The Michigan State Spartans hosted a 3-star defensive lineman Nehemiah Kolone for a visit on June 6 and the Stillwater, Okla. had nothing but good things to say about East Lansing.
In fact, he canceled his visit with Kansas following his time with the Spartans. Still on his list, BYU is the last school he has scheduled to see.
Out of his nine offers, Michigan State is within reach of landing the defensive lineman. By the end of June, Kolone hopes to reach a decision between the Spartans, BYU, and Oklahoma State.
Also, Kolone has canceled his upcoming visit to Kansas. A visit to BYU is what remains. https://t.co/izoW3G6go0
— SpartanTailgate.com (@SpartanTailgate) June 10, 2025
Kolone is ranked No. 863 overall, according to 247Sports Composite. He's listed as the No. 18 prospect out of Oklahoma and the No. 90 defensive lineman overall.
Out of the 12 commits from the class of 2026, the offense is crowding up the most. Kayd Coffman, Joey Caudill, Eddie Whiting, Eli Bickel, Cory House, Collin Campbell, Quinn Buckey, and Braylon Hodge make up the eight recruits on the offensive side of the ball. Defensive tackle Chris Knauls, safeties Eliyjah Caldwell-Hardy and Brayden Thomas, and cornerback K.J. Deriso are the only defensive players to commit so far.
The Spartans have also extended another offer to a cornerback out of Florida.
In the 2024 season, the Spartans' defense was 15th in the Big Ten for average points allowed (26.1) and 10th in their conference for yards allowed per game (332).
If head coach Jonathan Smith can land a few more defensemen out of the class of 2026, the near and far future of Michigan State could start an upwards trend.
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Jon Gruden sent another warning shot toward the NFL after scoring a major win in court. On Tuesday, Gruden welcomed a ruling that will force the NFL to litigate the circumstances of his firing in court rather than closed-door arbitration. The former Las Vegas Raiders coach made it clear that he intends to continue his legal challenge to the NFL, ensuring that they are held accountable. “I’m looking forward to having the truth come out, and I want to make sure what happened to me doesn’t happen to anyone else,” Gruden said in a statement provided to ESPN’s Don Van Natta Jr. “The league’s actions disrupted the whole season. We were leading the division at the time and they completely blindsided me and the team.” The Raiders were 3-1 in 2021 when Gruden was forced to resign after offensive emails he had sent between 2011 and 2018 were leaked. Gruden has alleged that the NFL leaked the emails to force him out of a job after obtaining them during an investigation into the Washington Commanders. The NFL is set to appeal Monday’s ruling, but if that appeal fails, the league may be forced into public discovery. One alternative would be to offer Gruden a settlement, but he has not said whether or not he would be interested in such a resolution. Gruden has not held an NFL coaching job since the Raiders forced him out. He has recently spoken about possibly making a return to coaching at the college level.
Joint practices have revealed some problems for the Miami Dolphins with a few weeks to go before the regular season. Tua Tagovailoa started against the Chicago Bears in Sunday's preseason game, wanting to show improvement after having a bad showing during the Dolphins' joint practice in Chicago on Friday. Tagovailoa did play better, going 5-of-6 passing for 27 yards and led the Dolphins to the Chicago 1-yard line before the offense was stopped on downs. A few days later, Tagovailoa and the offense had another poor performance at their joint practice with the Detroit Lions. Per Colton Pouncy of The Athletic, Miami couldn't score in the red zone against a motivated Lions defense during Wednesday's practice. "Dolphins offense just ran 16 or so plays in the red zone vs. the Lions and didn’t score until the final play (between the second units)," Pouncy posted on X. "Miami’s first-team offense didn’t score in the 7-8 plays vs. Detroit’s first-team defense. It was ugly. Lions’ D is having a day." Pouncy's observation of the Lions manhandling the Dolphins was universal among beat reporters covering the Lions and Dolphins, with The Athletic's Nick Baumgardner calling it the most "lopsided" practice he'd witnessed covering the NFL. Last week, Omar Kelly of the Miami Sun Sentinel said Miami folded when the Bears defense began to whip on the offense. The accusations of the Dolphins being a soft team are going to continue until they decide to fight back in joint practices or against opponents in the regular season. When healthy, the Lions have a fierce defense. So Detroit having the edge isn't a surprise, though not being able to score during 16 plays in the red zone is a concern. Miami doesn't appear to have found an identity, and that could spell doom for the season if it doesn't get it figured out before Week 1.
A new era of coaching is underway for the Chicago Bears, with Ben Johnson taking his first head coaching gig in the Windy City this offseason. Johnson was brought in to help Caleb Williams, and one way to do that is to lean on star wide receiver D.J. Moore. One wrinkle Johnson has hinted at in the preseason is using Moore out of the backfield as well as a wide receiver to get the ball in his hands more. Moore told the media that as he gets ready for his eighth NFL season, he’s ready for the challenge. “Just do it all, and just attack it,” he said. “It’s daunting, but I get paid the big bucks to do it, so why not?” Which brings us to today’s quiz. Moore saw his receiving yards from his first season with the Bears (1,364 to 966), but he still led the way for Chicago’s receiving corps in 2024. With that being said, can you name every team leader in receiving yards for the 2024-25 NFL season? Good luck! Did you like this quiz? Are there any quizzes you’d like to see us make in the future? Let us know your thoughts at quizzes@yardbarker.com, and make sure to subscribe to our Quiz of the Day Newsletter for daily quizzes sent right to your email!
We all know Scottie Scheffler is the best golfer on the planet by a fairly large margin, but what makes him so much more consistent than other stars in professional golf? Bryson DeChambeau, one of Scheffler's biggest rivals in major championships, thinks he knows the answer. In Tuesday's appearance on "The Pat McAfee Show," DeChambeau detailed how Scheffler dominates the PGA Tour weekly. "He's got the best spin and distance control I've ever seen," DeChambeau said. "He controls the golf ball from a spin perspective so much better than everybody else. Like, if you're 175 yards out, and it's 10 miles [an hour] into the wind, he knows how to control the flight and spin to get that ball to land right next to the hole every time. Probably since Tiger [Woods], he's the best that we've seen." The stats confirm DeChambeau's breakdown. Scheffler has ranked first on the PGA Tour in strokes gained on approach in three straight seasons. He also ranks first in proximity to the hole and greens in regulation percentage over the last four years. Iron play is Scheffler's superpower, but it wasn't always that way. "I played with him in college a bunch, and I've said it before, but he's definitely improved since college for sure," DeChambeau said with a chuckle. "It's impressive to see what he's done, and we're all aspiring to do that. That's something I've gotta get better at. I can hit it farther than him. I can hit it probably straighter than him. I can make just as many putts as him, but, really, it's about my iron play right now and wedges to get a little more consistent." Iron play is the biggest indicator of success in professional golf. If you're giving yourself more birdie chances from close range than anyone in the field, you're going to have the best chance to win by Sunday afternoon. No one is better at hitting specific distances more consistently than Scheffler. Just look at how accurate he is. DeChambeau has the best chance to catch Scheffler as the best player in the world because he's elite off the tee and on the greens, but that won't happen unless he makes a major improvement to his iron game.
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