Today: Way-Too-Early All-Americans, Bill Belichick's HOF snub, a lesson from Dabo Swinney, and the latest on Charles Bediako.

~7.5 minute read (1,725 words)

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NCAA FOOTBALL

On3 Way-Too-Early 2026 All-America football team

Kewan Lacy, Malachi Toney, Colin Simmons, Leonard Moore

It's time to roll out On3's Way-Too-Early All-America team for the 2026 college football season. Some of the names are familiar. Others will be familiar once we get a month into the 2026 season, and in today's college football world, there will be names wearing different uniforms from a year ago.

OFFENSE

QB Trinidad Chambliss, Ole Miss: There's a caveat. Chambliss still needs to be granted a waiver or court injunction to play in 2026. If so, he's one of the most dynamic players returning in college football and one of the most difficult to defend with his ability to avoid pressure and make big plays.

RB Ahmad Hardy, Missouri: So much for the difficulty of transitioning to the SEC. Hardy is back for a third season. He started his career at ULM, transferred to Missouri last season and led all Power Four players with 1,649 rushing yards. There's not a more difficult running back in college football to tackle.

RB Kewan Lacy, Ole Miss: Lacy's first season with Ole Miss after transferring from Missouri was a huge success and a big reason the Rebels made it to the playoff semifinals. He has breakaway speed, and he's also durable. Chambliss and Lacy back together in the same backfield is bad news for opposing defenses.

WR Jeremiah Smith, Ohio State: Smith would have been the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL draft had he been eligible to come out this year and would have at least been in the conversation after his freshman season. The 6-3, 223-pound junior is everything you're looking for in a wide receiver and returns for one final season in college football.

DEFENSE

EDGE John Henry Daley, Michigan: Michigan picked up both its head coach, Kyle Whittingham, and one of college football's best edge players, John Henry Daley, from Utah this offseason. Daley already knows Whittingham's scheme and is a perfect fit. If his recovery goes as planned, he could be the nation's top portal addition.

EDGE Colin Simmons, Texas: Simmons returns as one of the best pure pass-rushers in the country. He had a sack in each of his last five games in 2025 and would have been a high first-round pick had he been eligible for the NFL draft this year. One opposing coach told On3 that Simmons was the most gifted defender in college football.

CB Leonard Moore, Notre Dame: Moore is the top returning defensive back in the nation. He had five interceptions a year ago after picking off two passes as a true freshman. When teams do throw Moore's way, he's a blanket. Over his two seasons with the Irish, he's allowed just 4.8 yards per target. He moved to the slot against USC's Makai Lemon last season and held him to two catches for 28 yards.

S KJ Bolden, Georgia: Bolden was a five-star prospect coming out of high school, and he's played that way since arriving in Athens. After earning Freshman All-America honors in 2024, he became a fixture for the Bulldogs on defense last season. He'll make an even bigger jump in his second full season as a starter.

S Koi Perich, Oregon: Perich did a little bit of everything during his time at Minnesota. He steps into an Oregon defensive backfield after recording 128 tackles and intercepting six passes over the last two seasons and is yet another reason to like the Ducks on defense in 2026.

Check out the full list of Way-Too-Early All-Americans.

NCAA FOOTBALL

Did the decision to coach North Carolina help keep Bill Belichick out of the Hall of Fame?

Imagine yourself back in 2021, minding your own business. Perhaps you were just settling in to watch Prince Harry and Meghan Markle sit down for their bombshell interview with Oprah.

Suddenly, a person approaches you with a message from the future. They claim that by January 2026, two things will have happened: the Indiana Hoosiers will be national champions in football, and Bill Belichick will have failed to make the Pro Football Hall of Fame on his first ballot.

Even a year ago, neither scenario would have seemed remotely believable. Yet, here we are.

While plenty of digital ink has been spilled explaining how Indiana ended up hoisting a trophy last week, let's tackle the second development – which, in many ways, feels even more surreal.

When the news broke on Tuesday night, it felt like a prank. Bill Belichick, the man universally regarded as the greatest NFL coach of his era, did not garner enough votes for a gold jacket.

It is objectively wrong, and Belichick will certainly get in eventually. However, it prompts a question that would have been unthinkable just 12 months ago: Did the decision to coach college football at North Carolina actually keep Belichick out of the Hall of Fame?

There are several potential reasons for the snub. It may have been a protest by voters against the Hall of Fame's recent criteria changes, which now allow coaches to become eligible after only one year out of the game rather than five. Perhaps there is even some lingering "Spygate" resentment. But one has to wonder if watching Belichick struggle on the collegiate field, combined with the wall-to-wall coverage of his personal life, pierced the armor of his invincibility.

There are 29 coaches in the Hall, but Belichick's resume places him in a tier with legends like Don Shula and Vince Lombardi. However, we never had to watch Marv Levy lose to Duke and NC State in consecutive weeks. We also didn't watch Bill Cowher's young girlfriend publicly upbraid reporters or derail documentary series. The public's soap opera fascination with Belichick's relationship with Jordon Hudson added a dynamic that shouldn't matter to voters, but likely lingered in their minds.

For years, Belichick seemed infallible. Over the past year, however, we've seen him make mistakes and fail. It is as if Darth Vader didn't die, but instead moved into a guest room with a young influencer he met on a transport. If he had never gone to North Carolina, the lasting image would be of him holding a Lombardi Trophy. Instead, we watched him hire Michael Lombardi as GM, who bragged about building a "33rd NFL team" while assembling a roster that looked more like the 15th-best in the Sun Belt.

Belichick will get in eventually. He is adaptable and has already hired Bobby Petrino to fix an offense that stalled in 2025. Perhaps things look different by January 2027. But for now, the fact that he isn't a first-ballot Hall of Famer sounds just as crazy as Indiana being the reigning national champs.

Check out Andy Staples' full thoughts.

NCAA FOOTBALL

Lesson from Dabo Swinney's attack on Ole Miss? Make players' deals look like coaches'

Dabo Swinney didn't hold back on Friday, going scorched earth on Ole Miss and Rebels defensive coordinator Pete Golding.

Two specific quotes from the Clemson head coach perfectly capture the current chaos of the transfer portal and hint at the only logical way out.

Quote No. 1: "I blame the adults."

Swinney dropped this line while detailing Clemson's recruitment of Luke Ferrelli, a transfer linebacker from Cal. According to Swinney, Ferrelli had already signed a financial aid agreement and enrolled in classes at Clemson when the Rebels came knocking.

Under current NCAA rules, recruiting a player in that position is prohibited. By making these receipts public, Swinney and Clemson AD Graham Neff are essentially daring the NCAA to act. However, the NCAA's power is at an all-time low. If the governing body does nothing, they are essentially admitting they no longer have the authority to regulate player movement.

Quote No. 2: "I know you're signed. What's the buyout?"

This is the text Swinney alleges Golding sent to Ferrelli just days before the linebacker hopped back into the portal to join Ole Miss. While Golding and Ole Miss haven't offered an on-the-record response, the question itself – "What's the buyout?" – is the most rational part of this entire saga.

It is the exact question schools ask when they want to hire another program's coach. In the coaching world, "adults" are governed by contracts and clear financial consequences. If the leaders of college sports want the "orderly system" they keep claiming to desire, they should stop waiting for Congress and start mirroring their own coaching contracts.

Schools don't need a federal law or a collective bargaining agreement to fix this. They can use the same system they developed for coaches,

Look at Duke coach Manny Diaz. In 2018, Miami paid Temple $4 million to buy Diaz out of his contract after he had been on the job for only 17 days. The circumstances aren't that different from Ferrelli's. A deal was signed, a better one appeared and a move was made. The difference is that for coaches, there is a universally accepted price tag for that movement.

We've seen this evolution before. A decade ago, schools sued over assistant coach buyouts, like Oklahoma State vs. Joe Wickline. Today, those buyouts are paid without question.

Schools still want to avoid making players employees, and Congress isn't coming to the rescue. The solution is to stop pretending that unenforceable NCAA rules matter and start treating player transfers like the business transactions they have become. If the "adults" want to tamper, fine. But they should be prepared to pay the buyout written in black and white.

Read Andy Staples' column.

🚨Headlines

NCAA BASKETBALL

Charles Bediako remains eligible to play for Alabama after extension

In what has quickly become the top story of the college basketball season, Alabama center Charles Bediako remains eligible to play under a 10-day temporary restraining order extension.

Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court Judge Roberts granted the extension after a winter storm prevented the NCAA's attorney from attending a scheduled injunction hearing. The order, which was extended "without objection" from the NCAA due to counsel's unavailability, now runs through early February, expiring just before the Crimson Tide heads to Auburn.

The legal battle has intensified as the NCAA filed a motion requesting Roberts recuse himself from the case. The motion cites "external circumstances that could give the appearance of partiality," specifically Roberts' status as a major Alabama donor.

Documents from the Crimson Tide Foundation list Roberts and his wife, Mary Turner, as "Circle" level donors, indicating contributions between $100,000 and $249,999. Turner is also listed as the defense attorney in the capital murder trial of former Alabama player Darius Miles.

Bediako's legal team is not opposed to the recusal motion, but maintains full confidence in Roberts' impartiality.

"To be clear, Mr. Bediako fully expects to prevail in this litigation. The facts and law are on his side," his counsel stated, arguing that donor status should have no bearing since the University is not a party to the lawsuit.

While the legal posturing continues, the rivalry on the court has reached new heights. Tennessee fans have taken to trolling Bediako by attempting to organize a vote to get the center named to the NBA G-League All-Star Team – a nod to the professional stint that triggered the NCAA's initial ruling of ineligibility. Florida coach Todd Golden has also weighed in, stating the Gators will be ready to beat Alabama whether Bediako plays or not.

Bediako made his season debut in a loss to Tennessee, recording 13 points and two blocks in 25 minutes. Crimson Tide head coach Nate Oats has remained steadfast in his defense of the center.

"Charles has done nothing wrong," Oats said. "Charles and his agent and his attorneys have seen what's gone on in the landscape of college basketball... and they didn't see any reason why Charles wouldn't be eligible."

With the extension, Bediako is also cleared for critical matchups against No. 19 Florida and Texas A&M.

Read the latest on Charles Bediako.

TRIVIA

Now here's a guy...

Below, you'll find 3 facts about a random college football player. You'll try to guess who the player is based on the facts. Let's go.

I quarterbacked Florida State to its first-ever national championship, finishing the season as an undefeated No. 1 after beating Nebraska in the Orange Bowl.
In 1993, I swept the sport's biggest awards as a quarterback, winning the Heisman Trophy, Maxwell Award, Walter Camp Award, and Davey O'Brien Award.
I'm the only Heisman Trophy winner who went on to play in the NBA, starting for the New York Knicks in the 1999 NBA Finals.

Answer at the bottom.

SHAREWORTHY