College Football Offseason Buzz: Cincinnati Suing Former QB, Sapp Leaving CU

This is college football. At some point, the games pause, but the news and drama never does.

Here's an offseason tracker for buzz across the college football landscape.

Warren Sapp leaving Colorado

Pro Football Hall of Famer Sapp is no longer on Deion Sanders' staff at Colorado after two seasons. Sapp joined CU during the 2024 season as the team's senior quality control analyst and served this past season as its defensive pass rush coordinator. 

"Warren Sapp has resigned from the CU football coaching staff to pursue other opportunities," Colorado’s athletic department said in a statement Feb. 26. "CU Athletics thanks Warren for his contributions to our football program over the last two seasons and for his commitment to our student-athletes."

Cincinnati suing former QB Brendan Sorsby

The Bearcats are suing their former starting quarterback of two years, claiming that he breached his NIL contract by failing to pay Cincinnati a $1 million exit fee for transferring to Texas Tech in January, per ESPN. Sorsby reportedly signed an NIL contract with Texas Tech in the range of $4-6 million for next season and is being advised to not pay Cincinnati $1 million in estimated liquidated damages. Last season, Sorsby totaled 2,800 passing yards, 27 passing touchdowns, five interceptions and a Big 12-high 155.1 passer rating for the Bearcats, while completing 61.6% of his passes in 12 games. He also rushed for 580 yards and nine touchdowns. Sorsby spent the first two seasons of his collegiate career at Indiana (2022-23) before transferring to Cincinnati for the 2024 season.

 Virginia QB Chandler Morris seeking seventh year of eligibility

Morris continued his fight for a seventh season of eligibility by filing a lawsuit against the NCAA, his agent confirmed. The NCAA denied Morris' medical redshirt waiver and appeal last month, and he is seeking a preliminary injunction in Charlottesville Circuit Court. The NCAA did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Morris could be making an argument similar to Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss, who received a preliminary injunction from a Mississippi judge on Feb. 12. Chambliss' case was based on injuries severely limiting his playing time and not allowing him to make the most of his athletic eligibility. The 25-year-old Morris applied for a medical redshirt for the 2022 season at TCU after suffering a knee injury. The NCAA denied that request after Morris made limited appearances in three games later that season.

Philip Rivers' son commits to NC State

Quarterback Gunner Rivers has committed to NC State — his father's alma mater — he announced on Feb. 23. Rivers is a four-star quarterback at St. Michael Catholic in Fairhope, Alabama. His father coached his high school team as well, doing so before he made his return to the NFL in 2025. The younger Rivers threw for 2,813 yards, 44 touchdowns and five interceptions this season, leading his high school to the state title game. 

Tennessee QB Joey Aguilar denied sixth season

Aguilar's injunction for a sixth season of eligibility has been denied, and he will now go pro, per ESPN. Aguilar was previously granted a temporary restraining order in his lawsuit against the NCAA as he sought an extra year of eligibility, which would've enabled him to continue playing for the Volunteers this fall. Aguilar played the first two seasons of his collegiate career at Diablo Valley (2021-22), followed by two seasons at Appalachian State (2023-24) before transferring to Tennessee for the 2025 season.

Indiana HC Curt Cignetti gets a raise

The Hoosiers have raised their head coach's salary to $13.2 million through the 2033 season, per ESPN. This deal comes in the wake of Indiana winning its first national championship in program history in January and already raising Cignetti's salary to $11.6 million in October 2025. Moreover, this raise makes Cignetti the second-highest paid coach in college football. Since Cignetti took over in Bloomington for the 2024 season, the Hoosiers are a combined 27-2, highlighted by going 16-0 en route to winning the national championship last season.

North Illinois head coach Thomas Hammock leaving for NFL

Hammock is leaving NIU to become the running backs coach for the Super Bowl-champion Seattle Seahawks, according to CBS Sports. Over Hammock's seven seasons as NIU's head coach (2019-25), the Huskies went a combined 35-47, a stint highlighted by three bowl game appearances and a win at South Bend against Notre Dame in 2024. Hammock, who played running back at NIU, was previously a running backs coach for the Baltimore Ravens from 2014-18, among other assistant coaching stints.

Four-star prospect de-commits from Michigan

Peter Bourque, a four-star quarterback out of Massachusetts in the 2027 class, reopened his recruitment on Feb. 17. Bourque had been verbally committed to Michigan in Aug. 2025 under previous head coach Sherrone Moore. 

Michigan finds its DT coach

The Wolverines are hiring Vanderbilt defensive line coach Larry Black to be new head coach Kyle Whittingham's defensive tackle coach, per ESPN. Black was Vanderbilt's defensive line coach from 2022-25 and previously held the same role at Toledo from 2019-21. 

In other news, Michigan has reportedly parted ways with general manager Sean Magee. Michigan is also expected to part ways with Sam Popper, its director of recruiting, and Albert Karschnia, its director of player personnel.

SEC cuts massive checks to its members

The SEC is distributing more than $1 billion to its 16 universities for the 2024-25 fiscal year, which ended last August. The total distribution jumped more than $200 million from the previous year. The current total includes $37.4 million retained by universities that participated in the College Football Playoff and bowl games. 

The amount distributed from the conference office, including bowl revenue retained by participants, averaged $72.4 million for schools with full year financial participation. Oklahoma and Texas, which joined the conference in July 2024, received distributions of $2.6 million and $12.1 million, respectively, related to CFP and bowl participation and designated NCAA funds. The $72.4 million average per school is approximately $18.6 million above the 2023-24 average of $53.8 million for full members. 

The payout for the 14 schools receiving a full share consists of revenue generated from television agreements, postseason bowls, the CFP, the SEC title game, the SEC men's basketball tournament and NCAA championships.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.