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PAGE 2B December 2025
Athletic News, Notes and Annoucnements ALABAMA FOOTBALL RECRUITING - The University of Alabama football program added 20 student-athletes to its 2026 recruiting class on the first day of the 2025 early signing period. The newest group of signees come from nine states – Georgia (7), Alabama (6) and one apiece from California, Illinois, Maryland, Mississippi, Nebraska, Ohio and Utah. Find out who signed with the Crimson Tide online at www.thesportsledger.com. CRIMSON TIDE FOOTBALL SCHEDULE CHANGES - Alabama has made adjustments to its future football schedules. The Crimson Tide and USF mutually agreed to move their previously scheduled 2026 matchup to the 2032 season. Alabama will replace the USF contest with Chattanooga and as was previously announced, added a game against East Carolina for the ’26 campaign. Additionally, the Tide will host Marshall as part of the 2027 schedule. JAX STATE & AUBURN TO PLAY IN 2029 - The Jacksonville State University football program has signed a home-and-home scheduling agreement with South Alabama and has updated the date of its previously agreed to game at Auburn. The Gamecocks will host South Alabama on September 25, 2027 and will travel to Mobile on September 20, 2031. Jax State's game at Auburn which was previously scheduled for the 2026 season has been moved to September 8, 2029 due to a change in the SEC schedule. PENN STATE FOOTBALL - Penn State has reached an agreement with Matt Campbell to have him serve as the program's 17th head football coach at Penn State. According to a news release, Coach Campbell is a stellar coach with a proven track record of success and his values, character and approach to leading student-athletes to success on and off the field align perfectly with the traditions and values of Penn State.
TENNESSEE DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR - Jim Knowles, a championship- winning assistant coach and one of the most esteemed defensive minds in football, has been named Tennessee defensive coordinator. Knowles brings 38 years of college football experience to Rocky Top, including 18 seasons as a defensive coordinator and the last four years in the Big Ten. He has orchestrated four top 15 total defenses nationally over the last six seasons with three of those units finishing in the top four. Knowles has coordinated defenses at Penn State (2025), Ohio State (2022-24), Oklahoma State (2018- 21), Duke (2011-17) and West Michigan (1997-2002). He also spent six years as the head coach of his alma mater, Cornell, from 2004-09. MICHIGAN FIRES FOOTBALL COACH - The University of Michigan has fired head football Coach Sherrone Moore for cause. University officials say the dismissal was for an inappropriate relationship with a Michigan staff member. Sherrone was also detained and under investigation by authorities. However, no charges have been reported. FSU FOOTBALL HIRE - Florida State has hired renowned recruiter and proven developer of talent Nick Williams as the Seminoles’ edges coach and pass rush specialist/ Williams is a native of Bainbridge, GA, and comes to Tallahassee with experience at Georgia, Texas A&M, Colorado and Syracuse. He most recently spent two seasons coaching edge rushers at Syracuse, helping the Orange to a 10-3 season and a No. 20 ranking in the final AP poll in 2024. That year, Syracuse defeated three ranked teams and won the Holiday Bowl to reach 10 wins for only the third time since 2000. GOLESH ADDS TO AUBURN FOOTBALL STAFF - Working to quickly assemble his first Auburn Football staff, new head coach Alex Golesh has announced the hiring of several staff members. Three of the most recent hires are making the transition from the staff at South Florida during the 2025 season. Jeff Jones has a long relationship with his former player Golesh dating back to his time as offensive coordinator at Dublin Scioto High School in Dublin, Ohio. He joined the USF staff as Director of Player Development in 2023 following a 29-year career in education. He will reprise the same role at Auburn. Alex Fagan will serve as Auburn’s Director of Scouting and Player Personnel after holding a similar role on Golesh’s staff at South Florida. During his tenure, the Bulls signed the top recruiting classes in the American Athletic Conference in 2024 and 2025. Larry Scott III joins the staff as assistant defensive line coach. He worked two seasons at USF from 2024-25 after spending time at West Alabama (2022-23) and Howard (2020- 21). He helped a pair of players earn All-AAC honors while with the Bulls. Jacob Bronowski has been hired as Auburn’s new Special Teams Coordinator. Bronowski and Golesh worked together at Tennessee and UCF. The Texas native comes to Auburn following two outstanding seasons at Pitt, where he served as Special Teams Coordinator and Tight Ends coach from 2024-25. In 2025, he mentored Pitt freshman Trey Butkowski to an All-ACC season and Lou Groza Award semifinalist selection. Veteran defensive coach Coleman Hutzler has been hired as an assistant coach with Auburn Football working with the Backs and Edges on defense Hutzler comes to Auburn with 20 years of experience, including the last 10 years in the SEC. He most recently spent the last two seasons as the defensive coordinator at Mississippi State. Contrell King-Williams is back for his fourth season with the Auburn Football coaching staff in 2026. After originally joining the Auburn Football staff in 2023, King- Williams has been retained by Golesh as the program’s defensive line coach. Last season, the Auburn defense finished with 31 sacks, one of the 10 best totals in program history, and posted 79 tackles for loss – the most since 2021. King-Williams is a native of Chicago, Illinois. He previously spent time on the staffs at Eastern Michigan (2018-109; 2022), Liberty (2020-21), and UTSA (2017). He graduated from UTSA in 2016. Harding Harper III is Auburn’s new Executive Director of Recruiting. The Alabama native returns to his home state after spending 2025 in a similar role at USF. He also has had stints in recruiting/personnel roles at his alma mater Vanderbilt, Houston, Colorado and Alabama. John-Allen “Slick” Stone serves as Director of Football Administration. A native of Columbia, TN, Stone spent the last three seasons as Special Assistant to the Head Coach at USF and Football Operations Coordinator. He also worked under Golesh and Auburn Football General Manager Andrew Warsaw as a GA at Tennessee from 2021-22. Golesh has also added George Courides as Director of Football Performance. He follows from USF where he led football performance efforts from 2023-25. Courides was at the helm of South Florida’s strength and conditioning efforts that helped prepare the Bulls for their high-octane offensive playing style and fast and physical defense. He also spent time at Iowa State (2017-22) and in the NFL with the New York Jets (2015-16). Also joining the staff are Director of Applied Science Terrence “TK” Kennell and Associate Director of Football Performance Frank Failace. Both served in similar roles at USF from 2023-25. DeMarcus Van Dyke has been hired as a new assistant football coach working with Auburn’s cornerbacks. Van Dyke comes to Auburn after spending the last two seasons as the cornerbacks coach under head coach Alex Golesh at USF. Other hires includes: DJ Durkin (defensive coordinator/linebackers), Joel Gordon (offensive coordinator/quarterbacks), Tyler Hudanick (run game coordinator/offensive line), Brad Wilson (defensive assistant) and Andrew Warsaw (general manager).
FLORIDA HIRES SOCCER COACH - Florida has named Nick Zimmerman its new head soccer coach. Zimmerman returns to his home state after engineering a remarkable rise at Mississippi State. In just one season as the Bulldogs’ head coach, he steered MSU to the NCAA Tournament and made national noise with three top-10 victories in 2025-highlighted by a thrilling 3-2 upset of No. 1 Tennessee. A relentless recruiter, Zimmerman also elevated MSU’s talent pipeline. Mississippi State had never cracked TopDrawerSoccer’s top-50 recruiting rankings before his arrival; under his leadership, the Bulldogs earned recognition four times beginning in 2020. A Sunshine State product, Zimmerman starred at James Madison before embarking on a professional career and ultimately moving into collegiate coaching. He becomes the fourth head coach in Florida soccer history and will lead the Gators into their 32nd season in fall 2026. NFL RETURNS TO GERMANY - The National Football League (NFL) has announced it will return to Munich, Germany in 2026 and 2028 to play regular season games, as part of a multi-year partnership with the City of Munich and FC Bayern Munich. The games will be played at the FC Bayern Munich Stadium, which has previously hosted NFL regular season games in 2022 and 2024. The NFL has confirmed that the following regular season international games to be played across the 2026 season, with additional games to be announced: • One game in Melbourne, Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, featuring the Los Angeles Rams as designated home team • One game in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil at the Maracanã Stadium (teams not announced) • Two games in London, U.K. at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (teams not announced) SUMRALL HIRES NEW FLORIDA OC - New Hired University of Florida head football coach Jon Sumrall's initial Florida Gators staff is taking shape, with the program adding three-time national champion and 20-year collegiate coaching veteran Buster Faulkner as offensive coordinator. Faulkner was also named the 2025 FootballScoop Offensive Coordinator of the Year. Instrumental in a trio of national titles runs at Georgia (2021, 2022) and Valdosta State (2007), Faulkner comes to the Gators after serving as the offensive coordinator at Georgia Tech the past three seasons (2023-25). ALABAMA FOOTBALL LEGEND - Bill Clark, who built a championship pedigree at three different schools, has been selected as the Alabama Football Legend for this year’s IS4S Salute to Veterans Bowl. He joins previous honorees Bobby Bowden (2014), Pat Dye (2015), Woodrow Lowe (2016), Gene Stallings (2017), Johnny Davis (2018), Larry Blakeney (2019), Woody McCorvey (2021), Chan Gailey (2022), Dr. James Andrews (2023) and Bobby Wallace (2024). Clark had successful head coaching stints at Prattville High School, Jacksonville State and UAB. During that time he won 166 games, three conference championships, two AHSAA state championships, two bowl games and one FCS playoff appearance. He posted a 106-11 record at Prattville High School. The 90.6 winning percentage is the highest in AHSAA history with a minimum of 100 career games. KRAMER TO JOIN JSU BASEBALL STAFF - Jax State baseball head coach Steve Bieser has announced that Ryan Kramer will join the Gamecocks baseball staff. Kramer will assume responsibility over the pitching staff for Jax State. CHRISTMAS DAY NFL GAMES - The NFL today finalized its Week 17 schedule. Saturday, Dec. 27 will feature a doubleheader starting with the Houston Texans at the Los Angeles Chargers at 4:30 p.m. ET on NFL Network. It will conclude with the Peacock Holiday Exclusive featuring the Baltimore Ravens at the Green Bay Packers at 8 p.m. ET. Week 17 will begin with a Christmas Day doubleheader on Netflix, as the Dallas Cowboys at the Washington Commanders will play at 1 p.m. ET. The Detroit Lions at the Minnesota Vikings will play at 4:30 p.m. ET. On Christmas night, the Denver Broncos will play at the Kansas City Chiefs at 8:15 p.m. ET on Prime Video. HOF INDUCTS AUBURN'S GREGG CARR - Gregg Carr joined an exclusive fraternity, becoming the ninth former Auburn football player to be inducted into the National Football Foundation College Hall of Fame. An All-American linebacker as a senior, Carr starred for the Tigers from 1981-84 and ranks second in program history with 453 career tackles. ALEX MCPHERSON HONORED - Auburn kicker Alex McPherson has been named the recipient of the 24th annual Capital One Orange Bowl-FWAA Courage Award. McPherson, who is the first player from the Southeastern Conference to earn the honor, will officially be presented with the award during the Orange Bowl, a quarterfinal matchup in this year’s College Football Playoff, on January 1, 2026. After beginning to feel ill in December 2023, a colonoscopy in April 2024 revealed McPherson had ulcerative colitis, an inflammatory bowel disease that hospitalized him at the end of July and caused him to lose 55 pounds, dropping his weight to 110 pounds. He kicked in just one game during the 2024 season before undergoing surgery that December and beginning his road to recovery. However, a setback prior to the 2025 season revealed a new diagnosis, Chrohn’s disease, and cost him another 30 pounds. Overcoming his health issues, McPherson finished the 2025 regular season ranked fourth in the SEC.
Photos by Brandon K. Pierce, The Sports Ledger
THE SPORTS LEDGER HIGHLIGHT PHOTO REEL
• REEL 1 - Landon Cannady attempts a shot for the Boaz Pirates. • REEL 2 - Albertville's Gracyn Robeson (#20) and Mylee Kate West (#24).
• REEL 3 - Douglas Eagles fans pose for a photo during the Eagles game in the 2025 Marshall County Showdown. • REEL 4 - Boaz Students took time for a picture during the 2025 "Dashing Through Downtown" event.
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