Matt Baker

The hockey team in my town hasn’t really missed a beat thus far

During the reporting process, I talked to a few businesses in that bucket. Two Circles is doing well. Its CEO told me it used the money to buy another company to help do its job better and hire more talent than it could have otherwise. Learfield seems to be doing fine, no?

Why are college sports and private equity converging? Here are the best-case scenarios Private equity cash infusions into college sports come with plenty of much-discussed criticism and skepticism. So what's the case for it?

ICYMI: As private equity ventures into athletic departments/conferences, what's the case for PE in college sports? www.nytimes.com/athletic/709...

Why are college sports and private equity converging? Here are the best-case scenarios Private equity cash infusions into college sports come with plenty of much-discussed criticism and skepticism. So what's the case for it?

So my goal here was to help inform the discussion and opinions as private equity and college sports join forces on large and small scales.
www.nytimes.com/athletic/709...

Are there downsides? Of course! There will be winners and losers (just as there are in today's system). I think those downsides are better understood with the details in deals and those are largely TBD right now. But we can see the positives in the abstract.

Let's talk for a minute about why I wanted to write this. Regardless of whether you and I like it, it's happening. PE and college sports are converging. I think it's important to know WHY it's happening, and that means understanding the best-case scenarios.

Why are college sports and private equity converging? Here are the best-case scenarios Private equity cash infusions into college sports come with plenty of much-discussed criticism and skepticism. So what's the case for it?

I’ve spent the last few weeks talking to people in/around private equity to try to answer this question: What’s the best argument for why PE can be good for college sports? Here's my answer:
www.nytimes.com/athletic/709...

Louisiana Tech suing Conference USA in effort to leave league for Sun Belt a year early (Gift Article) CUSA bylaws require 14 months notice to depart the conference, and the sides have not come to a financial agreement to allow an early split.

News: Louisiana Tech has sued Conference USA over its departure for the Sun Belt later this year.

This comes after months of failed negotiations on an early exit. Marshall, Old Dominion and Southern Miss did the same in 2022.

Free story: www.nytimes.com/athletic/709...

Five other takeaways from ‘the book’ and how analytics affect college football Here are a few strategies, some situational and some big-picture, that coaches and analysts say don’t get enough attention.

Five more takeaways from speaking to people for the story on The Book:

- The new 2-point trend ... which isn't that new
- The law of diminishing possessions
- The 'sum positive' of going for it
- When field goals are good!
- When field goals are bad

www.nytimes.com/athletic/708...

Gotta confess: I've liked curling since I did it for a story once as an intern (number redacted) years ago. But I did NOT know there were so many curling-related shenanigans! #respect

Lou Holtz, ubiquitous coaching voice and Notre Dame football’s last national champion, dies at 89 For all Holtz accomplished in 34 seasons as a head coach, he will be remembered as the man who returned the Irish to college football glory.

From @theathletic.com: Lou Holtz, a ubiquitous college football coaching voice, has died at the age of 89. In his 34 seasons as a head coach, he will be remembered as the man who returned Notre Dame to college football’s summit. nyti.ms/46JSxgS

Lou Holtz has died, Notre Dame announces. The former national championship-winning coach was 89 years old.

How 'the book' has come to influence the decisions of 100+ college football coaches

The Book:

How a small analytics company has so much influence over college football - and has changed the game.

“I got into it not because I was intrigued by the math, but because I was intrigued by the winning."

www.nytimes.com/athletic/708...

✍️ The total buyout $ for fired head coaches in this cycle was a staggering $270 million, easily a new record.

But it's not actually $270m. And it may end up far less.

I went through contracts and settlements to show how not every buyout is the same.

Free story: www.nytimes.com/athletic/708...

NCAA football rules committee proposes changes for targeting penalties, uniform violations and more (Gift Article) Under the proposal, players penalized for targeting wouldn't be suspended for part of the next game if they are for first-time offenders.

Sunday Read: College football's new proposed game rules include:

- No carryover targeting suspension (for first offense)
- Pants/socks must cover the entire leg
- Offensive PI reduced to 10 yards
- Fair catch kick

And more. Free story: www.nytimes.com/athletic/707...

Who will be coaching your school in 2030? Predicting every Power 4 football program’s head man The idea: Project the head coach for each Power 4 school, plus Notre Dame, in 2030. A truly impossible (but very fun) task.

Our @ralphdrussoath.bsky.social predicted who will be the head coach at every Power 4 team in 2030. As fun as I hoped it'd be!
www.nytimes.com/athletic/706...

Will Muschamp, Bobby Petrino and 25 fascinating assistant hires of the 2025-26 coaching carousel (Gift Article) From up-and-comers to familiar faces, a lot happened in the assistant ranks while 30-plus FBS schools made head coaching changes.

Gary Patterson is back, Chip Kelly is in the Big Ten, and Ohio State hired another former NFL head coach.

The 25 most interesting assistant coach hires in college football: www.nytimes.com/athletic/705...

✍️ The 25 most interesting assistant coach hires from the carousel

- Will Bobby Petrino fix Bill Belichick's offense?
- Brent Pry moves from Virginia Tech head coach to DC
- Longtime Iowa STC LeVar Woods jumps to Michigan State
+ A lot more:

www.nytimes.com/athletic/705...

"I don't see the problem here." - Les Miles

"Per Flavor Flav" is an amazing way to start a sentence

Jeff Monken interested in moving Army-Navy game to Thanksgiving weekend The Army-Navy game has been played on the second Saturday of December since 2009 to stand apart from conference championship games.

One of the obstacles to moving the CFP up is Army-Navy being protected the Saturday after conference championship weekend.

Army coach Jeff Monken wants to remove that obstacle, and move Army-Navy game to Thanksgiving weekend:

www.nytimes.com/athletic/706...

College football had 34 head coaching changes. Here are 10 lessons from a bizarre carousel (Gift Article) What coaches, agents, athletic directors and search firms are taking away from one of the busiest college football coach carousels ever.

College football had 34 head coaching changes. Here are 10 lessons from a bizarre carousel.

Good analysis here from @chrisvannini.com and @davidubben.bsky.social on the most recent coaching cycle @theathletic.com: www.nytimes.com/athletic/706...

Jaden Rashada saga shows NIL chaos in college football is at least better than it once was Three final thoughts after 21 months of Rashada and Florida litigation and conversations this week with a handful of NIL agents

21 months after it was filed, the Jaden Rashada lawsuit ended this week, closing the book on an 8-figure dispute and the first massive legal case of the NIL era. So what’d we learn from it? Some final thoughts: www.nytimes.com/athletic/705...

Those things were so awesome. I never found a great way to write about them when I covered the race for the Tampa Bay Times, but they were so very cool

I don't know how many times a show cause order has been given *TO* the NCAA (or, more specifically, its attorneys), but here we are.

Midnight showing of the third Matrix movie on a school night in HS. It was awful. Absolutely awful. Then my stupid friend's stupid car ran out of gas because he was stupid, so we had to push it to a gas station, so I got home even later after seeing a stupid, awful movie that was stupid and awful.

Will North Dakota State fans miss winning FCS titles? Here’s what the FBS move means After winning 10 FCS titles in 15 seasons, North Dakota State is joining the Mountain West in the FBS. There are pluses and minuses.

NDSU will go from competing (and winning!) FCS national titles to competing for trips to the Potato Bowl. How will the fans handle that? We asked some and got insight from folks who saw it w/ Georgia Southern and App State.
Story with @byameek.bsky.social:
www.nytimes.com/athletic/705...

From Napier's attorneys, Hank Coxe and Michael Lockamy:
“The parties have reached a confidential resolution of the litigation. The case will be dismissed, and all parties are moving forward.”

Jaden Rashada settles NIL suit against Billy Napier, Florida booster

A settlement has been reached* in the first major legal dispute of the NIL era: Jaden Rashada v. Billy Napier et al.
*Per a mediation report filed in federal court
www.nytimes.com/athletic/705...

Kansas State has denied a public records request for Jerome Tang's termination letter. I was curious what, exactly, was cited. Kansas law says agencies "shall not be required to disclose" "personnel records." Contracts are separate from other personnel records here.