LSU football head coach Brian Kelly said on his weekly radio show Thursday that the Tigers' 2025 roster costs "about $18 million" this year.

Reed Darcey of The Advocate relayed the news on from Kelly, further noting that the funds are a combination of NIL (name, image and likeness) funds and money that collegiate athletic departments can now share with student-athletes following the House settlement.

Darcey also provided more insight on how LSU has spent its funds over the past few years.

"LSU spent $5.5 million on the roster last season, the general counsel of Bayou Traditions previously told The Advocate, and $11 million over the previous three years combined. The Tigers went 9-4 last year during Kelly's third season.

"As a result of the landmark House settlement, teams now have more money to spend. Schools across the country can share up to $20.5 million with their players during the 2025-26 academic year.

"LSU, like many in the SEC, allocated $13.5 million for its football program. Kelly and general manager Austin Thomas previously said that money will be split between the 2025 and 2026 teams because payments operate on the academic calendar."

LSU sports the No. 1 transfer class this year, per 247Sports. That group includes 12 4-star transfers. The Tigers also have the 10th-best incoming high school class of 2025, per the 247Sports Composite ranking.

The Tigers clearly went to work recently, hoping to break into the 12-team College Football Playoff after falling well short last season. Of note, the Tigers didn't even land in the final 25-team CFP ranking. LSU finished the year 9-4 (5-3 SEC) with a win over Baylor in the Texas Bowl.

Bleacher Report

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/4604...an-addison

Vikings players still fighting for their spot on a roster — either the Vikings’ or another team’s — have quite the stage to do so Friday night in their preseason finale against the Titans in Nashville: The Vikings’ first road trip is a nationally televised game (7 p.m., CBS).

“Always a good operation to go through that as a team, and what it’s like at the hotel and meetings and walk-throughs and things like that‚” Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell said Monday. “Looking forward to seeing our team dialed in and coming off of what was a really positive week last week for the growth of what we’re trying to become.”

Many questions remain entering Friday’s game, with the Vikings’ wide receiver room leading our list of what to watch after a week of highs and lows:

1. Time for a WR to take their ‘opp’
This week, Vikings star receiver Justin Jefferson returned to practice for the first time since late July and seems on track to play Week 1.
But Jalen Nailor was absent all week dealing with a hand injury, and more potential trouble came Wednesday as both Jordan Addison and rookie Tai Felton exited a camp-closing scrimmage early with what appeared to be hand/arm injuries.

The Vikings have already been planning for an Addison absence, as he’s suspended for the first three games of the season. If Nailor is not ready to go against the Bears on Sept. 8 (O’Connell called Nailor “week-to-week”), the No. 2 receiver spot alongside Jefferson is wide open.

For someone currently in the building to take that spot, they need to seize the opportunity Friday night with a big performance.

“I think there’s ability in that room,” offensive coordinator Wes Phillips said Wednesday. “There’s a lot of good, young football players. The thing with young football players is they just need an opp. ... We’ve got some guys that have shown, I think, enough, throughout training camp and the preseason to say that it’s not gonna be too big for ‘em.”

Only one receiver, Myles Price, has caught a touchdown through the Vikings’ first two preseason games. Tim Jones, who leads the team with 68 receiving yards, boasts the longest reception at 28 yards. No receiver has more than five total receptions.

2. Which QBs will see time?
It’s unknown whether the Vikings will play all three quarterbacks behind J.J. McCarthy on the depth chart again or how they will divide time.

Last year, the Vikings played only two quarterbacks in their preseason finale against the Eagles. Jaren Hall took the bulk of the reps and made the initial 53-man roster, but the Vikings waived him and added Brett Rypien two days later.

Sam Howell split reps with McCarthy in the team’s Wednesday scrimmage, which could be an indication the team doesn’t plan to play him Friday. But he’s also coming off a performance with just one completion and an interception last weekend.

After the 20-12 loss to the Patriots, O’Connell said he’s still learning what each of Howell, Rypien and rookie Max Brosmer can do.

“There’s a reason why we’re playing all three of them,” O’Connell said. “As far as, like, what that means, and the overall competition, I think I would just say it’s still open, and we’re trying to figure out what that room is going to look like for the season.”


3. New face in the mix for returns
Vikings special teams coordinator Matt Daniels acknowledged Wednesday some of the mistakes young players trying out roles within his phase of the game have made through two preseason games. He said decision-making is one of the key factors in determining who, if anyone, from the current crop of kick and punt returners earns the jobs in the regular season.

The Vikings continued to try different combinations on both return units during practice this week, with running back Zavier Scott entering the mix as a potential candidate.

Scott is ”an explosive guy,” Daniels said. “Can break tackles, stick his foot in the ground and get vertical. So we kind of see him as a guy who could possibly be a threat back there.”

4. Last look before cuts
The deadline for NFL teams to cut their rosters to 53 players is 3 p.m. Central on Tuesday.

The Vikings sat at least 31 players last week against the Patriots, including some players in No. 3 or role-player spots like cornerback Jeff Okudah and safety Theo Jackson.

While defensive lineman Harrison Phillips was dealt to the Jets in a trade Wednesday night, most, if not all, of the players who have been rested should have roster spots locked up.

That leaves about 23 active roster spots and 17 practice squad spots (including their International Pathway player, punter Oscar Chapman) for the Vikings to fill out.

Startribune

Quote:Wide Retriever!

How high is J.J. McCarthy’s confidence? ‘The highest it’s ever been,’ says the Vikings QB.


The following three receivers were running with quarterback J.J. McCarthy and the Vikings’ first-team offense by the end of a two-hour scrimmage that closed training camp on Wednesday and sent the Vikings into their preseason finale at Tennessee on Friday:

Jeshaun Jones, Lucky Jackson and Thayer Thomas.

Combined NFL games: Three, all belonging to Jackson.

Combined NFL regular-season or postseason catches: Zero, zilch, nada.

All-world receiver Justin Jefferson was held out of the scrimmage as another precaution and all indications are he is healthy and ready to go for the Sept. 8 season opener at Chicago.

Rondale Moore is on injured reserve. Jalen Nailor has a hand injury and wasn’t at practice. And then …

Rookie third-round pick Tai Felton went down with a hand or arm injury during the scrimmage and didn’t return. And then …

Jordan Addison, who has had an excellent training camp but is suspended by the NFL for the first three games, went down with a left hand or arm injury and didn’t return.

The injuries to Felton and Addison did not immediately appear to be serious, but still, it continues to not be a good or healthy summer for Vikings receivers.

So, Mr. McCarthy, are you as concerned about your receiver depth as the rest of Vikings Nation?

“I have no concern at all,” the second-year QB said. “I absolutely love our room. At the end of the day, I trust [coach Kevin O’Connell] and [General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah] to make the right decision and do whatever is best for this football team.”

The scrimmage featured several different situations, from red-zone work to second-and-longs to third downs to the offense backed up at its own 1-yard line. McCarthy completed 27 of 35 passes (77.1%), but don’t get too excited since most of the throws were dinks and dunks, a few of which might have been sacks had it been a fully live competition.

McCarthy completed 17 of 24 passes against the first-team defense and 10 of 11 against the second-team defense. The highlight was going 4 of 6 with two touchdowns against the No. 1 defense in the red zone. The touchdowns went to Jackson and Addison, who made an excellent contested grab over cornerback Isaiah Rodgers.

As for the deep ball, well … what deep ball? There were some mid-range completions over the middle but the only deep-ball completion — to running back Aaron Jones — was negated by penalty.

Offensive coordinator Wes Phillips spoke before the scrimmage and was asked if anything about McCarthy’s first full training camp had surprised him.

“Well,” he said, “we drafted him. We thought he was good. So that has not been a surprise.

“All of the intangible stuff outside of playing the position on the field is part of what attracted us to J.J. in the first place. He’s been phenomenal in that aspect. He’s going to learn and make some mistakes throughout just experience in our system. But he doesn’t make the same mistake twice.”

McCarthy finished training camp with a high level of confidence despite having never taken a snap in an NFL regular-season game.

How high?

“Extremely high; the highest it’s ever been,” he said. “I feel like just looking at the guys around me and the coaching staff, that gives me all the confidence in the world.

“Knowing I have God at my back, at all of our backs, I just feel like I get goose bumps right now thinking about it. Extremely confident in the way we attack every day, put in the work. The rest is going to take care of itself. Having that confidence level as a precursor of the work that we put in, it really makes me excited.”

Startribune

A bullet broke through the glass of an office at the Chiefs’ practice facility last summer, multiple sources told The Star.

Inside the office at the time: Andy Reid.

Reid, the 67-year-old head coach of three Super Bowl-winning teams in Kansas City, was not struck or injured by the gunshot, and neither was anyone else, according to a spokesperson for the Kansas City Police Department.

But the most prominent active head coach in the NFL now works protected by bulletproof glass, sources said, a safety measure installed soon after.

Several sources have confirmed the May 2024 event to The Star. It had previously not been widely known in the 15 months after its occurrence — even among those in the building. For many Chiefs players and staff, The Star’s report will be the first they have learned of the gunfire that hit the facility.

Reid was working alone in his practice facility office in early May 2024 when a bullet fired from outside the building penetrated the glass and shot a hole through the window and blinds. The bullet lodged in a wall between his bathroom and the entry door to his office.

That’s roughly 15 feet from Reid’s desk — the approximate distance between a 15-month well-kept secret and a stunning tragedy.

No arrests or charges have been made in the case. The investigation is ongoing, including the location from where the shots originated, according to Kansas City Police Department spokesperson Capt. Jacob Becchina, who said “there is no indication this was a targeted incident at any person or organization.”

“Because the building was occupied at the time of the bullet coming through the window, the case is being investigated as an aggravated assault,” Becchina said.

Two other bullets struck the facility during the gunfire — one hitting the third floor, one floor above Reid’s office, and another an outdoor air conditioning unit, sources said.

The Chiefs declined comment for this story.

The gunfire occurred shortly after midnight on the morning of May 4, 2024, according to a sparse incident report provided by the Kansas City Police Department and obtained by The Star through the Missouri Sunshine Law. The officers who arrived at the scene in the early morning hours of May 4 spoke with overnight security, who informed them someone “heard a noise and observed what appeared to be a bullet hole in a window,” Becchina said.

The department refused to provide further investigative or supplemental reports, citing the ongoing investigation.

The episode comes at a time in which the Chiefs have established a world-wide profile, with their games and star players increasing their international footprint. They are the subjects of a new ESPN documentary and have recently begun to refer to themselves as “the world’s team.”

Reid is at the epicenter of that, a franchise turnaround coinciding with his arrival from Philadelphia in 2013.

His office sits on the second floor of the three-story practice facility, overlooking the team’s three practice fields to the north side. The facility resides inside the Truman Sports Complex, a stone’s throw from GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.

The facility, which includes the team’s front office and corporate offices, has a security guard on site 24 hours per day, according to the organization. The Chiefs have said in the past that the safety and security of their employees remains a top priority.

Within the last couple of months, the team has increased the amount of perimeter fencing surrounding the three practice fields. The facility is monitored by several cameras.

As the team analyzes its stadium future, weighing options in Missouri and Kansas with a lease set to expire in 2031, it also is mulling the future of its practice facility — including whether to remain at its current address east of downtown or move across the state line, or to a different location in Missouri.

It is not unusual for Reid to work deep into the night inside his office there, even into the early morning hours. It has become a habit that he considers part of the job — a job in which he has enjoyed immense success, particularly recently.

Just three months before gunfire pierced his office window, Reid led the Chiefs to their third Super Bowl in a five-year span and first NFL championship repeat in two decades. And nine months after the shooting incident, he led the Chiefs back to the NFL’s championship game.

He is the fourth-winningest coach in league history. His 301 total victories are 100 more than anyone else currently leading an NFL franchise.

This story was originally published August 20, 2025 at 5:43 PM.

source: Kansas City Star

Who approved this kind of change? Talk about abandoning key brand assets....

Sheesh.

On Tuesday, the Southern-inspired casual dining chain unveiled a new logo “rooted even more closely to the iconic barrel shape,” but without the barrel itself — a central part of the brand’s identity since 1977. (As for the the barrel itself, it was “essentially the water coolers of the day,” Cracker Barrel explained in a blog post.)

Shares of Cracker Barrel (CBRL) nosedived more than 12% in trading Thursday.

The identity refresh also includes new TV commercials, a redesigned menu and several new fall-themed foods, part of a larger $700 million transformation plan to shake off its stodgy image and lure in new diners.

“The way we communicate, the things on the menu, the way the stores look and feel … all of these things came up time and time again in our research as opportunities for us to really regain relevancy,” said CEO Julie Felss Masino in 2024.
CNN


OLD COUNTRY STORE LOGO:

WTF? 

All assisted off the practice field today with various injuries. Felton could miss some time. Ugh