After receiving a commitment late Sunday night from 3-star inside linebacker Joshua Brown, the Arizona Wildcats started off their Monday morning with yet another commitment. That came from in-state wide receiver Bryce Gilbert. Hailing from Higley High School (Gilbert, AZ), Gilbert checks in as a 6-foot-5, 210 pound prospect.

BEARDOWN pic.twitter.com/RwDUcLOqKl

— Chief B (@BryceGilbert8) June 13, 2016

This is a commitment I wasn’t expecting Arizona to land. This is now the Wildcats’ third pass catcher of the class, as Gilbert now joins another in-state talent in Drew Dixon, as well as Brian Casteel. Arizona is in play for quite a few more wide receivers, but they’re going to have to start committing sooner than later if they want their spot.

Arizona now has 14 commitments and there are more than a handful of guys who could be extremely close to committing: 6-foot-5 receiver Warren Jackson, slot receivers Bruce Judson and Chris Brooks, Bryan Thompson, Maurice Bell and Darius Corbett as well. And of course everyone knows about 5-star receiver Joseph Lewis.

Back to Bryce Gilbert. I like his height and he certainly addresses a need for Arizona. With his size he has the ability to play tight or out wide, similar to that of Jamie Nunley, although I feel like Gilbert would be a little more polished as a wide receiver.

His junior year highlights are below.

Michigan Wolverines fans never tire of arguing over who should go on the proverbial Mt. Rushmore of the program. It’s a perpetual topic for pretty much any team’s fan base, but an especially difficult one for such a storied program.

Well, Tom Fornelli of CBS Sports has thrown his picks into the ring with a list of Michigan mountain selections that will definitely not end the debate once and for all.

Michigan football’s Mt. Rushmore: How do you limit it to four? https://t.co/ufHZhZ3Hp6 pic.twitter.com/FtjgUYnFqk

— CBS Sports CFB (@CBSSportsCFB) June 13, 2016

It’s not easy, but Fornelli went with Bo Schembechler, Charles Woodson, Desmond Howard and Anthony Carter. Let the debate begin.

You can watch him explain the picks in the above video, but here are some of his comments on each:

Bo Schembechler, coach, 1969-1989: Bo Schembechler was so accomplished as Michigan’s coach for 21 seasons that simply calling him Bo suffices. Everybody will know who you’re talking about when you say it.

Bo set the tone the minute he stepped on campus at Michigan. His first training camp in 1969 began with roughly 140 players — scholarship limits were non-existent — and by the time the grueling competition was over, only 75 remained. As he told the players at the time, “those who stay will be champions,” and he wasn’t lying. While Schembechler never won a national title at Michigan, ever single player who played under Bo at Michigan for four years won at least one Big Ten title. Nobody ever experienced a losing season, as the worst year Michigan had in Schembechler’s tenure was a 6-6 mark in 1984.

Charles Woodson, defensive back, 1995-97: Woodson did not need much time to make an impact at Michigan. He started his third career game with the Wolverines as a freshman and then started the next 34 before leaving for the NFL.

Before moving on, he took the time to become one of, if not, the greatest players in the history of the program. While he was listed as a defensive back, he did far more than that. Woodson also spent time as a punt returner, and he played wide receiver a bit as well. In 1996, as a sophomore, Woodson set a school record with 15 passes defended, but that was just a prelude to his junior season.

In 1997, Woodson helped lead Michigan to its first national title since 1948, and he won the Heisman Trophy (beating some guys names Peyton Manning and Randy Moss) in the process. Woodson remains the only primarily defensive player to win the Heisman, though his impact on special teams and offense certainly played a role in winning the award.

Desmond Howard, wide receiver, 1989-91: Howard remains one of the most iconic players in Michigan football history, even 25 years after he last donned the maize and blue on the field. During his time in Ann Arbor, Howard set or tied 12 Michigan records and five NCAA records. One that still stands today is his 19 touchdown catches during the 1991 season.

Howard, who originally came to Michigan as a tailback, would go on to win the Heisman Trophy during the 1991 season, becoming the second Michigan player to do so and the first since Tom Harmon in 1940. Howard received 85 percent of the first place votes in Heisman balloting, providing him the largest margin of victory at the time, as Florida State’s Casey Weldon finished 1,574 points behind Howard.

Anthony Carter, wide receiver, 1979-82: If you just look at the numbers Carter put up as a wideout, particularly when you compare them to what we see today, they don’t seem all that impressive. Carter never caught more than 51 passes,or had 1,000 receiving yards in a single season.

What those numbers alone don’t tell you, however, is the offense Carter played in. This was the Schembechler era, when saying that Michigan was a run-first team was an understatement. Running the ball was typically the first three options. From 1980-82, Michigan quarterbacks completed 366 passes with Carter catching 144 of them.

Carter also had an impact on special teams, as he became only the third player in FBS history to total over 1,000 return yards on both kickoffs and punts during his career.

Did Fornelli get it right?

Wisconsin fans will get their first opportunity to preview and purchase Badgers Under Armour merchandise on June 30 when UW hosts “Night of the New Red Threads,” it announced Monday.

Athletics director Barry Alvarez, football coach Paul Chryst, men’s basketball coach Greg Gard and men’s hockey coach Tony Granato—among other notable people in the program, the Badgers say—will be on hand at the event, which begins at 10 p.m. at Camp Randall Stadium. In addition to seeing and having the chance to purchase Wisconsin’s new Under Armour gear, fans will also get “exclusive access” to UW’s training facility.

Wisconsin and Under Armour announced a 10-year partnership in October, replacing UW’s previous 15-year deal with Adidas. The new deal begins July 1 at midnight.

“We’re thrilled to partner with an energetic, hardworking brand whose story mirrors our own,” Alvarez said at the press conference to announce the deal on Oct. 9. “I’ve followed the Under Armour story for many years. I’ve been impressed with their creativity, technological advances and their presence of mind in the market.”

At that Oct. 9 announcement event, the Badgers unveiled a number of prototypes of Wisconsin on-field apparel designed by Under Armour. While the official designs remain unknown, they provided a glimpse into what Badgers fans might be able to expect.

#Badgers officially going @UnderArmour. pic.twitter.com/PdHHRRw6zz

— Curt Hogg (@CyrtHogg) October 9, 2015

Goodbye Adidas. pic.twitter.com/SXnzQmbO5E

— Curt Hogg (@CyrtHogg) October 9, 2015

Alvarez, Plank and UW Chancellor @BeckyBlank. pic.twitter.com/x2n8oViG6F

— Curt Hogg (@CyrtHogg) October 9, 2015

Below are the full details of the July 1 launch party from Wisconsin.

Join the Badgers at Night of the New Red Threads

MADISON, Wis. — A new era in Wisconsin Athletics begins on July 1 and the stars are coming out to celebrate. Join UW Director of Athletics Barry Alvarez, football coach Paul Chryst, men’s basketball coach Greg Gard, men’s hockey coach Tony Granato and many more as the Badgers unveil the new line of Under Armour gear.

Night of the New Red Threads will be a celebration unlike any Camp Randall Stadium has seen. In addition to having the first opportunity to purchase the new Under Armour Badgers gear, fans will get exclusive access to UW’s football facilities and some of its biggest names.

The experience begins at 10 p.m. on June 30 at the Camp Randall Memorial Arch on Randall Street and then heads to the McClain Center for a sneak peek at UW’s training facility.

Everyone knows how special it is when the Badgers run out of the tunnel to kick off a night game at Camp Randall. Now fans will get to experience that themselves. After touring the McClain Center, including UW’s locker room area, fans can run out of the team tunnel, complete with U2’s “Where the Streets Have No Name” and the smoke machines the team runs through every Saturday.

Once on the field, fans will have exclusive photo opportunities, including access to Badgers coaches, some of the teams’ most iconic trophies and a selfie station at midfield.

At midnight, Bucky’s Locker Room will open and offer fans the first chance to purchase the new Under Armour Wisconsin gear. Everyone who enters Bucky’s Locker Room will receive a free gift. Prizes include tickets to Badgers events, including the football team’s games vs. LSU (at Lambeau Field), Ohio State and Nebraska, Badger concessions gift cards and Bucky’s Locker Room gift cards.

Wisconsin Athletics and Under Armour announced a 10-year partnership in October. That deal begins at midnight on July 1.

Boston College athletics confirmed on Monday that BC and Stanford have scheduled a home-and-home football series.

The games will be played early on each season: Sept. 2, 2028 at BC; Sept. 15, 2029 at Stanford, per FBSchedules.

The Eagles will be playing the Stanford Cardinal in 2028 and 2029 in a home-and-home series. While we were (way, way) off on the dates, the series was first proposed here at BC Interruption less than a year ago. Who knew we had that kind of power?

After signing up for a two game series with Purdue in January for 2018 and 2020, this marks the second big Power 5 scheduling deal from Brad Bates’ administration in the last 6 months.

The two-game series with the Cardinal, while way off in the future, sets up a mutually beneficial (and compelling) east vs. west matchup of two of the strongest academic schools in the Power 5 conferences. While the college football landscape will undoubtedly look very different a decade from now, Stanford is likely to remain as one of the premier programs in the country, and the rock-bottom years of BC football will be a distant memory (er… in theory).

Let’s hope a big number of BC fans join the team on its trip to Palo Alto.

“I don’t care what you do at camps. I want to hear your high school coach say ‘Take him.’ If I have a relationship with that high school coach like I do with these NFL coaches, guess what happens? We take him.”

-Urban Meyer via Doug Samuels, Football Scoop

Even with all the hype around satellite camps this offseason, the recommendation from a high school coach is still one of the most important factor in recruiting. Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer said as much to a group of potential recruits at a camp in Columbus over the weekend, emphasizing that worrying about the 7-on-7 or which camps to attend to get noticed means missing the key point involved: achieving buy-in from the high school coach. Becoming a key contributor on the team and being selected as a captain, for example, go much further than being noticed at a satellite camp.

Meyer’s comments echo similar sentiments expressed by Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban last week, in which Saban stated that football is the only sport where the high school coach still matters. He went on to say that satellite camps, like those promoted by Michigan Wolverines coach Jim Harbaugh, threaten that balance.

While parents and players alike can be distracted by which camps to attend and being visible throughout the recruiting process, Meyer’s comments emphasize the need to earn the resolute recommendation of the high school coach. While camps may only last a few days, the coach knows the player for up to four years of play, and can offer a more accurate representation of the recruit which goes much further in garnering a scholarship offer.

“He’s a project. The question is how long will this project take for QB’s coach David Lee to mold.”

-Tyler Dunne, The Buffalo News

With mandatory minicamp scheduled for the Buffalo Bills this week, former Ohio State quarterback Cardale Jones has a lot to prove heading into practice. The minicamp is the last chance for players to impress coaches prior to training camp, which is scheduled to begin at the end of July at St. John Fisher College, and it would seem that Jones has a long way to go. With reporters watching at one practice last week, Jones could not seem to find a rhythm, fumbling snaps from under center and tripping over his fullback on a handoff. And despite his cannon of an arm, Jones’ passing was inaccurate throughout the day.

Nonetheless, Jones has a lot of potential to develop into a strong backup for the Bills this season. He will need to focus in particular on his footwork, but also in communicating plays with his teammates, which Jones recognizes as an area of weakness.

Jones missed some practice time last week, owing to the birth of his son, Owen, in Cleveland. Head coach Rex Ryan apparently forced the decision, stating that Jones would “regret that decision for the rest of your [his] life” if Jones did not head back to Cleveland. Jones had been just minutes away from the practice facility in Buffalo when he turned around redirected back to Cleveland.

Jones is currently projected at the No. 3 spot at quarterback. During training camp, he will compete with fellow quarterbacks Tyrod Taylor, who started 14 games last season for the Bills and is the projected starter this season, andE.J. Manuel, who earned the majority of his starts in 2013 before moving to the bench behind Taylor.

“I’m predicting Ezekiel Elliott will be a breakout star from Day 1 of his NFL career. He has a perfect blend of power, agility, and elusiveness and his skill set is a complement to the rest of the Cowboys offense.”

-Nate Burleson, NFL.com, via 247Sports

Despite initial questions regarding the Dallas Cowboys’ decision to draft former Ohio State Buckeyes running backEzekiel Elliott No. 4 overall in this year’s NFL Draft, doubters seem to have overcome their concerns, and are even projecting Elliott as the top breakout candidate among rookies for the upcoming NFL season. Elliott has, thus far, lived up to the pressure with a strong performance in the Cowboys minicamp, and is expected to carry his momentum into the team’s training camp scheduled to begin in late July in California. Elliott has been a workhorse throughout his career, carrying the Buckeyes to a national title in 2014, and is projected to bring the same sort of power to his professional career.

Especially given injuries to quarterback Tony Romo, the Cowboys will be relying heavily on their running game next season to keep Romo from standing too long in the pocket. The Cowboys enacted a similar gameplan with DeMarco Murray in 2014, when he led the league in rushing with 1,845 yards on 392 attempts in 16 games played.

Despite averaging 118.1 yards per game last season behind Darren McFadden, placing the Cowboys ninth in the league in average rushing yards, the organization does not see McFadden as the future franchise running back. Given multiple injuries throughout his eight-year career, McFadden has never completed an entire 16-game season, and has hit the 1,000-yard rushing mark only twice.

STICK TO SPORTS

As the Texas Longhorns await the prospective arrivals of 2016 signees Erick Fowler of Manor and Marcell Southall of Duncanville, head coach Charlie Strong said on Friday that he thinks both players will eventually be able to enroll in classes in Austin.

“They’re still getting their work in and at some point they’ll make it to campus,” Strong said, according to the Statesman.

A likely Fox end at Texas, Fowler is a 2016 US Army All-American who famously elicited an impromptu dab from Strong on National Signing Day when he flipped his commitment from LSU.

It’s not clear exactly what Fowler has to take care of to become eligible, but here’s the report from The Football Brainiacs a month ago:

We checked with someone close to the Fowler family and we were told that the necessity for summer school is indeed a possibility. However, we were told it’s not yet set in stone. Fowler recently re-took the SAT and apparently everything is going to be contingent on how he finishes out this semester and the results of his SAT score.

If for some reason Fowler isn’t able to get the SAT score and grades needed to qualify, it would be a significant loss for the 2016 class, as the Manor product is a consensus four-star product ranked as the No. 74 player nationally and No. 12 player in Texas, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings, as well as a top-10 outside linebacker.

Aside from the rankings, one of the reasons why Fowler is so important to the class is because of his tenacious pass-rushing ability — he’s a natural off the edge and the only Fox end in the class after Strong was unable to fill the need at that position until the final moments.

There’s much less public information available about what is keeping Southall from getting to campus. Like Fowler, he committed to the ‘Horns on National Signing Day. As a defensive tackle, he’s a candidate to contribute this fall if he can qualify academically.

On that huge day in early February, recruiting coordinator Brian Jean-Mary was hopeful that Texas wouldn’t experience any eligibility problems in the 2016 class after losing three members of the 2015 class to academic issues, but did acknowledge how difficult it is to know with any certainty that far out.

“I feel pretty confident,” he said. “Now, we’re not in the high schools with them. There are some guys on paper who are qualified, but they have to complete their senior year. They’re on track to graduate and qualify, but there’s always unforeseen circumstances like what happened to us in the past that we didn’t account for. We feel confident on all 24 of these guys qualifying.”

Special teams has been one of the things Auburn has done best for a few years. There have been exceptions, but for the most part the kicking and punting game has been on point. That all starts with the person who snaps the ball.

It may sound strange that a long snapper can be such a specialized position, but it is. Former Tiger Josh Harris earned a lucrative contract doing just that for the Atlanta Falcons a few years back.

So, getting a commitment from Bill Taylor, the #2 Long Snapper in the nation, out of Tuscaloosa no less, is a pretty good pick-up for Auburn to continue those special teams ways.

Taylor is 6’4, 235lbs and is not ranked according to the major recruiting services, who really don’t spend a lot of time looking at long snappers. His rating comes from the website Kohl’s Kicking. They refer to him as the “fastest long snapper in America,” which is a good thing to be, since getting the ball to the kicker quicker lessens the chance of a block.

The fastest long snapper in America, Bill Taylor, has committed to #Auburn. #WarEagle

Eval: https://t.co/hGOB4YYWMohttps://t.co/xo2Uwh6DSI

— Kohl’s Kicking Camps (@KohlsKicking) June 13, 2016

So what does this do for Auburn’s 2017 recruiting class? He’s not ranked, so that doesn’t add any points to the class ranking. Auburn is still ranked 28th in the nation in recruiting classes.

Before you starting grumbling about using a scholarship on a long snapper – as Tuberville did in his last recruiting class at Auburn – understand that the Tigers may not be doing that, just yet. He has a scholarship offer and will be on scholarship at Auburn at some point. He just might not be an official member of the 2017 recruiting class. We’ll wait and see on that one.

In LA, from the other La. pic.twitter.com/mzgDUwh2Ul

— Kevin Sumlin (@CoachSumlin) June 12, 2016

All Praises Be To The Most High !!!

I AM PROUD TO SAY I AM OFFICIALLY COMMITTED TO TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY !!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/v6R8GfQi7b

— Keldrick Carper ® (@Keldrick_Carper) June 12, 2016

Countdown to Kickoff: 82 Days

This week, our “100 Days to Kickoff” series continues as we look at five players who are some of the best and most important to the team in 2016. When we started doing these a few years back, the idea was to model them after the old NCAA Football video game series, which would assign “Impact Players” to each team based on talent, position, and production levels. This week, we’ll be selecting players based on those same factors, but moreso on their overall importance to the team this fall. (That is, these aren’t necessarily the team’s five best players.) We begin today with the most obvious one.

QB Justin Thomas, RS-Senior

Whether talking about skill, production, or importance to the team, the list wouldn’t possibly be complete without the quarterback.

Justin Thomas returns in 2016 for his third (and final) season as a starter, looking to re-establish himself as one of the premier playmakers in the conference and across the country. As a sophomore in 2014, Thomas famously led an insanely efficient offense to wins against all of Georgia Tech’s major rivals (breaking several losing streaks along the way), a near-victory against then-undefeated Florida State in the ACC Championship Game, and to an Orange Bowl victory where he scored 3 touchdowns and was named the game MVP. As one might imagine, that repeated success on the national stage resulted in very high hopes for the quarterback in 2015, with some even thinking he was a dark horse candidate for the Heisman trophy.

As we all know, things didn’t go quite as well in 2015 as they did a year prior. With all of his skill position players from 2014 graduated and with his best offensive lineman in the NFL, Thomas struggled mightily to compensate for mistakes caused by inexperience, both at the skill positions around him and the offensive line trying to protect him. Not only did the struggles of others impact the offense’s performance at a whole, but it also dragged down the level of play we saw from Thomas individually. As mistakes piled up from play to play, drive to drive, and week to week, Thomas gradually lost his trust in his teammates. He tried to compensate for those mistakes by keeping the ball when he shouldn’t and by throwing dangerous passes into coverage. In essence, by trying to do too much himself, Thomas got away from doing the things that made him so successful in 2014.

That’s why, in 2016, it’s imperative that Thomas return to form from 2014, and avoid returning to bad habits developed in 2015. Part of that calls for the teammates around him to develop and learn from last year’s mistakes, but it also requires Thomas to trust them and make the right decisions. Instead of worrying about his ball carriers fumbling, Thomas needs to get the ball to whichever player is dictated by the defense. Instead of forcing passes downfield when the team falls behind, Thomas needs to throw the ball away and live to play another down instead of turning the ball over. By making the right decisions and trusting his teammates, Thomas will put the offense in much better position to succeed, leading to much better results on the field.

The good news is that, regardless of what happened last season, Thomas still has the elite physical ability that got him so much attention in 2014 — his speed and agility are as good as anyone’s in the country. As long as Thomas is physically healthy, those tools combined are a weapon that opposing defenses will always have to plan for. By using that extra attention to put his teammates in positions to be successful, and by using his gifts to make defenses pay when they make mistakes, there won’t be a player on Georgia Tech’s team that has more of an impact on the outcome of the 2016 season than Justin Thomas.