Tommy Stevens transfer, college football’s 2nd-year coaches: A Blitz Podcast

Tommy Stevens reunites with Joe Moorhead at Mississippi State, and we assess the direction of college football’s second year head coaches in the Blitz Podcast.

After deciding to depart Penn State as a graduate transfer following the conclusion of spring practice in Happy Valley, Tommy Stevens has found his new home. The rising senior will join his former offensive coordinator in Starkville, with his eyes set on earning Mississippi State’s starting quarterback job over the summer and fall.

The familiarity of Moorhead’s system undoubtedly played a role in this decision, and Moorhead’s willingness to take on a graduate transfer points to his own insecurities about his current quarterback room following the graduation of decorated signal-caller Nick Fitzgerald.

What does this transfer mean not only for the Bulldogs in 2019, but their current crop of quarterbacks? Could we see the likes of Keytaon Thompson (long considered the favorite to replace Fitzgerald) and Jalen Mayden explore their options in the transfer portal next? How positive of an impact has the transfer portal had as a whole for college athletes?

This is the first topic Zach and I discuss in our tenth edition of the Saturday Blitz Podcast. What a ride this has been so far, and we are both truly appreciative to all of our listeners out there who take the time every week to join us for some college football discussion.

After we catch up on current events, Zach and I continue to shift our focus toward previewing the 2019 season. In this episode, we discuss the 12 coaches in the power-five entering their second year at their respective programs, assessing the direction each program is moving in.

Does Dan Mullen still have Florida on the right track despite the off-the-field controversies that have plagued the Gators’ offseason? The clock’s ticking already on Florida State’s Willie Taggart, but is he already on the hot seat after just one season in Tallahassee? Will Scott Frost have Nebraska as legitimate contenders in the Big Ten in year two?

The college football season is now under 100 days away from kicking off, so there’s now a visible glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel, but we still have two full months without any football to get through before August brings hope renewed.

Programming note: The Saturday Blitz podcast will be taking next week off with Zach attending a conference out of town and me preparing for a move across the state. We’ll be back in full swing on June 5.

The Saturday Blitz Podcast is part of the FanSided Radio Network on Spreaker. The show goes live every Wednesday morning. You can reach John Mitchell at @jlmitchell93 and Zach Bigalke at @zbigalke on Twitter.