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AS THE SOUTH CAROLINA Gamecocks shifted stations during their first practice of August, new head coach Will Muschamp sang along to the tune blaring through the speakers that spoke to the entirety of the college football world. “CH-CH-CH-CH-CHANGES!” Its performer, David Bowie, is gone — a reminder that time stops for no man. No, not even Steve Spurrier. The game’s ceaseless march forward always brings with it a long list of annual ch-ch-changes. “I’ve been a college coach since 1982, and nothing is the same now except maybe the number of points they give you when you score,” Duke coach David Cutcliffe says. “It’d be nice if someone made a list for me of what’s different for every fall.” Good news, Coach! We’ve done just that, creating a must-know crib sheet on the modifications that are in store as the 2016 season kicks off. We’ll let you know when that changes too.
Michigan football will take the field in 2016 wearing a famous basketball silhouette. Nike
JUMPMAN, JUMPMAN, I DON’T NEED NO INTRODUCTION
Well, Drake, Jumpman got one anyway. A big one. See: the marching band on State Street in Ann Arbor, plus the midnight lines to snatch up Michigan’s new Nike gear when it went on sale Aug. 1. See also: the Wolverines’ honorary captain vs. Hawaii in Week 1 (His Airness himself), as UM becomes the first college team to don Jumpman gear on a football field. The deal came together when Michael Jordan phoned Jim Harbaugh to tell him he loves the coach’s bold ways. Now when MJ yells “Go Blue,” he’ll be heralding a shade much darker than Carolina’s. It’s too early to compare sales with Michigan’s just-ended Adidas era, but the new deal could total as much as $ 173.8 million over 15 years. That’s a lot of green — and blue.
The NCAA football rules committee will consider giving replay officials more flexibility in how they review targeting penalties. Lance King/Getty Images
RULES FROM ABOVE
Every year brings a host of rulebook tweaks, and 2016’s alterations total a baker’s dozen. This season’s line items, though, aren’t as vital as the trend that list reveals as a whole: a larger role for replay and video on Saturdays. Medical observers can stop games to review injuries; the replay booth has more authority on targeting calls; more conference offices are opening NFL-ish centralized replay command centers; Power 5 schools continue to push for real-time digital video capabilities in the locker room and press box. “Doing whatever needs to be done to clarify calls that might alter the outcome of a game is the right move,” Stanford coach David Shaw says. “But I hope we don’t end up in a ‘Be careful what you wish for’ situation down the road.”
Kirby Smart has a simple plan for Georgia: “My goal is to outwork everybody in recruiting, sign the best players in the state and turn these guys into the best team we can,” he said. Brant Sanderlin/Atlanta Journal-Constitution/AP Photos
IS HIRING A FIRST-TIME HEAD COACH SMART?
Twenty-nine FBS coaching changes since last season? Ho hum. During these win-now-or-else days, turnover abounds: All but one offseason since 2009 has cracked 20. But a staggering 18 of this year’s gigs (compared with eight in 2015) were filled by first-time college head coaches, most notably Georgia’s Kirby Smart, who returns to his alma mater after nine years with Nick Saban at Alabama. “I think we’ll all tell you there’s a lot of stuff you don’t know until the job is officially yours,” Smart says. “There’s an adjustment period for sure, but there’s also no time to adjust.” Smart is the, well, smart pick to win early, but he’s just one in a group of big-time D-coordinator promotions, also starring DJ Durkin (Michigan to Maryland), Chris Ash (Ohio State to Rutgers) and Kalani Sitake (Oregon State to BYU).
Dakota Prukop will look to be the second straight former FCS quarterback to lead the Ducks. Scott Olmos/USA TODAY Sports
OLD FACES, NEW PLACES
While coaches debate the transfer rule, transfers themselves are busy getting fitted for new unis. More than 50 athletes went the postgrad route in ’16, with history repeating at Oregon, where an FCS QB will look to lead the Ducks for a second straight year. (More graduate QBs in 2016 will play their final year of eligibility at a new school than from 2006 to 2011 combined.) Dakota Prukop comes to Eugene via Montana State, where he threw for 5,584 yards and 46 TDs. Davis Webb posted similar numbers at Texas Tech (5,557/46), then grabbed his diploma and headed to Cal. Meanwhile, a pair of would-be superstars seek second shots in Texas: Former Sooner, and Katy Perry crush, Trevor Knight takes over at A&M; Kenny Hill, the Artist Formerly Known as Kenny Trill and onetime heir to Johnny Football’s throne in College Station, moves north to TCU as an undergrad. Both QBs flatlined after hot starts — Knight threw 14 TDs to 12 INTs as a full-time starter in ’14; Hill exploded for 511 yards in his starting debut the same year but was benched by Week 10. Still, Oklahoma will long recall Knight’s signature win, an upset over Alabama in the 2014 Sugar Bowl. If he digs up another in Tuscaloosa on Oct. 22, he might just save Kevin Sumlin’s job.
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