Advertise on podcast: Next Up with Adam Breneman

In this week’s show, Adam talks about Baylor’s coaching vacancy and who could actually win a Big 12 title in Waco, from Lincoln Riley to Jake Dickert. He breaks down Texas Tech’s quarterback problem and the blank check they could write to fix it. He explains how Penn State’s run game took off after the bye and why they scored 28 points in the first half against Washington and none in the second. And he asks whether Texas A&M should stick with Marcel Reed after going from 11-0 to 4-5, and which five quarterbacks the Aggies should be calling if they move on. #CollegeFootball #CFB #Baylor#TexasTech #RedRaiders #PennState #PSU #Aggies #Big12 #BigTen #SEC

Texas Tech has the money and the roster. The quarterback spot is the one thing holding them back, and you saw it in the Orange Bowl against Oregon and again at Cincinnati. 2027 is wide open, and I’m going through five names that could change everything, from big swings to value plays. Who do you think Texas Tech’s quarterback is going to be in 2027? Let me know in the comments.

Penn State has won two straight in the Big Ten, yet Saturday still felt like a warning sign. They led Washington 28-6 at halftime, scored nothing after that, and needed a fourth-down sneak to survive. The running game finally showed up, but the second half proved they still struggle to finish games. So are we seeing real progress under Matt Campbell, or are they just treading water? I’m breaking down what I think is real, what worries me, and what I need to see over the last three games to feel good about where this program is headed.

Texas A&M started last season 11-0 with Marcel Reed. This year they’re 4-5, and he has thrown 8 touchdown passes after throwing 25 a year ago. They went through LSU, Missouri and South Carolina without scoring a single touchdown. So now A&M has to decide whether Reed is still their guy. I get into what he has to fix to earn another year as the starter, and I look at five quarterbacks A&M should have on its list if he can’t.

Baylor just fired Dave Aranda, and whoever replaces him will decide where this program goes for the next decade. I’ve gone through every realistic name. Lincoln Riley would be a home run and Robert Griffin III would change the energy around the program overnight, while Jeff Traylor and G.J. Kinne are rising coaches who know Texas. But the guy I’d call first is Jake Dickert. He’s turned Wake Forest into a winner on a budget close to what Baylor can offer, and I think he’s the hire that gets Baylor back to contending in the Big 12.

Florida State is about to spend an estimated $68 million to start over, and whoever they hire next could change the ACC. I break down who’s on their radar and which rival could lose its coach in the process. Philip Rivers went from NFL quarterback to high school coach, and I look at whether he can make the same jump to a major college program, because I made a similar move myself. Penn State’s best teams under Campbell all had a proven quarterback, so I get into which ones they need to target in the portal. Iowa finally has an offense worth watching, and DJ Vonnahme is the biggest reason why. He belongs in the same conversation as the tight ends who made Iowa famous at the position. Four programs are betting on change, and I tell you who gets it right.

Iowa might be the best tight end factory in the country. Dallas Clark, George Kittle, T.J. Hockenson, Noah Fant and Sam LaPorta all came through Iowa City and went on to the NFL. DJ Vonnahme is the next name in that conversation. He came up big in the bowl game against Vanderbilt, and this past weekend against Wisconsin he scored two different ways, once catching the ball and once running it in. I played tight end and I’ve coached the position, so I know what the real ones look like, and Vonnahme is right up there with them.

NC State just fired the winningest coach in school history, and the name at the top of the search is Philip Rivers, an eight-time Pro Bowler who has only ever coached high school football. It sounds like a stretch until you look at what a head coach actually has to do in college football now. I break down why I think Rivers could be one of the best hires of this coaching cycle, how Gus Malzahn and Joey McGuire made the same jump, what Rivers has done at St. Michael, and why his son Gunner, a four-star quarterback committed to the Wolfpack, makes this bigger than one hire.

Florida State is about to spend roughly $68 million to move on from Mike Norvell, his staff and the last few years of this program. Now comes the harder part. The next coach has to win in Tallahassee without the biggest roster budget in the ACC, and the list of coaches who’ve done that is short. I break down Jake Dickert, Kenny Dillingham, Rhett Lashlee, Jason Eck and Manny Diaz, what each one built with less, and which one I’d hand the Seminoles to.

Matt Campbell’s best teams all had one thing in common, a quarterback who could take over a game, and Penn State doesn’t have that right now. No one knows who the starter is in 2027, and I think this offseason is the most important decision of Campbell’s tenure. I break down what Penn State needs at the position, the transfer portal quarterbacks I’d put at the top of their list, what each would cost, and the one I’d tell them to go get before anyone else does.

Week 8 left college football wide open. In this week’s show, I give you my top 10 teams, explain what everyone is missing about Miami, make the case for Florida’s coach, and tell you why Arizona is the Big 12 team nobody is talking about. I also tell you how I missed a flight and ended up taking a $400 Uber to a PrizePicks event in Palm Beach. 3:44 My Top 10 Teams After Week 8 13:03 Miami Is Built In The Trenches 21:54 Florida’s Coach Is The Right Guy 31:09 Arizona Can Win The Big 12

Everyone in the Big 12 is talking about Utah, BYU and Texas Tech. But I think they’re overlooking Arizona. I called their game against Washington State this year, and I walked away believing this team could do something special. Now they’ve just beaten Iowa State 39-3, while BYU and Texas Tech both lost, meaning the conference race is wide open. I think Arizona can win the Big 12, and it all starts with quarterback Noah Fifita.

Florida went 4-8 last year and fired Billy Napier by October. This year the Gators have beaten two top-10 teams, including a win at Texas with a first-time starter at quarterback. I sat down with Jon Sumrall this offseason, before he coached a snap at Florida, and his story explains why it’s working. Here’s why I think Florida finally found the right guy, and what still has to happen for it to last.

The AP poll is a mess right now. Not one voter turned in the same top 10, so I built my own. As a former All-American and D1 coach, I judge teams based on their whole body of work, not one result. Here’s my top 10 after Week 8, and where I think everyone else got it wrong.

Miami is 7-0, ranked No. 1, and averaging 49 points a game. Everyone is talking about the quarterback and the playmakers, but I think they’re missing why it works. This summer I sat down with Mario Cristobal and general manager Dennis Smith, and everything comes back to the lines. Miami is running for 211 yards a game while holding opponents to 60. Here’s how Cristobal built it, and why North Carolina and Notre Dame will show us if it holds up.