Jaguars release renderings of Stadium of the Future

Jacksonville has been promised a palace. What it has, for the moment, is a construction fence and a very patient smile.

The Jaguars unveiled new renderings of their $1.4 billion Stadium of the Future, a renovation so thorough it treats old EverBank like a first draft. 

The pictures are seductive: shade, lounges, bars that look like they charge extra for the lighting, a South Patio Club, a field-level hangout that stretches on like a good second act. The roof is the romantic lead. After years of sweating through kickoff, fans are being offered cover. It’s almost indecently appealing.

The catch is the commute between now and then.

In 2026 the upper deck is closed. Capacity shrinks to 42,500. Two home games leave town for London, which is a long way to go to sit in your own stadium. 

Then 2027 ships the entire home schedule to Camping World Stadium in Orlando, nearly 150 miles away, as if the franchise needed a trial separation. They plan to return in 2028 and pretend none of this was awkward.

President Mark Lamping says the club is doing everything it can to keep the mess from eating the season. “We’re playing in the middle of construction,” he said, which is both a fact and a warning. Surprises, he added, hide around every corner. 

In construction, they usually do. He praised the people running it. Fair enough. You’d want saints and engineers.

On paper, the finished place could lure Super Bowls, concerts, and the kind of weekends cities put on brochures. It could also give Jaguars fans a home that doesn’t feel like an apology.

Until then, the price is seats, Sundays, and a year of cheering in another zip code. This crowd has already been asked to believe in processes. This time they got drawings. That helps. 

Drawings are not a Super Bowl. But they are something you can point to when the crane blocks the view.

Enjoy the holiday. Watch the games. Pack sunscreen until the roof arrives.

THE BEST IS YET TO COME

The NFL Draft has twice produced a record six first-round quarterbacks—1983 and 2024. Could the Class of 2027 make it a lucky seven?

It’s a tall order, but the talent pool looks deep and the list of quarterback-needy teams could be even deeper. Here are the top 12 candidates preparing to crash the first-round party:

1. Arch Manning, Texas: The famous bloodline fuels the hype, but the talent validates it. Manning possesses better raw tools than uncles Peyton and Eli and enters the season as an early favorite to go No. 1 overall.

2. Dante Moore, Oregon: Some scouts believed Moore could have been the second player selected this year. Instead, he returned for another season of polish while directing one of the nation’s leading championship contenders.

3. Drew Mestemaker, Oklahoma State: After leading the FBS in passing yards and touchdowns at North Texas, Mestemaker followed head coach Eric Morris to Stillwater. The tools are raw, but the ceiling is first-round high.

4. CJ Carr, Notre Dame: Carr flourished as a redshirt freshman, firing 24 touchdown passes against only six interceptions. Now comes the heavier lifting after the Irish lost first-round running backs Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price, along with third-round targets Malachi Fields and Eli Raridon.

5. LaNorris Sellers, South Carolina: At 6-foot-4 and 245 pounds, Sellers looks as if he were built in a quarterback laboratory. However, after entering last season as a possible No. 1 pick, his stock slipped. This fall offers a chance to reboot the computer. Sellers has already completed his coursework and will graduate in December. His only off-field assignment this fall is an internship at a local driving range. If he straightens out his game, his draft stock could land right down the middle of the first-round fairway.

6. Trinidad Chambliss, Ole Miss: The former Division II star led the SEC with 3,937 passing yards and carried the Rebels into the CFP semifinals. Lane Kiffin may be gone, but Chambliss’ dual-threat talent remains impossible to ignore.

7. Darian Mensah, Miami: Mensah led the ACC with 34 touchdown passes before transferring from Duke for a reported $6.5 million NIL package. With a stronger supporting cast in Coral Gables, he has a golden opportunity to turn that payday into a first-round ticket.

8. Julian Sayin, Ohio State: Sayin finished fourth in the Heisman voting after tossing 32 touchdown passes and leading the nation with a sizzling 77% completion rate. Now a team captain, he pilots a Buckeyes squad operating under championship-or-bust orders.

9. Drake Lindsey, Minnesota: Lindsey isn’t a first-rounder yet, but the 6-foot-5, 230-pound redshirt sophomore owns the size, arm and upside scouts covet. A breakout season could send him rocketing up draft boards.

10. CJ Bailey, NC State: Bailey is 6-foot-6, athletically gifted and entering his third full season as the Wolfpack starter. Unfortunately, his opening audition landed with a thud—two turnovers in an ugly 34-8 loss at Virginia. Consider the clock officially ticking.

11. Sam Leavitt, LSU: Leavitt arrives from Arizona State following a season-ending foot injury and now works under Kiffin. The assignment is simple: preserve the fearless playmaking while eliminating the reckless decisions.

12. Nico Iamaleava, UCLA: The 6-foot-6 junior owns a cannon arm, quick feet and first-round athletic ability. The problem? Too much of his film still screams fifth round. One monster season in Westwood could change the entire conversation.

Now, the on-field performances will speak for themselves. Before we dive into the top 10, let’s look at some of the interesting Week 1 QB matchups:

Nico Iamaleava (UCLA) vs. Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele (Cal): Learn how to pronounce Sagapolutele’s name if you haven’t (JAIR-uhn KEY-ah-VAY song-EW-polo-tell-AY) because he emerged as one of the nation’s best freshmen last year (currently No. 14 in QB Tiers). Going against the gifted Iamaleava (No. 12d), who was a bright spot in an otherwise rough 2025 for UCLA but has an improved supporting cast, should make for a great late Saturday night watch.

DJ Lagway (Baylor) vs. Byrum Brown (Auburn): Lagway (No. 42), who transferred from Florida, is a former five-star recruit with all the physical gifts but hopes a fresh start in his home state gets him back on track. Brown (No. 19), a big dual threat, is one of the statistically prolific QBs in the FBS and followed Alex Golesh from USF to Auburn.

Colton Joseph (Wisconsin) vs. CJ Carr (Notre Dame): Carr (No. 4) looks to build on an impressive starting debut in 2025 and is a trendy preseason Heisman Trophy pick. Joseph (No. 36), who makes his Wisconsin debut, ran for 1,007 yards at Old Dominion last year and was the Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Year.

Appropriate enough.

Why did Michael Lombardi resign as UNC football GM?

College football’s highest-paid general manager has become its highest-paid former general manager.

North Carolina announced Thursday that Michael Lombardi has resigned, closing the book on a short, stormy stay in Chapel Hill.

Lombardi had been on paid administrative leave since July 27 after a former UNC employee reportedly filed a human resources complaint against him. The school declined to provide an official reason for his leave or resignation.

A longtime friend and confidant of Bill Belichick, Lombardi joined the Tar Heels before the legendary NFL coach’s first season at North Carolina. He was in the second year of a three-year contract paying him $1.5 million annually — the highest salary for a general manager in college football.

Big-league paycheck. Bush-league results.

The transfer-heavy roster Lombardi helped assemble staggered to a 4-8 finish last season while producing no selections in the 2026 NFL Draft. North Carolina averaged a feeble 19.3 points per game, ranking 120th among 136 FBS teams.

That made Lombardi’s preseason claim that UNC viewed itself as “the 33rd NFL team” age about as gracefully as milk on a Carolina sidewalk.

His tenure also generated plenty of headlines, few of them flattering. Lombardi faced backlash after reportedly traveling to Saudi Arabia on a fundraising mission before the 2025 season. ESPN later reported that he verbally berated staffers who warned him about possible NCAA violations. One Tar Heels employee reportedly called him “the most hated man in the building.”

After North Carolina placed him on leave, Lombardi retained attorney Tom Mars, who branded the school’s investigation a “witch hunt.”

Before landing in Chapel Hill, Lombardi spent decades in NFL front offices, including an ill-fated 11-month stint as Cleveland Browns general manager in 2013-14. He previously worked with Belichick in Cleveland from 1989-95 and again with the New England Patriots from 2014-16.

North Carolina opened the 2026 season last Saturday with a 15-10 victory over TCU.

So the Tar Heels are 1-0 on the field — but their self-proclaimed “33rd NFL team” is already searching for GM No. 2.

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IT'S NEVER TOO EARLY TO GET A JUMP

September is here, and in a few days the games finally start counting.

One of them will be played for the first time in Melbourne, Australia, with the Los Angeles Rams “hosting” the San Francisco 49ers as 3.5-point favorites. Here are the Week 1 lines:

Wednesday
New England Patriots at Seattle Seahawks (−3.5, 44.5)

Thursday
San Francisco 49ers at Los Angeles Rams (−3.5, 48.5) in Melbourne, Australia

Sunday
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Cincinnati Bengals (−4, 50.5)
Atlanta Falcons at Pittsburgh Steelers (−3, 42)
Buffalo Bills at Houston Texans (−1, 44.5)
Baltimore Ravens (−3.5, 48) at Indianapolis Colts
Cleveland Browns at Jacksonville Jaguars (−8, 40.5)
New York Jets at Tennessee Titans (−1.5, 39.5)
New Orleans Saints at Detroit Lions (−7, 50)
Chicago Bears (−3, 47.5) at Carolina Panthers4:25 p.m. ET
Miami Dolphins at Las Vegas Raiders (−3.5, 40.5)
Arizona Cardinals at Los Angeles Chargers (−10.5, 47)
Washington Commanders at Philadelphia Eagles (−5, 45.5)
Green Bay Packers at Minnesota Vikings (−1.5, 45.5)8:20 p.m. ET
Dallas Cowboys (−3, 48.5) at New York Giants

Monday
Denver Broncos at Kansas City Chiefs (−2.5, 43.5)

The calendar flipped. The numbers are up. Now the work starts.

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A gypsy wind is blowing warm tonight
The sky is starlit and the time is right
And still you're tellin' me you have to go
Before you leave there's something you should know
Someday lady you'll accompany me
Someday lady you'll accompany me

Venturing into the unknown requires resolve, a willingness to risk humiliation and the smoldering belief that what your heart desires is worth pursuing.

Few songs capture that feeling better than Bob Seger’s lively 1980 single, “You’ll Accomp’ny Me,” from Against the Wind—his 11th studio album and fourth with the Silver Bullet Band.

Released in February 1980, Against the Wind became Seger’s only No. 1 album, spending six weeks atop the Billboard chart after knocking Pink Floyd’s The Wall from its perch.

The message arrived without pomp or pretense:

Someday, lady, you’ll accomp’ny me.

College football operates on similar faith. Nothing fuels belief quite like a new head coach inheriting a team fresh from a 10-win season. The machinery is already humming. All he needs to do is keep his foot on the gas.

That leads us to this week’s Well-Oiled Machine:

PLAY ON any FBS team at home in its season opener with a new head coach if it won 10 or more games the previous season.

These energized hosts have gone 21-5 straight up and 17-9 ATS.

Better yet, when they have won at least 18 of their previous 28 home games, they improve to a sparkling 16-2 straight up and 15-3 ATS since 2000.

This week’s qualifying play is James Madison, where Billy Napier inherits a 12-win machine coming off the first College Football Playoff appearance in program history.

Lady Luck will accompany every team at some point this season. The trick is knowing when she is most likely to appear.

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