He's got to take care of the football

Devlin Hodges will start the regular-season finale for the Steelers with a playoff berth on the line. It will be Hodges’ fifth consecutive start, but he likely wouldn’t be in the lineup if not for a shoulder injury that ended Mason Rudolph‘s season.

The Steelers benched Hodges on Sunday.

Hodges has thrown interceptions on four of his past five possessions over two games, according to Chris Adamski of triblive.com. Six of Hodges’ eight interceptions this season have come over the past six quarters he’s played.

“Does it matter?” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said, via Adamski, when asked whether the interceptions were poor decisions or bad throws. ““You know, seriously, we’ve got to take care of the football. You can make a bad decision – but [with] a ridiculous, awesome throw, it’s irrelevant. You know what I mean? So I mean that in all sincerity – we’ve got take care of the football, and some of that minutiae is less important about intentions relative to performance.”

Hodges has one touchdown, six interceptions and a 41.7 passer rating in his past two games. He threw only two interceptions in his first five NFL appearances, including three starts.

“There’s nothing wrong with his preparation; there’s nothing wrong with his approach and his attitude and things of that nature,” Tomlin said. “But [whether he’ll perform better] won’t get answered until we get into the stadium. I can trick myself in terms of seeking comfort and looking for clues and things of that nature, [but] we are not in that world.”

Big shoes to fill in college football's top 10

College football’s talent turnover rate is part of what makes every fall so exciting. As one wave of superstars moves forward in life, new players, coaches and position groups are waiting to be the next one to shine.

Significant pieces of every College Football Playoff contender must be replaced from top-five NFL Draft picks to Heisman finalists to First-Team All-Americans.

Some players may be impossible to replace, but it will not be because of lack of effort. Using the latest CBS Sports top 25 power rankings, we examine some of the people or units tasked with replacing the impact faces of the 2018 football season.

10. Oregon, WR Juwan Johnson  — You could make an argument for new defensive coordinator Andy Avalos after the Ducks lost Jim Leavitt. But an elite quarterback like Justin Herbert needs his weapons, and it will not be easy to replace a single-season record breaker like Dillon Mitchell. Many fans hope to see Penn State’s grad transfer assume that mantle as a top target. The spring game was a step in the right direction. Mycah Pittman is certainly a freshman to watch while slot Jaylon Redd is the returning leading receiver.

9. Michigan, LB Josh Ross  — One does not simply replace the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, especially one the caliber of Devin Bush. While there seem to be solid edge rushers coming up to replace other NFL talents, Bush will be the toughest to replace. Ross started in Bush’s place in the bowl game against Florida. He appears poised to take over the MIKE linebacker role after 54 tackles and 5.5 TFLs last season. Jordan Anthony has also made noise while Ross sat out spring with an injury.

“Ross is the smartest linebacker, but Jordan Anthony has excelled in his absence,” said defensive coordinator Don Brown. “He’s barely missed any time and has played well.”

8. Texas, Second Receiver — Heisman hopeful Sam Ehlinger still has a proven weapon in Collin Johnson, but counterpart Lil’Jordan Humphrey is gone after a 1,200-yard, 10-touchdown season. Humphrey lined up primarily as an H-receiver. Now vacant, Joshua Moore, Jordan Pouncey or other freshmen could enter the mix.

And time will tell when it comes to five-star Bru McCoy, his eligibility waiver and role within the team. He will make an instant impact if the waiver works out as Longhorn fans hope. After Sam Ehlinger led the Longhorns to a Sugar Bowl win, expectations are even higher.

7. Florida, Buck end Jonathan Greenard — Florida has some work to do in developing an offensive line after the departure of four starters, including both tackles. Edge rusher looks like the single-toughest role to replace from last season, however, after a farewell to Jachai Polite. Enter graduate transfer Jonathan Greenard of Louisville. He missed 2018 with a hand injury and with the coaching change at Louisville, he made the move. Greenard excelled  in 2017 with 15.5 tackles for loss and seven sacks. Florida defensive coordinator Todd Grantham originally recruited Greenard to Louisville, and is now his position coach at Florida as well. Keep an eye on the likes of Andrew Chatfield, Jeremiah Moon (when healthy), early enrollee Mohamoud Diabate and prized late addition Khris Bogle, too.

6. Ohio State, QB Justin Fields  — Not only did Dwayne Haskins lead Ohio State to a Big Ten Championship in his only season as a starting quarterback, but the new Washington Redskin also threw 50 touchdown passes on the way to a Heisman Trophy third-place finish. Fields is far from a sure thing to carry the full weight, but he has all of the skills and an elite group of offensive minds to get him there. After ranking as the No. 2 overall recruit behind Trevor Lawrence a year ago, Fields got his fresh start at Ohio State and a waiver to play right away. Following JT Barrett and Haskins is no easy ask.

5. LSU, LB Patrick Queen — Devin White was an absolute star for LSU at linebacker, and he will do the same at the NFL level. Now, it is Patrick Queen’s turn to take over full time. Queen saw plenty of action last season, especially against Alabama with the targeting situation. He made nine tackles in that battle with the Crimson Tide, and did the same  in the Fiesta Bowl against UCF. Does Dave Aranda have another star in the making at linebacker? Time to find out.

4. Oklahoma, the offensive line

Sure, Jalen Hurts has massive shoes to fill as Oklahoma looks for a third-straight Heisman Trophy winner. Those shoes may be impossible to fill with the history we saw on the field last season. While Kyler Murray earned the majority of national hype last year, Oklahoma’s offensive line was also outrageously talented. That will be tough to replicate for the Sooners in search of another College Football Playoff berth.

“There’s bound to be an adjustment period early on in the season, but once Bill Bedenbaugh’s group gels, it’ll be a force to be reckoned with yet again,” writes OU Insider. “(Creed) Humphrey is an early All-American candidate, and he’ll be surrounded by a pair of new guards and two new tackles.”

3. Georgia, DB Tyson Campbell

Tyson Campbell has the higher expectations of the projected starting corners. He and Eric Stokes will have to be elite in lieu of Deandre Baker, who was a true star at the position. Early tests are coming with Ian Book, Jarrett Guarantano and Jake Bentley all on the first half of the schedule. He could be one of the true breakout stars in the SEC.

“Both Eric Stokes and Tyson Campbell started multiple games opposite of Baker in 2019, and they are the favorites to win the two starting jobs this year,” said Dawgs247 reporter Jake Rowe. “We got a look at what that might look like in the Allstate Sugar Bowl against Texas and both players held their own. Keep an eye on JUCO transfer DJ Daniel, who will push both of those players throughout preseason camp and is quite similar to Baker physically."

2. Alabama, DT DJ Dale

Alabama has weapons ready and waiting for most of its NFL departures but is Quinnen Williams really the kind of defensive force that can be replaced? We will find out soon with the expectation that DJ Dale moves into the role in some capacity. He will not have the same responsibilities as Williams, but projects to start next to Raekwon Williams for now. Dale worked with the ones by the end of camp, and the freshman should have quite the impact.

“Early enrollee D.J. Dale was the talk of spring drills after ascending to the top of the depth chart at nose tackle by the close of spring drills,” said BamaOnline Senior Analyst Travis Reier. “His jersey number and powerful build brings to mind Daron Payne, but few expected him to pass up Phidarian Mathis as quickly as Dale did — I still wouldn’t count Mathis out of the competition. They’re going to need both.”

1. Clemson, Four new DL starters

The major players are all back offensively from breakout quarterback superstar Trevor Lawrence to dynamic skill players like Travis Etienne, Justyn Ross and Tee Higgins. Clemson coach Dabo Swinney cannot say the same about his championship-winning defensive line, however. All four starters moved onto the NFL Draft as 2019 selections, highlighted by Clelin Ferrell at No. 4 overall.

Now, it comes down to a new rotation of players to pick up the slack. Clemson ranked fifth nationally in total defense last season. Plenty of excitement surrounded Xavier Thomas to rush the passer in place of Ferrell. Jordan Williams, Nyles Pinckney and Tyler Davis are all among the linemen to watch in 2019.

New contact rules for high school football practice get mixed reactions

Adjustments to the high school football playoff format are not the only changes coming to the sport in the near future. According to a Wednesday release from the Michigan High School Athletic Association, further restrictions on collision in practice are being implemented immediately for the 2019 football season.

According to the release, the MHSAA is limiting programs to “no more than six hours of full-pads collision contact per week during the preseason and no more than 30 minutes of collision contact during a week of in-season (after games begin) practice.” The MHSAA defines “collision” as “contact at game speed, with the execution of full tackles at a competitive pace, taking players to the ground.”

The MHSAA also specified that “thud” contact will be unlimited, defining thud as "full speed but above the waist only, with no player taken to the ground and no winner or loser. Thud contact is not considered collision contact.”

According to Chippewa Valley coach Scott Merchant, these new definitions will allow teams to do more despite the new restrictions on collisions.

“I’m really pleased that they made a differentiation between live-collision contact and thud,” Merchant said. “I think for most of us, very few of us are doing a ton of live or full collision or full-go in practice as it is. Prior to this changing of definitions, basically thud contact was considered collision too ... I think that, with this change, it will allow us to do a lot more in terms of tackling and keeping the head out of tackling and teaching proper form with that.”

Chippewa Valley won the Division 1 state championship last fall and Merchant says he already includes three different types of contact in practices. Along with thud and live collision, Merchant has “tag-off” contact where the players tag the opponent and then stop.

“If anyone is doing live contact for hours upon hours in this day and age, that’s just crazy,” Merchant said.

Detroit Cass Tech coach Tom Wilcher said the MHSAA is moving in the right direction with this new rule. However, he also has some concern when it comes to quality instruction time on how to properly teach athletes to tackle in a game, especially with those new to the sport.

“In order to teach safety, you’re going to have to have drills where you teach them how to hit and tackle and you’re going to spend more time with it," Wilcher said. "That’s the problem. It’s called time on task. If you limit the amount of time on a task, that means that you are limiting the amount of instruction time to teach the kids. That’s the biggest problem I have.”

Clarkston coach Kevin Richardson echoed the same concerns that Wilcher brought up.

“The thing that I hesitate on about this whole thing is that drills are great but you have to have some live contact to teach tackling,” Richardson said.

At the same time, Richardson also mentioned the MHSAA does not have an efficient way to police the collision rules.

“People are still going to do what they want to do,” Richardson said. “How are they going to monitor it? I mean, you take care of your kids anyway. Our amount of contact has dwindled so much from the old days that it’s unbelievable."

According to Freeland coach Kevin Townsend, the lack of proper live collision in practice could have a negative ripple effect for game nights.

“My only worry of the ‘thud’ is kids losing the technique of tackling,” Townsend said. “We do simulation drills, but nothing can replace what a tackle might be like on Friday nights. It will obviously cut down on injuries during practice, but might increase them when kids go full out on game days."

Over at Muskegon High School, however, the Big Reds already eliminated full-speed tackling from practice. According to Muskegon offensive coordinator Brent White, it has not come at the expense of proper tackling in games. In fact, White thinks the new rule will allow for better instruction.

“Essentially, the way that I interpret the rule is the state has actually loosened the practice rules a bit in allowing more team activity, more opportunity to teach kids how to tackle in a safe environment,” White said. “I don’t know how many teams full tackle in practice. I know that the majority of coaches I know and associate with ... none of us full-speed tackled around in practice. It’s just not a very safe practice. It’s not safe so we don’t do it.”

For some coaches, it will be a wait-and-see approach to see what kind of difference the new rules make.

College football schedules with fans in mind

All around the country at Power Five schools, most athletic directors have been working the phones for the future.

The ADs have been trying to line up other Power Five schools rather than put colorful icing on the usual cupcakes.

The reasons are twofold — 1. attendance is down and the competition has never been more intense for the entertainment dollar, and, 2. The College Football Playoffs could one day expand to six or eight and they are trying to put themselves in position to have an edge in strength of schedule.

Mostly, though, it’s the former rather than the latter.

“Some years it could help, some years it could hurt,” Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin said. “It’s a moving target. You don’t know how good the teams will be 10 years from now.”

For example, Florida just announced a home-and-home with Colorado in 2028 and 2029 earlier in the week, then Friday announced a two-game series against Texas the following two years.

Schools are reaching 10 years into the future and beyond trying to stack schedules to make their home season-ticket packages more seductive.

“More than anything, we’re looking to provide value to the season ticket holders,” Stricklin said.

For example, the Rocky Mountain High of bringing Colorado to Gainesville is made even more valuable because the trip to Boulder, Colo., can be seen as a destination trip for Gator fans.

Stricklin isn’t finished, but these two series are certainly a departure from the norm. Even with the annual game against FSU on the schedule, it’s not enough just to play the SEC schedule, especially in the years where there are only three conference home games because of the Florida-Georgia game.

Florida knows that it can’t stick with the old formula anymore — eight SEC games, FSU and three money games. Too many fans have too many options than to simply show up because the Gators are playing.

While UF continues to work to make the stadium better and sleeker with capacity expected to eventually drop by as much as 10,000 seats, all of the schools in America know they have to schedule better because of what has become an annual decline in ticket sales and an even sharper decline in the number of scanned tickets.

Florida has had a pair of money games — Michigan in 2017 and Miami coming up this year — and Stricklin is OK with more of those games. But he prefers home-and-home series with Power Five teams.

Up the road, Georgia has taken it even further.

The Bulldogs have scheduled three Power Five teams in addition to the eight conference games in 2028 and 2029 and have non-conference series on the books with Oregon, Clemson, Florida State, Texas and Oklahoma.

“It’s both,” said Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity. “We went to Notre Dame in 2017 and saw what that meant for our fans. They want to see big games and we get that. It’s important for the health of our game that we’re giving TV as many iconic opponents as we can.

“We’ve become very aggressive. Kirby Smart really wants to play at least two (Power Five) a year because of where the College Football Playoffs may be headed. Maybe eight teams by the next decade.”

This despite the insistence of the Power Five commissioners that there is no discussion about expanding the playoffs.

But we know where we’d like to see it go, right?

It’s not that the Power Five teams want to squeeze out everybody else.

It’s that they have no choice.

We live in a different world of transfer portals and Snapchat.

You either evolve or you get left behind. And in this case, the evolution benefits the fans.

That in itself is unusual.

Searching for transfers in college football

Justin Crouse, director of player personnel for Memphis, makes his first check of the transfer portal around 8 a.m. each day, searching for new names in the NCAA’s database of football players looking for a new school.

He checks again at lunch and one more time — at least — before he calls it a day.

For years, Crouse’s primary duties for Memphis have been identifying and evaluating recruits in high school and junior college. That was pre-portal.

“I would say 40 percent of the time now is concentrating on guys that are leaving other places,” Crouse said.

The NCAA’s new transfer rules have changed the process by which athletes switch schools, loosening some restrictions and leading more players to explore options. Football coaches have responded by throwing more manpower toward monitoring that growing talent pool and scouting the portal.

“We get an alert every day that somebody gets added into the portal, but then we get a weekly breakdown of position, hometown,” Memphis coach Mike Norvell said. “And then trying to collect all the information, the video, to get a sense of who these kids have developed to be.”

The portal is the NCAA’s cryptic name for the database it maintains to track which athletes — in all sports — have notified their schools they wish to transfer. The big change from last year’s rules reform was athletes no longer needed to request permission to transfer. Schools and coaches can no longer stop a transfer and dictate where the athlete goes. The point of the portal was to create transparency and order.

Before rules reform, the transfer process could be clandestine. Because athletes needed permission from their current coach to be contacted by other schools, it encouraged third parties to get involved, an active grapevine filled with high school and 7-on-7 coaches, personal trainers, parents and friends of friends.

“Before it was by word of mouth,” Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck said. “Somebody gave you a call, ‘This guy might be transferring,’ and get going. Now, it’s every day we have people that are in our program checking the portal.”

The portal provides more exposure for the transferring player and, ostensibly, more opportunities. Instead of deals being struck under the table even before players officially were granted their release, now every school in the country has the chance to make a pitch.

“It takes away … the middleman in making the connection,” Norvell said.

Georgia Tech coach Geoff Collins said: “I think it’s beneficial for the players.”

Portal patrol duties tend to fall to the player personnel department — or some equivalent.

Crouse said he prioritizes players from Memphis’ recruiting area and those who play positions of team need. All highly productive players and quarterbacks get a look, too. Crouse compiles background material and film, going back to high school, using services such as Hudl and Pro Football Focus. He then sends that information to the Memphis coaches sorting by position, recruiting area and previous relationships.

Georgia coach Kirby Smart compared working the portal to NFL teams having a portion of their scouting department dedicated to veteran free agents.

“We just happen to have a larger pool (of players), which is the portal,” Smart said. “We know most of the guys on the board because we knew them coming out of high school and so we had a background on that. We said, ‘yeah, we didn’t think that guy was very good there and that’s why he’s leaving. So we’ll pass. That guy is an intriguing guy because we don’t have that position or we just had a mass exodus of three guys leave some position, juniors came out early we weren’t expecting. Better go to the portal, find a good backup.'”

The portal has opened up the process, but ultimately relationships built during high school recruiting still play a major role.

Oregon coach Mario Cristobal said he wants his staff to keep track of players who really liked Oregon coming out of high school but chose to sign elsewhere.

“This is one we may want to keep on a hot file,” Cristobal said. “So if it does happen, then you have the option to act relatively quickly.”

Staffers are on the lookout not just for talent, but fit — on the field and off.

“He went to this college, but he’s from here. Yeah, that raises attention regardless of position,” Collins said. “He’s leaving because he wants to be closer to home. Well, if his home is Dallas then don’t worry, we’re good.”

Background checks might be the most important part of portal scouting. Why exactly is the player leaving?

“There’s always a story,” Norvell said.

It’s those stories that have made some coaches stick to an old-school approach to pursuing transfers.

Georgia State coach Shawn Elliott said if the Panthers bring in a transfer he prefers it to be a player with which the staff is already familiar.

“But you know we do look at (the portal), but like I said I don’t think you want to build your football program with a bunch of guys that have already quit somewhere,” Elliott said.

And that grapevine is still plenty active.

“I think everyone’s just kind of waiting for that bulletin to pop up,” Cristobal said. “But I think everyone speculates as well.”