was quickly hired by the Indianapolis Colts for the following season in 2002.  Dungy led the Colts into the playoffs in each of his first four seasons and then won a Super Bowl title in Year #5 with his new team.

Having a future Hall-of-Fame quarterback like Peyton Manning certainly helped during Tony Dungy’s time with the Colts.

Former Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott will not not remain unemployed for long.

Bills owner Terry Pegula is opening his new football stadium this season and wants a fresh start

Buffalo opens its shiny new $2 billion football stadium this summer just in time for the Bills’ 2026 football season.

Five years ago in 2021, I wrote about Bills owner Terry Pegula.  He bought the Buffalo Bills NFL franchise in 2014 for $1.4 billion.  His bid was considered more favorable than an offer made by some guy named Donald Trump and his partner Jon Bon Jovi.

Seven years after buying the Buffalo Bills, Pegula threatened to move the team south to fast-growing Austin, Texas. 

He demanded the city of Buffalo, the state of New York, and season ticket holders to pony-up to build a more modern new football stadium for his NFL team.

More than 54,000 Buffalo Bills fans have paid from $5,000 to $50,000 to purchase a PSL (personal seat licenses).  This PSL only grants the owner the right to purchase a Bills’ season ticket.

Let’s assume that an average Buffalo PSL went for $20,000.  That would generate more than $1 billion being paid by NFL football fans living in western New York to finance the Bills’ new stadium.

Buffalo is ranked #50 nationally in terms of TV market size.  It is even smaller than New Orleans at #45.  Only Green Bay plays NFL games in a smaller geographic region (#65) than Buffalo.  However, the Packers are generally considered to be #38 Milwaukee’s home football team as well.

After team owner Terry Pegula’s grandstand play, the Bills have remained in Buffalo because he got his wish.  The Buffalo Bills’ new football stadium opens this summer.

Terry Pegula’s firing of head coach Sean McDermott this week has created a new media buzz about his team.  It will serve to get fans to start thinking about a new future for the Buffalo Bills and help to push back those lingering “What if…?” thoughts from recent playoff losses.

The team’s brand new head coach will usher-in a brand new football stadium in 2026.

Did I mention that this soon-to-open outdoor football stadium will have 10,000 fewer seats than 52-year old Rich Stadium in suburban Orchard Park?

That necessarily means higher prices are coming for Buffalo Bills season tickets, parking, concessions, and stadium merchandise in order to raise revenue to cover the loss of 10,000 football seats beginning this season.

Look out, Jerry!  You have some competition at the top!!!

Dallas Cowboys’ owner Jerry Jones still retains professional football’s top spot for the title of “NFL’s biggest meddling owner”.

Making a big move up the charts this week was Buffalo’s Terry Pegula.   Firing your team’s successful head coach based on the owner’s emotional “feel” of the locker room following a tough, overtime second-round playoff loss was a gutsy move, indeed.

The Bills’ owner may be considered a local hero by some for keeping the NFL team in Buffalo.  But a growing number of western New Yorkers have a different viewpoint.

Terry Pegula is just another greedy professional sports franchise owner who successfully coerced fans and governmental entities into financing his new (smaller) football venue at a cost of nearly $2 billion.

Jones and Pegula have one other thing in common.  Neither Dallas nor Buffalo has appeared in a Super Bowl in more than 30 years. 

“And the countdown continues!”

The post Buffalo Bills Owner Fires…a Playoff Coach? appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

Nothing fancy.  No high school superstars.  Just play hard every down.  Execute your plays better than the other guys.  Run each play with incredible attention to detail at your position.

Indiana did just that in a season-opening win over Old Dominion on August 30.  The methodical Hoosiers left some big tractor trailer tire imprints on one football opponent after another this season.

So it was eastbound and down, loaded up and truckin’ for the Indiana Hoosiers all the way to Miami, Florida for the 12-team College Football Playoffs season finale.

Indiana delivered once again in Game #16 against a very talented group of Miami Hurricanes in the national championship game on Monday night.

The unbeaten Indiana Hoosiers were matched against a physically larger and very resilient Miami Hurricanes team. 

IU finally applied its patented sleeper hold with a late pass interception in the final minute to secure a 27-21 victory and the school’s first college football national title in 139 years.

Indiana finished with the first 16-0 record in FBS history.  The Hoosiers subdued their three College Football Playoff match-ups by a cumulative score of 121-46.

IU returned to Bloomington, Indiana with a championship trophy in hand to show to the school’s jubilant fans who – like so many – still can’t believe this just happened.

If you liked exceptional defense, this game was definitely for you!

By early in the fourth quarter, Indiana and Miami (which finished 13-3) each had been able to muster only 220 yards in total offense.  This often-times brutal defensive battle was anything but boring, though.

The final quarter would produce the same number of points by both teams (24) as the amount scored in all three of the previous quarters.  Indiana led 17-7 as the final period began.

The Hoosiers and their Heisman Trophy quarterback Fernando Mendoza were pushed around all night by a burly NFL-quality Miami defensive front.

The Dolphins would be wise to sign a few of these college football warriors for their pro team this spring in the NFL draft.

The Hurricanes marching band kept their relentless defense fired-up all night by playing the Star Wars’ “Darth Vader March” over and over.

I almost expected to see a TV camera shot revealing Emperor Palpatine as Miami’s defensive coordinator.  The Canes put up a tremendous defensive effort against Indiana.

But Indiana’s defense was up to the task in this championship game as well.  They swarmed to every tackle and shut-out Miami for the entire first half as Indiana took a 10-0 halftime advantage.

The Hurricanes’ running game was nearly invisible for much of the night. 

However, Miami’s Mark Fletcher, Jr. finally broke through the stubborn IU defensive line during the third quarter for a 57-yard score.

That put the Canes on the scoreboard and narrowed Indiana’s lead to 10-7.

The Hoosiers defense came to the rescue minutes later by blocking a Miami punt for a touchdown to restore a ten-point IU advantage at 17-7.

Both teams’ offenses finally came alive in the final quarter

Former Georgia quarterback Carson Beck finally located a few open receivers and quickly moved the Hurricanes down the field.

A second Mark Fletcher, Jr. touchdown run cut Indiana’s lead to 17-14 on the very first play of the fourth quarter.

The Hoosiers would answer that rally.  Indiana made this game even more exciting during a tense fourth quarter as they successfully completed two gutty fourth down calls.

Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza surprised the Canes’ defense with a fourth down quarterback draw play.  He bounced off two different Miami tacklers en route to a 13-yard touchdown score.

That gave IU a 24-14 lead with nine minutes to play.

This game had become much like a very tense tennis match.  Back and forth they went during the final period.  Neither team gave up after the other team scored.

Miami’s passing game responded once again.  Elusive running back Malachi Toney came alive with a couple of key pass receptions during the drive.  He raced through and around several IU defenders for a 22-yard score to cut Indiana’s lead to 24-21 with a little more than six minutes left.

Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza then connected on a couple of clutch third down pass completions to move the Hoosiers down the field one more time.

A well-conceived series of runs and passes for first downs helped IU eat-up precious minutes from the fourth quarter game clock.

The Hoosiers opted to kick a 35-yard field goal to extend their lead to 27-21 with less than two minutes to go in the game.  Miami now had one final chance to win this game.

The Hurricanes’ last offensive possession quickly advanced the ball all the way to midfield with under a minute to play.  A long pass downfield from quarterback Carson Beck was then intercepted by Indiana inside its ten yard line to seal the victory for the Hoosiers and sink Miami’s title hopes.

That last minute pass interception by Indiana was the only turnover committed by either team in this year’s championship game.

By the way, did someone steal the referees’ whistles at this football game?

Millions of fans (like me) watching on television yelled, “Pass Interference!” or “Late hit – throw a flag!” at various points of this football game.

Did the referees swallow their whistles during Monday’s game?

Miami’s defensive backs were grabbing the uniforms, shoulder pads, arms, and hands of Indiana’s receivers all night long with only a few of the most obvious infractions penalized.  IU’s defense responded in kind by grabbing a few Miami receivers on some pass plays, too.

At least two different Miami players should have been whistled for delivering late hits out-of-bounds in this game.  Another quite obvious targeting head shot was delivered by a Miami defensive player to Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza.

Nary a tweet was heard.

Miami (one of the most penalized teams in college football this season) was whistled for only seven penalties and 60 yards.  Indiana chalked-up just five penalties for 38 yards.

Perhaps the title game’s referees may have carpooled to a local “Vision for Less” optometrist to be fitted for new glasses and forgot that this game was underway.

Let’s give the officials credit for being consistent, though.  They allowed both teams get away with far too much in the title game.  Thankfully, no one appeared to be seriously injured during any of those plays.

Regardless of the sport, games should be officiated in the same way as contests are called during the regular season.  This officiating crew stunk it up on Monday night.

“Hoosiers II – The Football Edition” is likely going to be filmed soon

That fantastic 1986 sports movie about a small Indiana high school basketball team winning the state championship may have been topped by the 16-0 national champion University of Indiana Hoosiers’ football team.

Long-time assistant coach Curt Cignetti finally received his first head coaching job in 2011 at a Division II college in western Pennsylvania.

He was age 50 at the time.  He quickly transformed that football team into a winner.  A move to North Carolina produced similar results for FCS member Elon University outside of Greensboro.

Curt Cignetti then took over at James Madison University in northwestern Virginia.  He led the Dukes to a 52-9 record over his five seasons as the team’s head coach.

Perennial football wallflower Indiana then picked this late-blooming coach-turned-miracle-worker in 2024. 

In two seasons, IU has grown into a college football monster.

Coach Curt Cignetti’s two seasons in Bloomington have produced a record of 27-2 with two College Football Playoff appearances.

This was topped-off by Monday night’s well-deserved national championship earned by Indiana’s 16-0 team.

What is 64-year old Curt Cignetti’s secret formula?

Indiana had only eight players who were considered 4-star or 5-star athletes in high school.  Quarterback Fernando Mendoza was labeled as a “2-star” prospect coming out of a high school just a few miles from the University of Miami campus.  He wasn’t offered a scholarship by “The U” so he headed west to accept his only big-time offer to play at Cal.

Mendoza would transfer to Indiana this season to team-up with his younger brother Alberto (also a quarterback).  The rest is now history.

Coach Curt Cignetti assembled a group of talented underdogs who were willing to work harder and longer than players on most other teams.

More importantly, the Hoosiers followed the directions of the Indiana coaching staff and became a model of precision execution on offense, defense, and special teams.

This year’s Indiana squad performed together in unison like a championship basketball team.  Every player knew his role and executed flawlessly during most games.  The coaches smartly exploited the weaknesses seen in each week’s opponents.  The preparation and execution of the players and coaches helped this team to operate like a finely-tuned machine from week to week.

Indiana’s offense played keep-away from the opposing defenses.  The Hoosiers dominated time of possession (including 36 minutes to 24 for Miami on Monday night).

This team’s devastating blocking, power running game, and pinpoint short-to-intermediate passing game wore down opponents every week.  Winning the time of possession without committing turnovers helped lead Indiana to a national championship.

Indiana won 16 straight games by repeating the same formula over and over again

There was nothing fancy about Indiana’s football game plan.  They won every game by executing their plays better than the opposing team did.

Coach Nick Saban won seven college football national championships (six at Alabama and his first at LSU).  Curt Cignetti had been a very successful assistant coach at Alabama under Coach Saban from 2007 through 2010.  Cignetti’s recruiting class of 2008 at Alabama would result in six NFL first round draft choices.

Now that Indiana and its head coach have climbed to the top of the college football mountain, will the Hoosiers be able to remain there?

Coach Saban (now a commentator for ESPN) said Monday before the title game that it will now become harder for Coach Cignetti to find new players with the same hunger to win as this year’s team.

“Now everybody wants to come because of what your program can do for them (the top players),” said Saban.  “That dynamic changes everything dramatically – in terms of how you’ve got to motivate your players and how you put together your team.”

Another factor in Indiana’s championship season was the character of the players.

Some of today’s NIL transfer “stars” may not fit-in with the selfless, team-oriented demands being made by Coach Curt Cignetti and his impressive coaching staff.

Indiana’s precision style of football execution should keep the Hoosiers near the top for years to come.

The team’s now-champion head football coach has often said, “If you keep your nose down and keep working, anything is possible!”

Congratulations, Indiana!  The best team won.

The post Indiana’s 18-wheeler Football team made one final Delivery appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

One of Clint Eastwood’s trademark phrases from a Dirty Harry movie was, “Do you feel lucky?”

The four NFL second round divisional playoff games this Saturday and Sunday have given yours truly a really tough time in trying to determine the winners.  Some teams haven’t participated in the playoffs very much in recent years.  Sunday’s games may have snow affecting play (Yes!).

The people who follow the Las Vegas prognosticators believe the odds favor these winners (home teams in BOLD):

Saturday, January 17:

Denver (by 1.5 points) over Buffalo

Seattle (by 7 points) over San Francisco

Sunday, January 18:

New England (by 3 points) over Houston

Los Angeles Rams (by 4.5 points) over Chicago

These are some very tough games to predict this week.  Let’s review each game and pick a winner!  

Saturday – 3:30PM (CST) on CBS – #6 AFC seed Buffalo Bills at #1 Denver Broncos

Coach Sean Payton’s three-year turnaround of the Denver Broncos has been nothing short of miraculous.  The Broncos had six consecutive losing seasons before the former New Orleans Saints coach was hired beginning with the 2023 season.  Payton’s first year 8-9 record was followed-up with 10-7 in 2024 (and a first round playoff loss) and a league leading 14-3 record this season.

The Denver Broncos have done it with a reliable defense, a gritty young quarterback, and a large dose of timely good fortune.  Having the second-rated NFL defense has kept Denver close in nearly every game this season.  The Broncos give up only 18 points per game and allowed 30 or more points on just two occasions in 17 regular season contests.

Quarterback Bo Nix is completing his second NFL season.  Having Sean Payton (a former college quarterback and professional tutor to Saints’ legend Drew Brees) as Bo Nix’ mentor has created a new dynamic duo in Denver.  Nix was rated the #8 QB in the league this season with 25 touchdown passes and 11 interceptions.  It is his uncanny ability to play at his best when the game is on the line which endeared him to Broncos’ fans.

Meanwhile, Buffalo came into this season as a Super Bowl favorite.  The Bills have lost three straight playoff games to Kansas City in recent years.  With the Chiefs’ collapse this fall, the door was left open for a seasoned playoff contender like Buffalo to make a late-season run to the league’s title game.

Reigning NFL MVP quarterback Josh Allen had another good season.

However, his stats are nearly identical to Denver’s Bo Nix (25 TD’s and 10 interceptions).  Buffalo’s offense was much more productive than Denver.  The Bills were #4 in scoring offense with 28.4 points per game.  Compare that to Denver’s 23.6 ppg.

Buffalo’s defense, though, allowed about 22 points per game (#12 in the NFL) which is four points more than Denver’s stingy 18 ppg.

X-factor:  Buffalo’s playoff experience pays off in a last second victory.

My prediction: Buffalo 31, Denver 28

Saturday – 7PM on FOX – #6 NFC seed San Francisco 49ers at #1 Seattle Seahawks

The 49ers are one of three NFC West teams still playing among the four NFC playoff competitors this weekend.

Coach Mike Shanahan’s walking wounded group of 49ers has found a way to overcome a significant number of injuries to key players all season.  The latest casualty was All-Pro tight end George Kittle.  He is out for the season after suffering an Achilles injury last weekend.

Quarterback Brock Purdy only played in nine regular season games due to injury.  Since returning to the 49ers starting line-up on November 16, Purdy led San Francisco to seven wins in the team’s last eight games.  He has been clutch coming down the stretch.

The league’s 13th rated defense has been just good enough (allowing nearly 22 points per game) to keep San Francisco in most of its games this season.

Seattle is the host team for Saturday night’s game.  The Seahawks are flying high with the NFC’s #1 seed, a 14-3 regular season record, the #1 defense in the NFC, and the noisiest home stadium crowd in the NFL.

That’s the good news.

Second-year coach Mike MacDonald (not related to the pop singer with the same name) was the former defensive coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens.  This 38-year old coach brought along his tough-minded defensive schemes to Seattle.  The Hawks allow only 17 points per game.

Seattle’s offense has been led by journeyman quarterback Sam Darnold.  He is playing for his fifth team in eight NFL seasons.  Darnold passed for 25 touchdowns this fall but has given up 14 interceptions.  His history of turnovers while playing in pressure football games has Seahawks fans on pins and needles already.  An oblique injury has been troubling Darnold this week and may limit his mobility on Saturday night.

X-factor: Seattle must not count on Sam Darnold to rally the team from behind in this game.

My prediction: San Francisco 27, Seattle 21

Sunday – 2PM on ABC & ESPN – #5 AFC seed Houston Texans at #2 New England

Houston’s fourth quarter ambush of Pittsburgh on Monday night helped finalize the decision by  Steelers’ coach Mike Tomlin to retire after 19 NFL seasons.  

The Houston Texans’ defense has lifted this team to ten consecutive wins coming into this weekend (including Monday night’s 30-6 mauling of the Steelers in Pittsburgh).

Texans’ head coach DeMeco Ryans (a former linebacker for the team) has created the NFL’s #1 overall defensive unit giving up just 277 total yards per game.

The Houston offense has been inconsistent from week to week.  Third-year quarterback C.J. Stroud passed for 20 touchdowns with nine interceptions but looked shaky at Pittsburgh on Monday night.  Houston’s All-Pro wide receiver Nico Collins suffered a concussion in Pittsburgh and has been ruled out of this Sunday’s game at New England.

The home team New England Patriots have returned to the playoffs led by its first year coach Mike Vrabel.

The former Patriots’ All-Pro linebacker won three Super Bowl rings during his playing days in New England.  As a coach, he has led the Patriots’ turnaround from 4-13 in 2024 into a 14-3 Super Bowl contender in just one season.

Second year quarterback Drake Maye has proven worthy of his first round draft selection in 2024.  Passing for 31 touchdowns with just eight interceptions in the regular season was an amazing feat for a second year NFL quarterback.  He spread the ball around as ten different players caught touchdown passes this season.

New England’s defense and special teams have been top notch this season as well.

X-factor: Snow (!!!) and the absence of Houston wide receiver Nico Collins

My prediction: New England 24, Houston 14

Sunday – 5:30PM on NBC – #5 NFC seed Los Angeles Rams at #2 Chicago Bears

Los Angeles was considered a Super Bowl favorite this season.  Chicago Bears fans would have been thrilled just to make the NFL playoffs.  These two teams will meet in frozen Soldier Field in Chicago as the sun sets with temperatures below 20 degrees and snow likely during the game.

The Rams are guided by ageless (soon-to-turn 38 years old) veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford.

He leads the NFL’s #1 offense which scores nearly 31 points per game.  The Rams’ defense isn’t shabby, either.  They give up 20 points on average.

Los Angeles has won several high scoring shoot-out games in the past month leading into the playoffs.  The frigid weather conditions expected in Chicago on Sunday evening are not favorable to the Rams’ high scoring offense.

Chicago flipped from 5-12 one year ago to a surprising 11-6 record under rookie head coach Ben Johnson.  Detroit’s former offensive coordinator brought his playbook filled with exciting plays to Chicago.

Second year quarterback Caleb Williams (27 touchdown passes and just seven interceptions) has blossomed under Coach Johnson’s tutelage.

The Bears’ defense was the most opportunistic in the NFL this season.  A total of 33 turnovers (23 interceptions and 10 fumble recoveries) gave Chicago’s offense great field position and scoring opportunities.

X-factor: Frigid weather and snow will hamper both teams.  Turnovers will determine the winner.

My prediction: Los Angeles Rams 28, Chicago 20

The post NFL Divisional Playoff games are Difficult to Predict appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

Tuesday’s surprising news came out of Steel City in western Pennsylvania.  Mike Tomlin stepped down as head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

It’s hard to believe that the 53-year old Tomlin had been the top man in Pittsburgh for 19 seasons.

There have been only three Pittsburgh Steelers head coaches since the National Football League merged with the American Football League 55 years ago in 1970.

Steelers head coach Chuck Noll started his head coaching career in Pittsburgh in 1969 by going 1-13.  His second season brought a 5-9 mark in 1970 and then just 6-8 in 1971.

In today’s NFL, most other NFL teams would have fired future Hall-of-Fame Coach Chuck Noll after three years on “Black Monday” last week.

You must win NOW, because fans and social media are all about instant gratification today.

The Steelers transformed from an NFL laughing stock to 6-time Super Bowl champions

Coach Chuck Noll’s fourth year 1972 Steelers (led by Louisiana Tech quarterback Terry Bradshaw and a host of impressive young draft picks) turned Pittsburgh into a winner by going 11-3. 

The talented young Steelers lost in the AFC championship game that year to the last NFL team to complete an unbeaten season – the 1972 Miami Dolphins.

From that point, the 1970’s “Super Steelers” went on to win four Super Bowl titles in just six seasons.

The NFL franchise in Pittsburgh had never captured a single NFL title since the team began in 1933.  Coach Chuck Noll’s teams transformed the image of the Pittsburgh Steelers from lovable losers to a tough band of black-and-gold monsters on the football field.

Noll put in 23 seasons as the Steelers’ head coach before handing the baton to Bill Cowher in 1992.

Coach Cowher’s Steelers added the team’s fifth Super Bowl title (“One for the thumb”) in 2005.  The very intense Bill Cowher retired after the 2006 season after 15 years of NFL success in Pittsburgh.

Mike Tomlin took the reins in Pittsburgh in 2007

The 34-year old former defensive coordinator with the Minnesota Vikings immediately bonded with his new team and its very boisterous loyal fans.

Like Chuck Noll and Bill Cowher, Mike Tomlin’s college and NFL coaching experience had been on the defensive side of the football.

Did you know that Mike Tomlin (the college football player) was a 2nd team All-Conference wide receiver at the College of William & Mary in Virginia?  He became a defensive backs coach upon entering the coaching profession.

Mike Tomlin’s Steelers quickly added Pittsburgh’s sixth Super Bowl trophy in 2008.

This endeared the team’s new coach to millions of Terrible Towel waving Steelers fans around the world.

Mike Tomlin’s Steelers reached the big game once again in 2010 but lost 31-25 to (ironically) Super Bowl MVP quarterback Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers.

Ironically, the now 42-year old Aaron Rodgers signed to play quarterback for Coach Tomlin’s Steelers this past season.

Rodgers led Pittsburgh to a 10-7 regular season record.  The Steelers were embarrassed 30-6 – at home – by the Houston Texans on Monday night in the wild-card round.

Less than one day after Monday night’s ugly loss to Houston, Coach Mike Tomlin elected to voluntarily step down as the Steelers’ head coach Tuesday afternoon.  He finished with 193 regular season wins. That tied him with former Steelers coaching legend Chuck Noll for 9th place in NFL history.

The pressure of winning in Pittsburgh takes a toll on its head coaches

The Steelers’ six Super Bowl titles place significant pressure on the current head coach to add another piece of hardware into the team’s trophy case.

Mike Tomlin’s Pittsburgh squads never finished below .500 in any of his 19 seasons.

His Steelers won the AFC North eight times including this season’s 10-7 team.

Coach Tomlin’s Steelers teams were defensively talented but inconsistent on offense.  Tomlin’s offensive units have further declined after the 2021 retirement of likely Hall-of-Fame quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.  One by one, offensive coordinators have struggled and been sent packing from Pittsburgh several times during Mike Tomlin’s 19 years at the helm.

Monday night’s 30-6 loss – at home – in the opening round again highlighted Mike Tomlin’s difficulty at winning playoff games.  This week’s defeat was the Steelers’ seventh straight in the NFL playoffs.

The loss tied Coach Tomlin with former Cincinnati Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis for the most consecutive playoff defeats in NFL history. Ouch.

The pressure to win a post-season game seems to have been the final breaking point for Pittsburgh Coach Mike Tomlin.  He looked ready to take a lengthy sabbatical from his coaching responsibilities. 

Coach Tomlin is considered a likely candidate to work for one of the television networks as a studio host or analyst in the broadcast booth next season.

Former New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton “retired” from the team in 2022 but took a job working as a studio host for FOX Sports that fall. 

Payton then returned to the sidelines the following year in 2023 to become the Denver Broncos head coach.

It’s likely that Mike Tomlin will patrol the football sidelines as either a head coach or defensive coordinator for another team at some point in the future.

In the meantime, here’s hoping that Coach Tomlin will enjoy a very well deserved break.

Jump ball!  Who wants to be the new Pittsburgh Steelers head coach?

Let’s examine the positives first.

Job security – There have been just three coaches in the past 55 seasons.  The Steelers ownership (the Rooney family) is the most patient in all of professional sports.  Getting a job as head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers is, perhaps, the safest job in the NFL.

Fan support – Is anything better than seeing 65,000 gold-colored Terrible Towels being waved in support of your team at every home game?

Yes, there is!

It’s when you see 20,000 or more Terrible Towels being waved by fans at your opponent’s stadium on road games!  Only the Dallas Cowboys may have as many loyal football fans as the Steelers.

A livable, lovable city – Pittsburgh is one of America’s top major metropolitan areas in terms of the cost of living and safety.  The Steel City (much like New Orleans) has a very unique local population which fervently follows their beloved NFL franchise for 365 days per year.

And now…a few of the negatives.

Expectations are sky high – every year!  Mike Tomlin appeared to be one of the most even-tempered head coaches in NFL history.  Pittsburgh is the city which was home to Mister Rogers (the PBS children’s TV star – not the quarterback).  Football fans and media in Pittsburgh reminded Coach Tomlin (daily) that he had lost six consecutive post-season games leading up to Monday night’s playoff game versus Houston.

The Steelers have six Super Bowl trophies in their display case.  The next head coach will feel immediate pressure to win playoff games again – quickly.

Can the new head coach turn around the Steelers’ pop gun offense?  Aaron Rodgers was a “band-aid” type of quarterback for the Steelers this season.  The 42-year old legend could not and should not be attempting to scramble or run from freight train-sized NFL defensive linemen anymore.  Steelers rookie quarterback Will Howard never left the bench during his first pro season.  Pittsburgh’s major investment in wide receiver D.K. Metcalf appears to be shaky after Year #1 with the team.  The Steelers need more speedy receivers who can reliably catch the football under pressure.

Does the new coach look the part in Pittsburgh?  Mike Tomlin, Bill Cowher, and Chuck Noll had “the look” of someone intense enough and tough enough to command this rugged city’s pro football team.

Projecting a personal toughness and strength will (initially) capture the hearts of Steeler Nation.

Who does SwampSwami see as the next Pittsburgh Steelers head coach?

A. Curt Cignetti

Win or lose this coming Monday night vs. the University of Miami, Indiana Hoosiers football coach Curt Cignetti checks all of the boxes needed to turn the Pittsburgh Steelers into a top contender again.

Did I say that the 64-year old college football coach is a Pittsburgh native? 

Curt Cignetti signed a 7-year contract extension with the Hoosiers this fall.  Can the Steelers afford to pay for the buyout for his Indiana contract?

Yes.

Would they consider paying a sizable buyout in order to get Cignetti to Pittsburgh?

Unlikely.  The Steelers’ ownership is notoriously thrifty. 

B. Houston Texans’ head coach DeMeco Ryans

Ryans is only 41 years of age (a year younger than this year’s Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers).

The former All-Pro NFL linebacker has won ten or more games in each of his first three seasons as head coach of the Houston Texans.  Pittsburgh would need to provide significant compensation (draft picks and a lot of cash) to Houston in order to lure DeMeco Ryans to come coach in Steel City.

Why would Ryans prefer Pittsburgh over Houston? 

Have you ever lived in Houston during its six months of summer?

C. One of these four relatively young NFL defensive coordinators

Some names being floated today include Minnesota Vikings D-coordinator Mike Flores.

He was formerly the head coach for the Miami Dolphins.  Flores’ exit from Miami became a bit messy, though.  

My list of other top candidates includes Seattle Seahawks defensive guru Allen Durde, Green Bay’s Jeff Hafley, and Jesse Minter from the Los Angeles Chargers.

There you have it!   

SwampSwami’s list of his six top candidates for the Pittsburgh Steelers head coaching job!

One name that I intentionally omitted was Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman.  He has been quoted recently saying he had no interest in a pro football head coaching position.

Then again, don’t coaches ALWAYS say something like that – right before they leave?

The post Tomlin out in Pittsburgh – Who Wants the Best Coaching job in the NFL? appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

There’s nothing like losing another PGA Tour tournament sponsor to motivate the long-time men’s golf league to invite a few LIV golfers back this season.

The year 2022 saw PGA star Brooks Koepka among several big name PGA Tour players who accepted a reported $100 million signing bonus to join start-up LIV Golf.

He has won five times during his four seasons on the new golf tour and earned millions more in the process.

Brooks Koepka told the media in late December that he and LIV Golf had reached an agreement to release him from playing obligations during 2026.  He wanted to “prioritize the needs of his family and stay closer to home”.

Koepka’s contract with LIV Golf was set to expire at the end of 2026.

The rationale given sounded quite noble.  Koepka’s wife suffered a miscarriage in October during the fourth month of her second pregnancy.  The couple already had a two-year old son at home.

The LIV Golf tour plays ten of its 14 tournaments this year outside of the United States.  Brooks Koepka would have been away from his young family quite a bit in 2026.

Yes, this SOUNDED very noble – until Monday

Yesterday, the PGA Tour announced an agreement allowing Brooks Koepka to return to play on the PGA Tour later this month at the Farmers Invitational in San Diego.

My lovely wife and I speculated that, perhaps, Mrs. Koepka may have been ready to boot her husband out of the house after his relatively short sabbatical.

The PGA Tour’s announcement about the return of Brooks Koepka strangely coincides with recent news that Farmers Insurance is exiting as a 16-year title sponsor for the tour’s long-time event in San Diego.

The high cost of sponsoring pro golf tournaments has been taking a toll

Want to sponsor a PGA Tour event?  The cost has been rapidly in recent years – even after the Tiger Woods era has effectively ended.

Sponsorship costs have nearly doubled in the past decade.  A multi-year sponsorship agreement (usually for four or more years) will cost a company up to $20-25 million annually for a traditional spring or summer PGA Tour stop.

A $100 million investment in a men’s golf tournament sponsorship must pass muster with corporate board overseers who will expect to see results to justify the exceptional costs.

Don’t expect to see “The SwampSwamiSports.com Open” anytime soon!

The PGA Tour has not delivered enough positive results to a growing number of former tournament sponsors

Average television viewership for weekly PGA Tour events still brings nearly three million viewers – primarily on CBS.  The network’s advertisers buy TV spots to woo professional golf’s wealthy male audience.  High-dollar vehicles, investment firms and insurance companies dominate ads frequently seen on golf telecasts.

However, the 64-year old average age for pro golf’s television viewers is the oldest demographic in all of professional sports.

Compare that with NASCAR (58), baseball (57), NFL (50) and the NBA (42).

Ironically, younger viewers are much more likely to part with discretionary income than their graybeard dads with fatter wallets.

Watch any NFL game and notice the types of products being pitched to its viewers.  Growing families purchase houses, furniture, automobiles, fast food, beverages, and recurring household goods.

That’s one reason why PGA Tour weekly telecasts seem to be waving their proverbial broadcast booth pom-poms for younger stars such as 36-year old Rory McIlroy, 29-year old Scottie Scheffler, and 32-year old Justin Thomas.

The men’s pro golf tour is desperate to find “the next Tiger Woods”.  El Tigre has been sidelined in recent years with injuries and recently turned 50.  He cannot prop-up the PGA Tour forever.

The rising price tag to host a PGA Tour stop may be indicative of fewer events in the future

San Diego’s long-time PGA Tour stop has been sponsored by Farmers Insurance for the past 16 years.

A press release by Farmers Insurance announced the end of the sponsorship recently stating, “The tournament has generated millions of dollars for charity and delighted golf fans in San Diego and beyond”.

Perhaps a more honest comment might have been, “But we haven’t received a significant enough return on our investment after spending $20 million to prop-up this rather expensive event annually”.

It’s not like Farmers Insurance is giving up on golf as an advertising vehicle.

The company recently posted a news release that Farmers has become a title sponsor for this winter’s second-year of TGL (Tomorrow’s Golf League). 

TGL is a weekly televised indoor golf contest aired on ESPN.

A TGL spokesperson said, “Farmers Insurance recognizes the engagement that prime time team golf delivers with a wide spectrum of sports fans, especially younger fans.”

Traditional PGA tournament sponsors expect to see positive results

The loss of major male golf stars like Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm, Cam Smith and others to LIV Golf a few years ago really hurt the PGA Tour.  Every tournament sponsor wants their event to feature a top field of golfers which excites local fans to come out and see.

The title sponsor is “sold” with the expectation that a significant national television audience will be watching from home.

That sponsor wants to see thousands of happy golf fans attending their event in person, too.  This one-week golf tournament blitz is intended to capture the maximum positive name recognition today and some long-lasting goodwill associated with the company’s financial investment.

This spring’s Colonial golf event (currently known as the Charles Schwab Invitational) in Fort Worth wants patrons to plunk down $85 for a one-day pass in late May.  North Texas golf fans want to see top golfers and popular regional favorites such as former University of Texas stars Jordan Spieth and Scottie Scheffler in this year’s field.

However, the PGA Tour does not require a golfer to play in any particular weekly event (yet), so the field in Fort Worth is still rather uncertain.  The upper echelon of PGA Tour golfers often decide to enter a particular event if played in a favorite geographic region or on a golf course which suits their game or which features significant prize money up for grabs.

The title sponsor of any particular PGA Tour event bears a significant financial risk if not enough of the top golfers elect not to play in their tournament.  Fewer top stars at some events mean lower television ratings and a negative impact on tournament revenues.

Have the costs exceeded with the desired benefits for some PGA tournament sponsors?

Farmers Insurance is not the first major corporation to end a sponsorship of a PGA Tour event in recent years.

Wells Fargo walked away from its tournament in Charlotte, North Carolina last year.  The year 2024 saw Honda Motor Company end its long-time association with a tournament in southeast Florida. Shriners Children’s Hospital walked away from its PGA event in 2023.

The PGA Tour’s competition with LIV Golf caused weekly money to balloon to nearly $8 million per tournament in recent years.  These increased payouts to players has been passed along in the form of higher corporate sponsorship costs.

Some companies believe that the current costs outweigh the perceived benefits.  The market is working.

A $3 billion life preserver was received by the PGA Tour just in time for the 2024 season

A unique partnership with private equity investor Strategic Sports Group provided the PGA Tour a massive cash infusion in January, 2024.  This $3 billion investment was intended to halt the migration of top golfers to LIV Golf and provide a long-term financial backstop against potential operational losses on the PGA Tour.

Half of the new money ($1.5 billion) was set aside to pay for a new long-term incentive bonus plan to be paid to PGA Tour golfers.  The players must remain on the tour for several years in order to collect their full bonus share.  This would (theoretically) cause players to think twice about jumping to LIV Golf or any other golf tour.

Will the three other major LIV Golf stars take the bait and return to the PGA Tour?

Monday’s announcement by the PGA Tour to allow Brooks Koepka’s amnesty came along with a rather restrictive short-term offer to three other prominent (and young) LIV Golf stars.  The PGA’s “Returning Member Program” would allow LIV golfers Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm, and Cam Smith a chance to return to the PGA Tour this season if they should agree to accept the terms by February 2.

Brooks Koepka (and the other three LIV golfers) will not be eligible for any FedEx bonus pool money in 2026.  The golfer must play in 15 PGA Tour events in 2026.  Koepka (and any other LIV golfers) will be excluded from the new PGA Tour bonus pool for the next five years.  That might result in a potential future loss of up to $50 million per player.

Brooks Koepka also agreed to donate $5 million to charity as part of his “deal”.  Expect the other three golfers to be required to pay at least that amount to charity.

LIV Golf’s youthful trio of DeChambeau, Rahm, and Smith still remain under contract with their employer to play this season. 

They would have to quickly negotiate a buy-out for their LIV Golf contracts and then be fleeced again by the PGA Tour’s punitive terms and conditions.

I don’t expect the other three golfers to take the bait.  Brooks Koepka had his own personal reasons to exit LIV Golf.

The others?  Not so much – at least right now.

Does this signal the end for LIV Golf?

The Saudi Public Investment Fund is worth more than $1 trillion.  That Saudi PIF doesn’t seem concerned that LIV Golf has become a multi-billion dollar money loser.

The loss of a few percentage points from this massive pile of cash is balanced by the Saudis’ perceived prestige as the owner of a worldwide golf tour.

I believe that the loss of Brooks Koepka represents a relatively small hit for LIV Golf.  The five-time major champion was never very personable with fans and the media.  He doesn’t move the “fan favorite” needle as much as Bryson DeChambeau, Spain’s Jon Rahm, or even Australian Cam Smith.

If DeChambeau, Rahm, and Smith follow suit and join Koepka to accept the PGA’s short-term “Come home” offer by February 2, worldwide interest in LIV Golf will plummet.

The 2026 LIV Golf schedule has only 14 golf tournaments.  Ten will be played overseas with only four LIV Golf events to be played in the US this year.

One of the US tournaments will be played in New Orleans at Bayou Oaks in City Park from June 25-28.

Whose bad idea was that to schedule a golf tournament at that time of year in the Crescent City?

Those of us who have lived in New Orleans will confirm the oppressive late June heat and humidity in the city.  Lake Pontchartrain, the Mississippi River, and the Gulf combine to create one of America’s hottest summer locations.  It will punish the golfers far more than the layout at the renovated City Park golf course.

Conclusion

The PGA Tour now desperately wants their wealthy competitor (LIV Golf) to surrender soon.

LIV Golf is feeling no pressure to fold anytime soon.

The PGA Tour, though, has new private financial backers who may be quietly demanding executives to show improved profitability after the group’s $3 billion investment into the long-time men’s professional golf league.

Purses for men’s pro golf may have peaked due to competition from LIV Golf.  The average PGA Tour golfer earned more than $2.2 million in 2025.  They’ll somehow survive.

This is getting very interesting.  Stay tuned!

The post PGA Tour attempts to turn the screws on LIV Golf appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

The large school division FBS football season began in late August as the fall semester was getting underway.

Football players for the four major college football teams are still competing this week in the semifinal round of the 12-team College Football playoffs on Thursday and Friday night.

Isn’t it strange that college football season is still underway long after the fall semester has ended?

Don’t these young men have to attend classes in the new semester?

Many colleges and universities have already started a new semester of classes in January.

My review of the online academic calendars for each of the four remaining College Football Playoff teams indicated that new classes have or will start as follows:

Oregon – Monday, January 5 (classes are already underway)

Indiana – Monday, January 12 (starts on Monday)

Miami (FL) – Monday, January 12 (ditto)

Ole Miss – Tuesday, January 20 (this school apparently planned ahead anticipating to win the national title!)

Two of these four teams will be eliminated after the semifinal games this week.  Players on the winning teams must wait until after the championship game on Monday night, January 19 for their football season to finally end.

Who came up with this post-season schedule? (Hint – a sports media giant which pays billions of dollars for the exclusive rights to televise these games)

Meanwhile, the NCAA’s Transfer Portal is now open and some players on the four remaining teams have already signed with another college football team!

This college football season at Ole Miss began with redshirt sophomore quarterback Austin Simmons under center.  He injured his ankle during the Rebels’ second game and was replaced by the talented Division II transfer quarterback Trinidad Chambliss.

Austin Simmons is an academic honor roll student who has already earned an Ole Miss degree in multi-disciplinary studies in May, 2025.

He recently placed his name into the NCAA’s transfer portal and just signed to play football next season for the SEC’s Missouri Tigers.  By the way, Mizzou is slated to begin its spring semester on Tuesday, January 20.

Questions like this are among the incredible complications facing college football today.

How did we get here?

The word “greed” is the rather obvious answer.

The NCAA is supposed to provide the framework for college athletics, but they have effectively abdicated that role in the past few decades.  They now seem more concerned with preserving their own lucrative revenue stream than enforcing their own rules and risk being sued for every decision they make.

Football already provided significant revenues for most major college programs.  For example, LSU has utilized the wealth from football revenues to support the majority of its other athletic programs on campus in Baton Rouge.

The ability of college football to draw millions of television viewers on Saturday has created a relatively new problem.  Increasingly fragmented television networks are now lining up to paying billions for long-term television rights with major football conferences. 

That’s because college football delivers several million mostly male viewers in the prime buying demographic (ages 25-49) every weekend from late August through early January.

Don’t forget the increasing role of sports wagering, too.  There has been a dramatic rise in the number of sports wagering entities in recent years.  Billions of dollars (especially during this expanded playoff season) are being spent on major college football games every week.

How can we control this NCAA Transfer Portal?

The NCAA formerly required college athletes to sit-out for one year after transferring from one school to another.

Not so today.  The NCAA’s wild and crazy Transfer Portal (which opened for business at midnight on January 2) now allows athletes to transfer from one school to another – just like the “average” college student can do. 

As of Thursday, January 9, there were 4,500 NCAA Division 1 players who had their name in the proverbial hat trying to find a new school willing to commit to more playing time and, of course, more money.

Unlike the rest of the student body, though, today’s highly recruited athletes seem to magically appear on campus at the very last moment.  His or her new coach is somehow (wink) able to pull the strings with the school’s administration to admit this new student immediately.

Good luck to an average sophomore business major if he or she shows up less than a week prior to the beginning of a new semester wanting to transfer into the school!

College athletes are now legally being paid – though the rules (?) are quite fuzzy

The court systems now allow college athletes to receive compensation relating to their athletic accomplishments.  Since college football generates the overwhelming majority of revenue, those players want a significant share of the growing revenue pie.

Would it surprise you to learn that several of the top college football quarterbacks are signing one-year NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) agreements this week for $5 million or more to play next fall at dear ol’ Wassamatta U?

That is the equivalent to the NFL pay for a player selected with the 10th overall pick in the first round of last spring’s draft.

It has become financially prudent for most football players to stick around and play another year of college football rather than risk being cut by an NFL team after the preseason games end next August.

See also – Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia

Vanderbilt’s undersized but highly successful quarterback Diego Pavia went from having zero football scholarships coming out of high school to earning millions of NIL cash this season.  The former junior college walk-on later transferred to New Mexico State and eventually to Vanderbilt University.

Diego Pavia has been now been enrolled in college for six years.

The soon-to-be 24-year old quarterback is about 5’10” tall and weighs 205 pounds.  He led Vanderbilt to its first 10-win season and finished as runner-up for the Heisman Trophy.

Pavia is estimated to be the 11th rated quarterback if he enters next spring’s NFL draft.  He would be fortunate to be drafted before the fourth or fifth round.

Diego Pavia has hired attorneys to petition the NCAA to allow the highly-effective college quarterback to return to Vanderbilt next season.  It would be his seventh year in college!

He will easily earn more money playing at Vanderbilt next year than being a mid-to-late round selection in the spring NFL draft.  It’s a very smart business move.

College sports seem to have become a hybrid of yesteryear’s rules and today’s professional sports

It wasn’t long ago when college athletes were provided with valuable scholarships to cover the cost of their studies plus room and board in exchange for their athletic talents.

Today’s total cost of attending an in-state public college is now $30,000 per year.  A private college will cost twice that amount.

Let’s call the national average $40,000 per year per athlete.

A recent NCAA study showed approximately 30,000 college football players participating in the FBS and FCS (smaller school) levels.  With 136 FBS schools and another 125 FCS football-playing universities, that averages to 115 football players per school.

Using our $40,000 annual cost for each of the 115 football players per school, each major football school is forking out $4.6 million to cover the costs of their football team.

On the revenue side, more than $3 billion is now being paid by television media companies to televise weekly football games and the playoffs.  With 136 FBS teams, that represents an average of $22 million of TV revenue per school.

The players are quite aware of that remaining $17 million of TV revenue and want their share of it.

How does this compare with how owners and players share revenue in the NFL?

The NFL generates over $11 billion per year in television revenue.  With 32 NFL franchises, each team receives $340 million from TV alone.  The local teams also generate millions from ticket sales, parking, concessions, and merchandise.

The players (like most corporate employees) are being paid about 50% of the team’s revenues.

This year’s NFL salary cap was established at about $212 million per 53-player team.  That’s exactly $4 million per player.

Now that we have a better handle on the numbers, it’s time to clean this mess up!

A. What would the average “salary” be for major college football programs based on this year’s television revenues?

Let’s use the NFL model and split the $3 billion of college football TV revenue.  The schools would receive 50% and the players can divvy-up the other 50%.

The 136 FBS schools would divide their $1.5 billion.  That amounts to $11 million per school.  Schools could first utilize the money to offset the football players’ tuition/room/board annual costs of $4.6 million (as described earlier).  The remaining $6+ million could be used to support the revenue-deficient athletic programs at the university.

Likewise, the other $1.5 billion could be split equally among the 115 players at each of the 136 FBS schools. Those 15,640 players would receive an average “pay” of $96,000 apiece in 2025.

B. What about these NIL deals?

Nothing should prohibit a top athlete from negotiating a legitimate contract based on his or her fair market value for promotional services. 

Every NIL deal, though, must be approved by the school and then submitted for final review and approval by the newly appointed “Czar of College Sports” (Vote for me!).

All fraudulent deals would result in an immediate suspension of the athlete for up to one year and the school being placed on probation (and loss of TV revenue) for a similar period.  The penalties must be stiff in order to prevent inevitable cheating.

C. How would you fix the NCAA Transfer Portal?

That’s easy!  First, let’s address the coaches.

The coaches (head coaches and staff) must be retained by the school until the day following the winner of that sport’s national championship (January 19).  College coaches will have two weeks to sign with another school (or professional team) or elect to stay put during this two week period.

For the players, each sport’s annual transfer portal season would begin on the day after the coaching moves occur.  The players’ transfer portal will be open for a minimum of one month and then close.  It’s “one and done” with no secondary portal seasons.

D. When should colleges be allowed to sign high school athletes?

It has never made sense that a high school athlete should be asked to sign a letter of intent to play in college sports before completing their final sports season as a senior.  Some kids are receiving scholarship offers coming out of the eighth grade!  

Let’s change this!

In our new “world”, a high school athlete may only sign a national letter of intent to play college athletics (1) during his or her senior year and (2) one week following the conclusion of his or her sport’s high school state championship game.

Could changes like these happen anytime soon?

Some want Congress to make new laws to cause some of these changes to happen.

Good luck with that.  They can’t seem to agree on when to take a lunch break.

It would be better for the conferences, schools, coaches, and players to voluntarily lock hands along with the (ugh) NCAA and establish a Czar of College Sports to make and enforce some new common-sense rules.

Many of us would like to see former Alabama coach Nick Saban head this important task.

His focus and passion is unmatched.  Hire that man for the job – if he really wants it!

If there aren’t any applicants, though, you can reach always me at [email protected]!

The post Time for a Czar of College Sports! appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

The Monday following the final Sunday of the NFL regular season is known as Black Monday.  It is the day when under-performing head coaches are dismissed by some NFL teams.

Two NFL head coaches had already been fired during the regular season.

Tennessee parted ways with Brian Callahan on October 14 after the Titans started 1-5. 

The New York Giants booted Brian Daboll a month later after the G-men dropped to 2-8.

That made two “Brians” fired within one month of each other!   Go figure.

Five additional NFL head coaches have been added to that list already this week

There are now seven head coaching vacancies out of the 32 NFL franchises.  That’s nearly 22% of the league’s teams.

The other unlucky coaches fired this week have been:

Pete Carroll – Las Vegas Raiders (3-14)

Long-time former Seattle Seahawks coach was sent packing after just one year in Las Vegas on Monday.  The 74-year old Pete Carroll will be credited with getting the lowly Raiders the first pick in next spring’s NFL draft with the team’s last place finish.

Jonathan Gannon – Arizona Cardinals (3-14)

The former coach of the lowly Cardinals finished on a nine-game losing streak.  Gannon’s three year stay in Phoenix featured a woeful 15-36 record and no playoff appearances.  No surprise here.

Kevin Stefanski – Cleveland Browns (5-12)

Six years was long enough for the Browns’ management to decide to move along from Stefanski.  He did take Cleveland to a couple of playoff appearances, though.  Don’t be surprised if Kevin Stefanski gets another head coaching gig soon.

Raheem Morris – Atlanta Falcons (8-9)

This was a surprising move as the Falcons finished on a four-game winning streak after beating New Orleans on Sunday.  Atlanta franchise owner Arthur Blank (CEO of Home Depot) may be planning to bring former Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan onboard soon as a team executive.  Ryan would then hire a new coaching staff.  Raheem Morris is likely to land a defensive coordinator position with another NFL team quickly.

John Harbaugh – Baltimore Ravens (8-9)

Perhaps the most shocking coaching move happened today (Tuesday) as the Ravens sent 18-year veteran head coach John Harbaugh to the showers.

The 64-year old Harbaugh took Baltimore to a Super Bowl victory in the 2012 season and led his team into the playoffs 12 out of 18 years (including three of the past four).  He will quickly land another head coaching job – assuming he is interested in any of the current openings.

Two other NFL head coaches are hanging on by a thread

Aaron Glenn – New York Jets (3-14)

The woeful Jets appear to be sticking with rookie head coach Aaron Glenn for at least one more season.  Glenn (a former New Orleans Saints cornerback) received a lucrative multi-year contract last January and would be due a hefty contract buyout if dismissed after just one year with the team.

Mike McDaniel – Miami Dolphins (7-10)

Four years at the helm of Miami have seen Coach McDaniel’s teams finish with two playoff appearances but also two disappointing seasons.  His overall record is 35-33 with the Dolphins. McDaniel’s contract is reportedly about $4 million annually.  The relatively thrifty contract of Mike McDaniel makes him slightly less likely to get the ax – at least for another year.  

Is it fair to fire a head coach without taking a hard look at the executive suite and the players signed to play for that team, too?

NFL franchises are now doling out an average of $212 million per season to the 53 active players. That is exactly $4 million per player.

Yes, some of the NFL’s top quarterbacks make ten times as much, but they can also propel a team into the Super Bowl.

Football at every level still remains a team game.  All 22 starting players (11 on offense and 11 on defense) must contribute to overall team success (or the lack thereof).

It is more convenient to blame a team’s under-performance on the head coach and send him packing after one or more disappointing seasons. 

One report estimated that the average NFL head coach was earning about $6.5 million in 2025.

Each NFL team must make decisions about the players who should be drafted and others to be signed as free agents.  That responsibility falls on the executive management group.

Franchise owner Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys and General Manager Mickey Loomis of the New Orleans Saints have been discussed here regularly as being a primary reason for the recent decline of both franchises.

We will discuss NFL management issues in an upcoming report.

Let’s identify the most overpaid underachivers playing for every NFL team which just fired its head coach!

Las Vegas Raiders (3-14) – Quarterback Geno Smith

Now in his 13th NFL season, the former second round draft pick has bounced around the league.  He is on team #5 in Las Vegas.  The Raiders paid Smith $37 ½ million this season for 19 touchdown passes and a league-leading 17 interceptions.  That’s a very poor investment by this wayward NFL franchise.  The Raiders fired their coach (Pete Carroll) and will likely select a new quarterback with the #1 pick in next spring’s NFL draft. 

Football fans in Oakland must be enjoying watching the Raiders’ collapse in Vegas after the team abandoned the Bay Area several years ago.

New York Jets (3-14) – Quarterback Justin Fields

Justin Fields signed a 2-year $40 million contract (with $30 million guaranteed) beginning in 2025.  Fields started the season as the team’s #1 quarterback and led them to an 0-7 start.  He was eventually benched in favor of 36-year old career back-up Tyrod Taylor.  The former first round draft pick of the Chicago Bears is playing on his third team in just five NFL seasons.  Gotham City’s J-E-T-S now own the second pick in the spring NFL draft and are looking for (surprise!) a new quarterback.

Arizona Cardinals (3-14) – Quarterback Kyler Murray

Murray made $46 million this season.  That’s 22% of the 53-man Arizona Cardinals’ entire payroll.  The former 2018 Heisman Trophy winner with the Oklahoma Sooners was selected first overall in 2019 by the Cardinals.  Kyler Murray has taken Arizona to the playoffs just once (2021) in six seasons.  However, Murray has now outlasted two coaches (Kliff Kingsbury and Jonathan Gannon).  The quarterback may be traded soon – assuming another team will pick-up the tab for his hefty contract.  Like Las Vegas and the Jets, the Cardinals might look to select yet another quarterback with the third overall pick in next spring’s draft.

Cleveland Browns (5-12) – Quarterback Deshaun Watson

The Houston Texans wisely traded Watson to the Cleveland Browns in March, 2022.  Watson quickly signed a 5-year $230 million contract (all money guaranteed regardless of how much he plays).  The oft-injured Deshaun Watson has played just 19 games for the Browns in the first three years of his contract.  The Browns are expected to give the $46 million dollar man one more try in 2026 assuming he recovers from his latest (Achilles) injury.

Miami Dolphins (7-10) – Tie – Wide receiver Tyreek Hill and Quarterback Tua Tagovialoa

This not-so-Dynamic Duo has been a big part of Miami’s demise this season.  The Dolphins paid an incredible $83 million (32% of the team’s payroll) to these two under-performing players in 2025.  Tua passed for 20 touchdowns but finished with 15 interceptions this season.  Tyreek Hill (who also has a history of off-the-field personal issues) played in just four games for Miami before injuring his knee.  One or both of these players may end-up playing for another team next season.

Atlanta Falcons (8-9) – Quarterback Kirk Cousins

Well-paid and well-traveled 14-year veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins started the 2025 season in Atlanta as the NFL’s highest paid back-up.  Second year QB Michael Penix, Jr. was injured in mid-season, so Cousins played in eight games for Atlanta for his $45 million annual paycheck.  That was a cool $5.6 million per game!  Since the Falcons have now fired their head coach, expect Kirk Cousins and his bloated contract to be playing for his fourth NFL team beginning next season.

Baltimore Ravens (8-9) – Quarterback Lamar Jackson

Two-time NFL MVP Lamar Jackson signed a 5-year $260 million contract two years ago with the Ravens.  His salary accounted for 23% of the Ravens’ team salary in 2025.  Jackson is obviously talented but has shown a tendency to fumble or toss interceptions during the playoffs.  The firing of Jackson’s only professional coach (John Harbaugh) may signal that the team is also willing to listen to trade offers for Lamar Jackson soon.

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