Friday Football Links: Recruits weigh in, XFL set to begin

It’s Friday! Let’s take a look at some of the news revolving around NU football as the offseason continues:

The XFL

As reported last week, five former Wildcats made XFL rosters, and these guys will be playing on national television this weekend.

Godwin Igwebuike, Kyle Quiero, and Jordan Thompson will all suit up for the Seattle Dragons to face off against Hunter Niswander’s DC Defenders at 7 p.m. central on ABC. Wide receiver Flynn Nagel opens up his season with the Dallas Renegades at 4 p.m. central on ESPN Sunday. CBS lists Nagel as a projected starter.

The XFL has changed traditional football rules to create more scoring opportunities and discourage punts. The double-pass behind the line-of-scrimmage is a nice feature. Here’s a better explanation of all the new rules ahead of the first games this weekend.

Recruiting News

With national signing day passing, the ‘Cats have stood tall with their 17-man 2020 class, highlighted by O-lineman Peter Skoronski. The 5-star Skoronski and 3-star defensive lineman Sean McLaughlin appeared on BTN on Signing Day to discuss their respective commitments:

On the 2021 front, the ‘Cats offered scholarships to four quarterbacks yesterday, according to Rivals.com. Peter Costelli and Miller Moss are both four-stars from Southern California, joined by another California native in 3-star dual Kajiya Hollawayne and 3-star dual Kyron Drones of Houston, Texas.

Moss holds a plethora of offers from the likes of Alabama, USC, and LSU. Costelli also has an impressive collection of offers, such as Oregon, LSU, and Nebraska. Hollawayne holds offers from UCLA and Kansas; Drones has Arkansas and Mizzou.

With the quarterback position one of such contention this past season, it will be interesting to see Fitz’ recruiting strategy play out in finding a potential starter for the future.

Mark Dantonio resigns

Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images

This is old news by now, but after thirteen seasons in East Lansing, Mark Dantonio resigned as head coach of Michigan State on Tuesday. Allegations of recruiting violations have surfaced in the aftermath of Dantonio’s resignation, which outsiders have speculated was perhaps a conduit for his leaving the job.

Dantonio led Sparty through one of its most successful eras, winning three conference titles, a Rose Bowl and a Cotton Bowl, as well as a College Football Playoff berth. His last two seasons, consecutive 7-6 campaigns, have seen his squad struggle offensively.

According to some reports, Cincinnati head coach (and former Ohio State interim head coach) Luke Fickell is the frontrunner for the job. Nonetheless, it will be odd to see someone other than Dantonio on the sidelines when the ‘Cats open up against Sparty on September 5.