Jumbo Package: Bryce Young named QB1 by Carolina, Jeremy Pruitt lands a new gig

Happy Friday, everyone. August is just around the corner, which means we will soon be getting into fall previews and reporting on whatever morsels of information that Saban allows to leak from practice.

We aren’t there yet though, so the silly season continues.

Biggest news of the day was that Jeremy Pruitt landed a new job.

Pruitt was hired on July 27 as a physical education teacher at Plainview High School in Rainsville, Alabama. He also will coach junior high boys basketball at the K-12 school, according to the DeKalb County superintendent’s office.

His wife, Casey Pruitt, was hired on July 13 as an English teacher at the same school.

The contracts for both begin Aug. 1, pending a routine background check and appropriate certification, according to DeKalb County school board agendas and meeting videos posted on the Facebook page of the Mountain Valley News in Alabama.

This is definitely a surprise. Jeremy has millions in his pocket, so it isn’t like he needs the money. Either there were no support roles available to him at the college or pro level, or he just wanted to step away from the grind and get back to his roots a bit.

Bryce Young had been previously named the starter to open camp. He has now been named the starter to open the season.

Even though the franchise is one of the youngest in the National Football League, like the other 31 it’s been on a continual search to improve, especially at quarterback. Since that first regular draft in 1995, the Panthers have used 11 selections on the position (one every 2.5 years), with the players ranging from Jimmy Clausen to Chris Weinke.

Four of those quarterbacks, including Clausen, where top-five overall selections, dating back to Kelly Collins in that first first draft, and two were the first pick overall. Of course we’re talking about former Auburn quarterback Cam Newton to 2011, and Alabama’s Bryce Young, the last two Heisman Trophy winners at the rival schools.

May he set the world ablaze.

Athlon Sports tells us what each SEC team needs to do to feel good about themselves.

Alabama: Win the College Football Playoff National Championship

Alabama and Nick Saban have not won the title since 2020. Anything less than a national championship will be a major letdown in Tuscaloosa.

LSU: Make the College Football Playoff

What Brian Kelly did in his first season was great. But now LSU fans need another go at the CFP.

Tennessee: Win the SEC East

The folks at College Football News want your clicks so badly that they predicted a Big Game rematch in the CFP title game.

Again, like last year, the prediction is that Ohio State rolls through the regular season only to be tripped up at the end by That Team Up North. And, like last year, it backs its way into the College Football Playoff without playing in a conference title game.

The call is that Georgia loses once along the way and beats a one-loss Alabama in the SEC Championship. Everyone screams and yells about the Tide being left out, but form holds - the committee doesn’t take a two-loss Bama over a one-loss Ohio State

Last, Colorado and the Big 12 have reportedly come to an agreement.

Colorado has decided to return to the Big 12 at the start of the 2024-25 athletic season. The University of Colorado Board of Regents on Thursday unanimously adopted a resolution to move the Buffaloes out the Pac-12 and back to the conference they helped found in 1996. This after Big 12 university presidents Wednesday night voted unanimously to approve membership for Colorado should it formally apply, sources told CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd.

The next step in the process is for CU to submit a pair of official letters, one to the Pac-12 noting their withdrawal from the league on July 1, 2024, and another to the Big 12 requesting admission to the conference on the same date.

This is likely just the first domino, as the Pac 12 is quickly falling apart following the departures of USC and UCLA.

The Big 12’s raid — maybe not yet over — has the Pac-12 staggering. Leaders of the conference are planning to meet Thursday, sources tell Yahoo Sports — a discussion that will presumably center on an approach to the news of Colorado’s departure.

The Pac-12 needs to expedite its own expansion plans and present a television deal to remaining members in an effort to keep intact the conference and prevent a cascade of departures that could impact the entire landscape of college sports. Months ago, the conference identified at least two expansion targets — San Diego State and SMU — that now seem necessary to its own survival.

The march toward two football superconferences continues.

That’s about it for today, Have a great weekend.

Roll Tide.