The Lead
Kaden Anderson took over at Southlake Carroll as a junior, after the starter left early for college, and the Dragons went 14-1. A knee injury held him to six games as a senior. Several Power Five programs stopped recruiting him. Wyoming kept calling.
His father, Ronnie, died in 2020. At Wyoming, Anderson wrote the date on his wrist tape before every game. "I play for him, because that was part of our dream, growing up, was to play college football," he said.
He started all 12 games for Wyoming in 2025, then entered the portal. "Wyoming will always hold a special place in my heart," he posted. He came home to Texas and won the job at Tarleton State in camp. On Saturday he threw four touchdown passes and ran for a fifth, and Tarleton won its first game as the No. 1 team in FCS, 49-6 at West Georgia.
This Week's Read
Tarleton signed 63 new players for 2026, a program record, and 54 of them were transfers. Our full story follows five of the roads that showed up in Saturday's box score.
The one who bet on himself. Tanner Schmidt left Stillwater, Minnesota, with his school's career receiving records, played four games at Division II Minnesota Duluth, then went to junior college in California. Tarleton called first. "They were also the first school to take a chance on me," he said. On Saturday he caught the 65-yard touchdown that opened the scoring.
The Division III All-American. Kaleb Brown played one season of varsity football in high school and left Mount Union with 32 career sacks. He came to Tarleton for his last season. On Saturday he had a sack and a forced fumble.
The rest of the box score. Miequle Brock, the Southland's 2024 Freshman of the Year at Nicholls, caught a touchdown. Bryce Green, a freshman from Georgia, ran for the last one.
"Our plan is to be old every year and have a veteran team," head coach Todd Whitten said on signing day.
The Market Moved
College sports has its first super PAC. College Sports United PAC registered with the FEC on Sept. 22 to push the PCSA through the House without amendments, Front Office Sports reported Oct. 22. Any change sends the bill back to the Senate, and the group's worry is running out of time before the new Congress is sworn in in January. It had reported no donations yet. So what: the PCSA fight has moved from committee rooms to House districts, and the deadline it is racing lands in the same month the portal opens.
A 24-team playoff would still leave about 60 bowl teams. With a 24-team field expected as soon as 2027, the head of the bowls' trade group told Front Office Sports on Oct. 23 that nearly 60 teams would still play in bowls. Under that format last season, 11 of the 12 added spots would have gone to Power 4 teams. So what: more playoff access, but mostly at the top. For most programs below the Power 4, what a staff can promise a transfer in January stays about the same.
What's moving: FCS rosters are being built from every level at once. Tarleton signed transfers from FBS, FCS, Division II, Division III, the NAIA and junior colleges. The staffs that can see all of those levels before January make the first call.
Worth your time
Inside the First College Sports Super PAC (Front Office Sports, Oct. 22). For staffs and agents: who is behind it, what it plans to do in House districts, and why an amended bill could miss January.
Bowl Games Face Uncertain Future With a 24-Team CFP (Front Office Sports, Oct. 23). For athletes: what postseason play looks like for the programs that will not make a 24-team field.
From the Field
What FCS staffs have told us this year, as January gets closer.
Nobody to get ahead of the window. A general manager in his first season at an FCS program told us last week that after "maybe 1 or 2 more pieces" from junior college, "the rest will be all portal." His staff is "not gonna want to do anything in season," so he preps alone. The only personnel staffer at another FCS program said it in April: "We just have to react to it... We don't have the personnel to do that."
Junior college and the NAIA are a blind spot. A director of player personnel at an FCS program, on finding junior college players: "These juco coaches, a lot of them sell you a whole lot of lies." A position coach at another, on NAIA players: "they're not in the portal," so they keep "popping up on Twitter and it's like, oh, shoot, this kid's out there."
Is the agent real. The same general manager, on who calls him about players: "a player's uncle that just says he's an agent and he's trying to shop," or "his high school trainer," or "somebody from his hometown." A recruiting coordinator at another FCS program: "There's such a disparity between legitimate agents," from the ones who "understand the space" to "the other end of the spectrum, it's their cousin's neighbor."
The Toolbox · Building from every level, read from three chairs
Staff: the players who did not pick you out of high school will look again from the portal. Whitten's staff keeps track of them the whole time, so the call in January is not the first one.
Agent: the agent a staff can check gets the call back. Before January, make it easy for a general manager to see who you are and who you represent.
Athlete: notice who called first. Schmidt was at a junior college when Tarleton reached out, and he remembered it. The first call tells you who was watching.
New on the network
Trivia, two this week.
An American Conference program joined the network. Its head coach is in his second season, and its city once called itself the Oil Capital of the World.
A Mountain West program joined too. Its head coach is in his third season, and its city calls itself the Biggest Little City in the World.
The Trusted Takeaway
Tarleton built the No. 1 team in FCS in one winter, from every level of the sport. Its staff was watching before January.
Explore the network: for staffs · for agents · for athletes
When you need a player in January, which level do you look at first? Reply to this email or write [email protected].
