Newport Beach, Calif. (January 10, 2024) – With the bowl season now complete, it’s time to stop celebrating mediocrity and .500 teams winning games against other 6-6 teams. It’s time for the Irrelevant Bowl.



Newport Beach’s Roy Englebrecht, an innovator and Hall of Fame promoter, has come up with a concept that college football coaches, players, media and fans are sure to latch on to, just like they’ve done with the title of “Mr. Irrelevant – awarded at the end of the NFL Draft and celebrating the last player selected.



“No polls, no rankings, no controversy, just two winless or near winless teams looking for redemption and one elusive win,” said Englebrecht, who hopes to launch the inaugural Irrelevant Bowl in 2024. “Knowing that the NCAA has become more flexible with the number of team’s wins to qualify for a bowl, I will petition the NCAA asking them to grant a waiver in 2024 so that two teams would be eligible to play in the inaugural Irrelevant Bowl.”



It all started four decades earlier with the naming of the first “Mr. Irrelevant” – a title no college football player wanted. Dayton wide receiver Kelvin Kirk was the 487th pick in the 1976 NFL Draft and dubbed “Mr. Irrelevant” after being selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers. Yet what former NFL receiver Paul Salata began all those years ago has become a phenomenon for players who may have started at the bottom, but who were celebrated for making it to the big show.



If there had been an Irrelevant Bowl played this past December, it would have “featured” 2-10 Vanderbilt facing 1-11 Akron. The Irrelevant Bowl will provide six figure payouts to two teams, along with team travel, team loading lodging, and team meals in a host city to be determined. And should either of the last two teams picked pass on playing, the next lowest team would be invited.



To be considered as a host city for this monumental event, a city would place a bid in the first quarter of 2024 covering lodging and meals for the two teams, all stadium expenses, and a $1,000,000 site fee. The host city would retain all event revenue including ticket sales, concessions sales, and parking revenue.



The Irrelevant Bowl management team would have a President, VP of Operations and VP of Media, while the host city could tie in with a local college with a Sports Management Program to allow students to fill other Irrelevant Bowl positions and get real world experience in the realm of major college sports.



But ultimately, the Irrelevant Bowl is all about the teams and the players aiming for that one shot at glory that eluded their grasp during the regular season. With the world watching, winning team players could join such players as Marty Moore, Mike Green, Jim Finn, David Vobora, Ryan Succop, Chad Kelly, and Brock Purdy, who parlayed their “Mr. Irrelevant” status into NFL success. And if the NFL isn’t in the cards, having that one night of glory is a priceless memory for those who will raise their unique Irrelevant Bowl trophy at the end of the game.



According to 247Sports, at least 378 players had opted out from the 82 teams participating in bowl games since mid-December. “It’s not likely there would be any players who would decide to opt-out of the Irrelevant Bowl,” Englebrecht said.



He added: “I am sure a whole lot of college football fans laugh at some of the current 40 post season college bowl games that are of very little interest with games that feature a 6-6 team vs a 6-6 team. At least with the Irrelevant Bowl the players have something to play for, and fans have a reason to tune in to watch two teams really fight to capture that treasured win…now that is drama.”



Also added to this new 2024 concept will be the release of the Irrelevant Bowl Standings undated each week with the Top Ten 2024 Irrelevant Bowl candidates.

https://theathletic.com/5198909/202...abama-coach-saban/?source=user_shared_articleAlabama hiring Washington’s Kalen DeBoer to replace Nick Saban as coach: Source

Let’s get the group consensus.

Former Duke Co-DC and DL coach Jess Simpson has been hired as a member of the Georgia Tech staff. Thought of as one of the best DL coaches in the country, speciifcally at evaluating talent and developing, Simpson got his start in the industry at his alma mater, Marietta HS, and built his way up from there.

Stops at Buford and East Paulding prior to his first chance as a head coach, Simpson took over the Buford program in 2005 after a stint as the coordinator of strength and speed and DC.

He made an unprecedented jump from the HS ranks to the NFL back in 2016, leaving local power Buford for a job with the Atlanta Falcons. While with the Falcons, Simpson was able to work closely with DL Grady Jarrett, among several others.

Simpson, though, is best known for his time at Buford HS, a pipeline that he has tapped back into, signing nationally-coveted DL Jalar Holley from the school back in the 2019 class while at Miami. He left the world of Georgia High School Football with a total of 10 state championships, 7 of them coming as a head coach.

Simpson is well-respected throughout the state, and has relationships with not only coaches from the area, but trainers as well. HS coaches in the state of Georgia are encouraged by this pull by Georgia Tech head coach Brent Key, and are also watching closely to see what happens with the opening at DB coach and the DC job.

Throughout his time as an assistant, Simpson has been able to outlast programs such as Alabama, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, and several others to win key recruiting battles.

His biggest recruiting wins thus far include Nyjalik Kelly, Jason Blissett, Cameron Williams, and Jahfari Harvey, among others. Simpson also signed several 5.7 recruits as well.

While his territory is obviously yet to be determined, it is pretty clear that Simpson's strongest recruiting results thus far have come in the state of Georgia and Florida.

Given the amount of talent in the 2025 class in-state, this move couldn't come at a better time for Key and Georgia Tech. Simpson already had offers out to 2025 guys such as-

Prince Avenue Christian DL Christian Garrett
Roswell EDGE Kobby Sakyi-Prah
Jefferson EDGE Kelan Butler
Ware County EDGE Jamar Birden
Langston Hughes DT Tavaris Dice
Calvary Day DT Walter Mathis
Buford DT Nicco Maggio
Sprayberry DB Mark Manfred

Buford also has a pretty strong next two classes as a school alone, a school that Georgia Tech hasn't signed a recruit out of since Jalen Huff back in the 2020 class. Some notable names-

-2025-
LB Mantrez Walker
DB Devin Williams
LB Kenyon Rivera
LB AJ Holloway

-2026-
LB CJ Sibley
OL Ben Mubenga
DE James Morrow
DB Nassir McCoy
DE Bryce Perry-Wright

In the world of recruiting, the transfer portal has become essentially free agency for college athletics. For Simpson, this means that he may have the chance to add some of his former players at both Duke and Miami in his position room pending the actual assignment to DL coach. Remember that in transfer portal recruiting, there is nothing equal to an "NLI" meaning that there is nothing binding the portal player to the schools they are committed to.

Duke defensive players in the transfer portal-
DE RJ Oben (committed to Notre Dame)
DT Aeneas Peebles (committed to VT)
DE Ryan Smith (uncommitted, Georgia native)

Other notable players in the transfer portal-
Miami EDGE Jahfari Harvey (committed to SMU)
Miami DL Chantz Williams

Simpson is also responsible for landing Penn transfer DL Will Seiler, a Georgia native. His name is one to watch closely, but just how closely is yet to be determined. If he does in-fact end up coaching the defensive line, Peebles, Seiler, Harvey, etc. could come back into the picture.

Once a decision on a defensive coordinator becomes official, we will take a closer look at the typical body types that Simpson has gone after in his career. At that time we can also take a look at any other former Duke or Miami players recruited by Simpson that are in the portal.

Notable stats from the Simpson-led DL at Duke the last two seasons-
2023- 42.5 TFL, 17.5 sacks
2022- 33.5 TFL, 17 sacks

RJ and I will discuss Santucci and the recent hires.

Drop your questions below.

I will say the DB coach hire isn't done, there are still a few guys in the mix. You guys know the big fish, but that one I won't count on until that is signed at that spot.

Greetings from McCamish where I am trying to do five things at once.

Brent Key is juggling more than I am. He has talked to over 40 potential DCs at this point. He shot his shot early with some big-time guys (one going to the NFL and Ron Roberts among several targets) and has turned his focus to putting the final touches on his defensive staff.

Key has been in Nashville for the tail end of the Coaches Convention and conducted a lot of discussions/meetings/interviews during his time there. He is still there and sitting in a bar on Broadway per a good source .

Things are moving faster as he aims to get his staff in place.

I will tell you it won't be Robert Bala. Maybe Key talked to him as one of the 40 dudes, but holy shit that was a nothing burger.

Key like I've maintained is trying to keep things quiet until it is all done. He didn't want the Pope thing out there, but he got "footballscooped" on that one. Happens when everyone is at the convention.

The remaining spots on the field are DB/LB and the new DC will coach one of those, but again that isn't a huge limiter. Most DC's are not DL coaches.

Key is very thorough using his GT education and lessons learned in his search.

He has hired guys he has a strong connection with thus far in Pope and Simpson.

I expect we are nearing the end of this marathon. Stay tuned. I hope that I can break the news first which is always my goal!

There will be a link to the transfer tracker in the offer list as well, but wanted to go ahead and get this going.

Expecting more offers to go out today.

Hearing Georgia Tech made a big move with Oswin Erhunmwunse over the weekend despite the loss, per my sources.

A big enough move to get into his top two, at the least. And I will also add that the re-classification rumors have legs and are legit. He has already re-classified once from the 2026 class to 2025.

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As I was flipping through Sirius stations I heard this jewel. I knew what had to be done.

Just rotten to the core

https://theathletic.com/5193316/202...s-college-gameday/?source=user_shared_articleESPN used fake names to secure Emmys for ‘College GameDay’ stars

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We've been getting asked about him a lot.

Key voted uga #4. Kirby voted uga #5. I am now worried about the DC hire due to this exhibited decision making

Other noteworthy note: Malzahn voted Alabama #8 !

Don’t think anyone started one of these but curious what everyones thoughts are so far and moving forward!

Glad to see Jax State win their first FBS bowl game. I’m now 4-0 on bowl picks so far 😊

Based on growth of undergrad applicants during that time frame:

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I'm bored and tired of waiting on the DC hire. If you were a 5* senior in HS football with offers to everywhere in the country, which 5 schools would get your Official visit? You have never visited a college campus before and the world is your oyster. What say you?

For me:

1) GT
2) Oregon
3) Ohio St
4) Texas
5) Hawaii- I always thought it would be cool if a bunch of highly rated recruits got together and made a pact to go to Hawaii for college and turn them into a powerhouse. How amazing would it be to have your college career in Hawaii? IMHO

The irrational optimism has kicked in in full. Hoping Ridder gets more than a few series tonight.

Division champs this season, home playoff game. Let’s go baby. Rise Up

Damon Stoudamire

Micah Shrewsberry

Miles Kelly and Nait George

remember when I said sec west yesterday. Welp that domino didn’t fall our way

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Prayers for my community if you are so inclined. Tornado‘s early AM have devastated parts of Marianna and Jackson Co FL. Fortunately it tracked just a few miles west of my home but others were not so lucky. In many ways we are still recovering from Hurricane Michael so this is another gut punch for this area. There is video on youtube if you care to see the damage.