Top 10 Coaches List, On3 vs 247Sports, Trump on Josh Pate, USC Theft (Wild Episode)

College football recruiting, NIL, transfer portal culture, and the biggest headlines in the sport are on deck. This episode hits five hot-button topics across the ACC, Big Ten, SEC, Big 12 and Notre Dame football—starting with Gunner Rivers (Philip Rivers’ son) committing to NC State football and igniting a full-on rankings war between On3/Rivals vs 247Sports after a massive evaluation gap (4-star vs 3-star) sparked public shots from executives and editors.

Then George dives into the USC football drama after star wide receiver Ja’Kobi Lane posted a theft accusation involving a recruit visit—kicking off a debate about whether he exposed an “open secret” in recruiting culture or broke the unwritten code prospects benefit from.

Next: Donald Trump appearing on Josh Pate’s show. George explains why he has no issue with the interview, but why it also proves something crucial—if you think the President of the United States is going to “save” college football from NIL/transfer portal chaos, you’re dreaming.

After that, George and Ralph Amsden run through a Top 10 current coaches list featuring names that drive the sport right now (Kirby Smart, Curt Cignetti, Kyle Whittingham, Ryan Day, Dan Lanning, Marcus Freeman, Mario Cristobal, Dabo Swinney, and more) and what separates real program builders from hype.

Finally, they hit college football NCAA enforcement update tied to Tennessee AD Danny White and a memo from the NCAA—because “enforcement” in 2026 has real implications for recruiting, NIL, and roster building across every major conference. George Wrighster’s College Football Podcast on the Unafraid Show.

Chapters:

00:00:00 – Show intro + NCAA “vacating wins” setup + today’s topics

00:02:43 – Gunner Rivers commits to NC State + rankings war begins

00:03:36 – What 5-star/4-star/3-star really means (why rankings matter)

00:05:30 – How the On3/Rivals vs 247Sports beef started (tweets + responses)

00:09:15 – Coaches recruiting off offer-lists (why scarcity thinking is a problem)

00:12:01 – USC football drama: Ja’Kobi Lane theft accusation explained

00:17:14 – George USC story: recruits got frisked after gloves went missing

00:19:48 – Trump on Josh Pate: George’s reaction + how he’d handle it

00:29:50 – Top 10 coaches list reveal with Ralph Amsden (debate begins)

00:32:34 – Why Kyle Whittingham ranks above Ryan Day (doing more with less)

00:35:59 – Jeff Brohm + why some big names aren’t on the list

00:45:33 – Danny White calls out Charlie Baker: collective bargaining is the fix

00:52:43 – Kirby Smart vs Mario Cristobal roast clip (Steve Spurrier event)

00:55:08 – Final thoughts + outro

#CollegeFootball #cfbnews #CFB #Recruiting #NIL #TransferPortal #NCStateFootball #USCFootball #BigTenFootball #SECFootball #ACCFootball #Big12Football #NotreDameFootball #JoshPate #DonaldTrump #KirbySmart #CurtCignetti #RyanDay #DanLanning #MarioCristobal #DaboSwinney #UnafraidShow #GeorgeWrighster #collegefootballpodcast #cfbpodcast #on3 #247sports  #bigten #acc #big12football

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.