Category: News Feeds

‘Woefully underprepared’: Graham critics seize on her foreign policy misstep

Post author By alaskaadmin
Post date August 19, 2026
No Comments on ‘Woefully underprepared’: Graham critics seize on her foreign policy misstep

South Carolina Sen. Darline Graham has given opponents fresh ammunition to attack her on her biggest vulnerability: her inexperience.

She revealed a major blindspot in her understanding of a critical foreign policy issue, U.S.-Taiwan relations, during Tuesday’s debate for the Aug. 25 snap Senate primary runoff to replace her late brother Lindsey Graham. Her response spread like wildfire on social media, with critics saying it proves she is “unprepared” to take office.

Asked whether Taiwan and the South China Sea are relevant national security priorities, Graham responded: “I’m just going to be honest here … I’m not that informed on national security, so.” She added that “national security is not my thing, not my area of expertise, but I do support the military.”

It was a notable acknowledgement from a sitting senator, as tensions rise between China and Taiwan — and as the U.S. preoccupation with the Iran war calls into question how reliable a supporter it might be amid fears of a possible future invasion of Taiwan.

The gaffe exposed the exact weakness that her runoff opponent, GOP Rep. Ralph Norman, has been eager to highlight: the senator’s lack of tenure.

His allies immediately piled on.

Norman supporter and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley wrote in a post on X that foreign policy experience is “not something you inherit” — a swipe at Graham’s appointment to fulfill her brother’s current term. Ken Cuccinelli, a former Trump administration official, expressed support for Norman, writing that Graham has “worked hard to hide any firm positions, and here she is at least being honest.”

“It very much confirmed many of our suspicions that while she might be a very nice lady, she is woefully underprepared or unprepared to be one of the 100 U.S. Senators in the Senate,” state Rep. Jordan Pace, who is supporting Norman in the runoff, said in an interview.

Norman said in a statement that South Carolinians deserve a senator with “know-how” on foreign policy: “Whether it’s spy balloons flying overhead or buying up land near South Carolina military bases, China continues to prove that it is a threat to the United States.”

Graham’s campaign, asked to clarify her response on U.S.-Taiwanese relations and her critics’ attacks over her misstep, pointed toward comments she made in the spin room after the debate: “What’s important are the people of South Carolina. They’re worried about their pocketbooks more than they’re worried about the South China Sea, quite honestly.”

Graham’s answer is also raising eyebrows among some of her own allies, with less than a week before next Tuesday’s election. And it increases the pressure on President Donald Trump, who had championed Graham’s appointment in July, encouraged her to run for a full term and is even planning to rally with her on Friday to boost her election chances.

“[Darline] just doesn’t have the experience of executing, you have to be able to deliver a story about herself and right now her story is that she’s Lindsey Graham’s sister,” said a former Trump administration official, granted anonymity to speak openly about private conversations.

The White House is still backing Graham, this person said, because the president had a close relationship with the late senator but also sees her as a better alternative to Norman, who endorsed Haley over Trump in the 2024 Republican presidential primary.

A second person familiar with the White House’s thinking, granted anonymity to speak candidly, said, “POTUS is still all in on the endorsement.”

The White House declined to comment on Trump’s support for Graham.

Still, the flub highlighted the danger for Trump, as he seeks to propel a political novice into a six-year term in the Senate and avoid yet another stain on his endorsement record. His high-profile rally for Graham in Myrtle Beach later this week is a particularly notable step in a year otherwise marked by a decrease in his explicit campaign travel.

Norman, for his part, said during the debate that Taiwan is a “definite ally” and that Trump is right to enable them to “defend themselves against China.” He declined to take a swipe at Graham over her comment in real time, but that hasn’t stopped his supporters from hammering the newcomer for the embarrassing misstep.

Graham’s stumble was a far cry from her late brother’s hawkish defenses of Taiwan, in which Lindsey Graham had openly criticized the expansionist aims of Chinese President Xi Jinping, called allies of China “dirtbags” and stressed the need to maintain the status quo between Beijing and Taipei to protect U.S. national security interests.

“Anyone running for a seat in Congress should be able to explain to the American people why Taiwan is important to American interests. Taiwan is a vibrant democracy of 23 million people and the source of over 90 percent of the world’s advanced semiconductors,” said Bonnie Glaser, managing director of the German Marshall Fund’s Indo-Pacific program. “A Chinese takeover by force would shatter U.S. credibility with its allies across the Indo-Pacific.”

American intelligence has long suggested that China’s People’s Liberation Army will be sufficiently capable of seizing the island starting in 2027.

Trump in June said he was open to speaking with Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te, despite China’s warnings against doing so, in what would be the first direct dialogue between American and Taiwanese leaders in decades.

But the U.S.’ war with Iran is casting doubt on how effective an ally the Trump administration will be if China does invade Taiwan. Extended naval deployments to support airstrikes against Iran and a corresponding blockade of its ports have left the U.S. without a deployed aircraft carrier in the Indo-Pacific, as the USS George Washington steams toward the Middle East to relieve the extended Abraham Lincoln carrier, for instance.

The heightened risks and the rapid race to replace Lindsey Graham have left some in South Carolina’s GOP circles feeling less than optimistic about the choice they have to make to select a key proxy in Washington.

“It was shocking how we’re gonna give someone who was on stage last night six years in the U.S. Senate, and I think that’s the overall impression people are having today” said one South Carolina-based Republican operative who has stayed neutral in the Senate race and was granted anonymity to speak candidly. “One of these two is gonna get six years in the Senate? Like, big hanging question mark.”

Politics

Entertainment

Gayle King Blasts Hayden Panettiere’s Mom For Insensitive Comments In Wake of …

Post author By alaskaadmin
Post date August 19, 2026
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Reading Time: 2 minutes

In the wake of Hayden Panettiere’s death, her mother, Lindsey Vogel, made some surprising remarks.

Specifically, Lesley blasted Hayden’s boyfriend, Brian Hickerson, saying that the family had been “trying to get rid of” him.

Now, Gayle King is calling out Vogel for using a family tragedy as an opportunity to toss out insensitive remarks that should have remained private.

Hayden Panettiere attends the world premiere of Paramount’s “Scream VI” at AMC Lincoln Square Theater on March 06, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

During Wednesday’s episode of CBS Mornings, King and her co-hosts discussed Vogel’s public statement about her daughter.

In addition to her comments about Hickerson, Vogel described Hayden as talented but said she had “lost her way” and wished she had “stayed true to herself.”

For King, the comments were difficult to hear.

“You know, guys, you read this and all I can think is, ‘Thanks, Mom, for nothing,’” King said.

The veteran journalist had interviewed Panettiere earlier this year, when the actress was promoting her memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning. Panettiere had been candid about her struggles and her complicated relationship with her mother.

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A post shared by CBS Mornings (@cbsmornings)

King pointed out that Panettiere had already spent years publicly acknowledging her mistakes and personal battles.

“You hear stuff like that,” King said of Vogel’s comments, “and you realize that it was still very much in progress.”

King was referring to Panettiere’s description of her relationship with her mother as “very complicated” and a “work in progress.”

Co-host Vladimir Duthiers was similarly critical of Vogel’s decision to focus on her daughter’s struggles so soon after her death.

“Hayden Panettiere spent years publicly acknowledging her own failures, her own struggles,” Duthiers told King.

“She cannot respond now, and for her mother to use these days after Hayden’s death to just remind the world just how much trauma she caused, it’s unseemly.”

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A post shared by Hayden Panettiere (@haydenpanettiere)

Kelly O’Grady also weighed in, noting that Vogel’s statement would have been received very differently if she had stopped with praise for her daughter.

“If it stopped at ‘She’s amazing and she’s talented,’” O’Grady said, “we would all agree.”

Instead, Vogel also took aim at Hickerson, who was with the actress when she died.

The complicated family dynamic has received renewed attention following Panettiere’s death. In her memoir and subsequent interviews, the actress spoke openly about her strained relationship with Vogel and the difficulty of separating their roles as mother and manager.

King ultimately expressed sadness over what she viewed as a missed opportunity to simply honor Panettiere.

“It makes me so sad of the opportunity that you have after your daughter’s death that that’s what you choose to leave us with,” King said.

Panettiere’s father, Skip Panettiere, took a markedly different approach in his tribute to his daughter, calling her “an incredible light and a force of nature who brought immeasurable love and joy to all who knew her.”

The actress’ official cause of death has not yet been confirmed. An autopsy reportedly found no signs of trauma, with toxicology results still pending.

We will have further updates on this developing story as new information becomes available.

Gayle King Blasts Hayden Panettiere’s Mom For Insensitive Comments In Wake of … was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip.

The Hollywood Gossip

Alaska News

Want to do something about climate change? Talk about it

Post author By alaskaadmin
Post date August 19, 2026
No Comments on Want to do something about climate change? Talk about it

High water laps at the Kivalina shoreline in 2012. The Inupiat community on the Chukchi Sea coast is battered by erosion, storm surges and other effects of climate change. A relocation plan is in the works. (Photo provided by Alaska Division of Community and Regional Affairs)

Two-thirds of Americans are worried about climate change, but many don’t realize how they can play a significant role in climate action — at least, not yet.

Deadly wildfires regularly scorch California. Last winter, much of the Rockies received record-low snow, signaling water woes for millions. Then a spring heat wave hit the West, decimating what little snowpack remained. Many people understand that scientists attribute the intensity of such events to the climate crisis, but it’s not always clear how that knowledge can translate into action. Atmospheric scientist Katharine Hayhoe has a suggestion for where to start: Talk about it.

Hayhoe, a professor at Texas Tech University, is known for both her research and her outreach, including her Talking Climate newsletter. She has a knack for connecting with people and meeting them where they are while also keeping the big picture in mind. High Country News recently caught up with her to discuss why it’s important to talk about climate, and how to do so.

Through her writing and public events, Hayhoe emphatically makes the case for hope amid a world of climate despair, doom and denialism. Perhaps the 2030s will bring a new mass movement, calling for bold climate action and transforming society for the better. If so, Hayhoe shows how that future may have humble beginnings, arising from numerous chats with neighbors and classmates, at bus stops and barber shops, in everyday life.

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

High Country News: You’ve argued that we can solve climate change by talking with others about it.

Katharine Hayhoe: I’ve argued that the first step is to have a conversation. What people don’t understand is that talking catalyzes action. If we want to catalyze action in any sector, whether it’s in electricity, transportation, food, resilience or anything, talking is the first step.

HCN: How does talking catalyze action?

KH: First, if you look at the data, the majority of people are worried about climate change. In the U.S., that’s about two-thirds; in other countries, it’s more. Yet less than half of them hear someone talk about climate change even once in a while. If we don’t talk about something, why would we care? If we don’t care, why would we do anything?

We need three things: “head, heart and hands.” The head is understanding that this thing is real and it’s happening, and that’s where a lot of people already are right now. But sometimes when you ask people who are worried about it, “Do you think it will affect you?” a lot of people say, “No.” But it’s already affecting you; you just haven’t connected the dots. So, we need to connect the head to the heart.

Then we need to connect the heart to the hands. What do real solutions look like that are already being implemented and can be scaled and can make our life better? That’s what I’m talking about talking about.

HCN: I’m calling you from my home in California, where we’ve got increasingly intense wildfires, heat waves, sea-level rise, droughts and occasionally floods. How do you see lived experiences like these driving — or not — calls for systemic change to address the climate crisis?

KH: I live in Texas, which is similar to California: We have every type of disaster you can imagine.

For years, I’ve been asking people: Do you feel like the weather is getting weirder? I haven’t had a single person tell me they didn’t think so. Most people have tons of stories to tell me. Then I just help them connect the dots. I say, “That’s exactly what’s happening here, and it’s happening all over the U.S. and all around the world. This is the number-one way that climate change is affecting us.” Then we’ve closed the head-to-heart gap, just like that — and they did it themselves.

Quotation

“What people don’t understand is talking catalyzes action.”

– Katharine Hayhoe

HCN: What do you think about systemic change at this time when it seems like even modest climate-related policies are being dismantled by the Trump administration?

KH: There’s no question that the current administration is doing its best to alter the slope down which the giant boulder of climate action is rolling. That’s the way I think about it. That giant boulder is already rolling down the hill, and it already has millions of hands on it — and federal policy can change the slope, making it easier or harder for that boulder to roll downhill.

When you look around at individuals, and cities and companies and states in the U.S., action is still happening, even though it’s the federal government that dominates headlines. That boulder is rolling down the hill. You cannot stop clean energy.

HCN: Lately, we’ve seen a “climate hushing” phenomenon: a reluctance to discuss the subject, seemingly because of today’s political atmosphere. How have you seen that play out?

KH: I think that it is primarily occurring in response to the U.S. federal government. I have noticed a decrease in the number of people and organizations who want to talk about climate change, especially organizations concerned about the potential for reprisals from the federal government.

HCN: What do you think is the best way to combat climate hushing?

KH: If you really understand (the benefits of climate action) and you understand what’s at risk if we don’t act, then we can talk about these actions in ways that do appeal to people.

Years ago, I was starting to realize that climate change is a hot-button phrase. I was asked to speak to our water managers in Texas, who are very focused on data, long-term trends and droughts. The two people speaking before me at the conference were a state representative and a state senator who explicitly rejected the reality of climate change — so I thought to myself, why don’t I try something different?

I’ll talk about all the same things: I’ll talk about climate variability, historical data, future projections and climate resilience. But I’ll never say the words “climate change.” So I did that, and everybody liked it, and there were lots of positive comments and feedback. The funniest moment was when one woman ran up to me afterwards and grabbed my hand and shook it up and down. She said, “That was fantastic. Everything you say makes sense.” And then she said, “Those people who talk about global warming, I don’t agree with them at all. But I agree with everything you said!” That showed me that it’s more what we talk about than how we talk about it.

Quotation

“It’s more what we talk about than how we talk about it.”

– Katharine Hayhoe

HCN: A lot of people are feeling despair about climate change. But as Rebecca Solnit and others have said, it’s not too late to make the future less bad. Do you have thoughts on how to encourage people to channel that despair into motivation and climate action?

KH: People who feel despair are 100% there in the head; they get it. Many of them have also made the head-to-heart connection. They understand that it’s about their future, and the people and places they love. But they have not made the heart-to-hand connection. They think there’s nothing that can be done.

What’s partly at fault here is our very Western focus on individual action, like eating plant-based, what we drive, how we travel, how we live. As Bill McKibben says, the most important thing an individual can do right now when it comes to climate action is not be such an individual.

Work together with others. That’s how social change has happened in the past. It didn’t happen because of people taking action in their personal life; it happened because of people using their voices to advocate for change. We know some of their names, like Martin Luther King Jr. There were thousands of other people who marched with him and advocated with him. Those people are us, and that is how we can change the world.

We welcome reader letters. Email High Country News at editor@hcn.org or submit a letter to the editor. See our letters to the editor policy.

This article appeared in the August 2026 print edition of the magazine with the headline “Why climate conversations matter.”

This article first appeared on High Country News and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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Food

Why Azerbaijan Loves The Simple Pomegranate

Post author By alaskaadmin
Post date August 19, 2026
No Comments on Why Azerbaijan Loves The Simple Pomegranate

When you think Azerbaijani cuisine, you must include the pomegranate. Not only is it an important part of its culture, but its cuisine relies on it too.

Food Republic – Restaurants, Reviews, Recipes, Cooking Tips

Music

Pat McAfee’s Country Album Has a Fundamental Problem: [REVIEW]

Post author By alaskaadmin
Post date August 19, 2026
No Comments on Pat McAfee’s Country Album Has a Fundamental Problem: [REVIEW]

Pat McAfee wrote 14 songs on his new country album, ‘The Diary of a Polarizing Figure.’ Continue reading…The Boot – Country Music News, Music Videos and Songs

Music

Pat McAfee’s Country Album Has a Fundamental Problem: [REVIEW]

Post author By alaskaadmin
Post date August 19, 2026
No Comments on Pat McAfee’s Country Album Has a Fundamental Problem: [REVIEW]

Pat McAfee wrote 14 songs on his new country album, ‘The Diary of a Polarizing Figure.’ Continue reading…Country Music News – Taste of Country

Entertainment

Natalie Harp Forgoes Food and Sleep, Rides In Trunk to Keep Up With Trump: Report

Post author By alaskaadmin
Post date August 19, 2026
No Comments on Natalie Harp Forgoes Food and Sleep, Rides In Trunk to Keep Up With Trump: Report

Reading Time: 2 minutes

If you’ve spent any time on social media this week, then you’ve probably heard the name Natalie Harp.

Harp is an aide to Donald Trump who was mentioned in a speech by Sen. Jon Ossoff after she was handpicked to be smuggled out of Turkey with the president while other staffers were left behind following a security threat.

For obvious reasons, the relationship between boss and employee has received a fair amount of scrutiny, and Harp’s own brother has claimed that she has an “unhealthy obsession” with Trump.

U.S. President Donald Trump steps off Marine One along with Natalie Harp, aide to U.S. President Donald Trump after landing at the Ellipse near the White House on August 16, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

Interest in Harp has prompted an investigation by the New York Times, and the paper of record has uncovered some odd occurrences during the 35-year-old’s White House tenure.

The Times obtained letters written by Harp to Trump, one of which finds her apologizing for walking a golf course in Scotland while her boss rolled along in a cart.

“I also am sorry if I was an embarrassment walking the course in Scotland,” Harp allegedly wrote, adding:

“I want things to always be right between us. I also know I’ve been distracted all week (forgetting to eat throughout the days, and even forgetting to sleep, and only catching a couple hours at a time).”

She reportedly signed the letter, “With all my heart, Natalie,” which is not generally the tone one strikes when communicating with an employer.

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A post shared by Eric Blackerby (@ejblackerby)

And that’s not the only time that Natalie tested the conventions of workplace behavior.

According to a new report from CNN, Harp once got into a “screaming match” with fellow staffers in the lobby of Trump Tower.

The then-former president was preparing to be transported to a nearby courthouse, and though there was no space left in his SUV, Hart was “determined not to be left behind.”

To solve the problem, Harp reportedly climbed into the trunk and rode to the courthouse like a spare tire.

It wasn’t the first time that she was reduced to the status of an inanimate object. After all, Harp is nicknamed the Human Printer due to the fact that she follows the president around with a portable printer.

Say what you will about Harp’s dedication to her boss, at least we finally found a printer that actually works!

Natalie Harp Forgoes Food and Sleep, Rides In Trunk to Keep Up With Trump: Report was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip.

The Hollywood Gossip

Music

Old Dominion’s Brad Tursi Becomes a First-Time Dad, Welcoming Baby Boy With Wife Roxy King

Post author By alaskaadmin
Post date August 19, 2026
No Comments on Old Dominion’s Brad Tursi Becomes a First-Time Dad, Welcoming Baby Boy With Wife Roxy King

Old Dominion’s Brad Tursi is celebrating a major new milestone as he reveals he and his wife, Roxy King, have welcomed their first child.

Tursi shared the exciting news while reflecting on an especially “crazy week” in a new social media video. While enjoying the warm summer day with his pool glimmering in the background, the singers/songwriter revealed that his baby boy arrived on August 11, just days before Tursi celebrated his 47^th birthday on August 19.

“Can’t believe it,” he admitted. “We’ve been celebrating all week.”

Photo Courtesy of Brad Tursi

As he continued the updates, Tursi proudly stated that both his wife and their son are “doing great.” He went on to praise his other half and shared gratitude to her for being “an amazing woman.”

“It’s just been so crazy. What a process. Thank you to my wife.”

Along with the personal news, the “Ms. Independent” singer let fans know that he has some more solo music in the works that will be coming out soon. He shared plans to drop a few of the demos from his sophomore solo album, Colorado, an 11-track project that was entirely self-produced and largely self-written and arrived June 12.

“Some demos of some of the songs on Colorado that I made just kind of right after I wrote them in my little home studio right there. So that’ll be cool for you guys hopefully to just hear kind of the initial versions right after they were written then. So those will be out soon,” he added at the end of the video.

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A post shared by Brad Tursi (@bradtursi)

In his caption, Tursi emphasized that there has been “lots going on around here” between celebrating “another trip around the sun, soaking up life with our new little guy, and getting ready to share some new stuff with y’all…Feeling pretty grateful for all of it!”

Fans first learned that the couple was expecting back in May when they stepped out for date night at the 61^st Academy of Country Music Awards. King debuted her baby bump in a stunning purple gown while they snapped photos together on the red carpet.

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A post shared by Brad Tursi (@bradtursi)

Since announcing their pregnancy, the couple has largely kept the journey out of the spotlight, continuing to keep much of their relationship private. Tursi and King tied the knot in summer 2025, though they have chosen not to share their exact wedding date publicly. The couple previously revealed that they got engaged in July 2024, before taking the next step in their relationship the following summer.

The post Old Dominion’s Brad Tursi Becomes a First-Time Dad, Welcoming Baby Boy With Wife Roxy King appeared first on Country Now.

Country Now

Music

Carly Pearce Kicked Her Ex Out of the Family After He Wasn’t Nice to Her Dogs — Then She Wrote a Song About It

Post author By alaskaadmin
Post date August 19, 2026
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If you’re a fan of Carly Pearce, you probably already know that her love for her dogs, Johnny and June, runs deep. So when she found herself in a relationship with someone who not only didn’t like her dogs but was downright unkind to them, Pearce knew there was only one way to handle it: write a song about it.

The result is “He Don’t Like My Dogs,” one of the more clever and downright hilarious songs on her upcoming album, Honest Woman.

In just a few days, Pearce will release her fifth studio album, a deeply personal collection that reflects the highs and lows she has experienced in recent years. Throughout the process, she found herself rediscovering who she is as both a woman and an artist while falling in love with country music all over again.

Carly Pearce with Johnny and June; Photo Courtesy Carly Pearce

During a Nashville preview of the album on Tuesday attended by members of the music industry, media, friends and family, Pearce shared the story behind “He Don’t Like My Dogs,” and revealed that she hopes the ex who inspired it recognizes himself immediately.

“I was in a relationship where somebody was not nice to Johnny and that was it. Johnny and I talked. We kicked him out of the family,” she said with a laugh before adding, “And my favorite thing about this is he will know exactly that this song is about him when he hears it.”

The GRAMMY winner couldn’t resist one final jab, joking, “And that is a Carly Pearce code, if I’ve ever heard one!”

Fans will have to wait until Aug. 28 to hear the track for themselves, but after getting an early listen, we can confirm this one is worth the wait.

Carly Pearce – Honest Woman

Of the project as a whole, the Kentucky native didn’t hesitate when asked how she feels about the music she created, admitting, “This is my favorite music that I’ve ever made.”

Fans have already gotten an early taste of what’s to come through songs including “Dream Come True,” “Church Girl,” “You Can Have Him,” “Happy For Myself,” and her current chart-climbing single, “If I Don’t Leave I’m Gonna Stay,” featuring Riley Green.

Pearce describes the 16-track collection as a “return” to her “roots,” allowing her to showcase different sides of her artistry while reconnecting with the reason she fell in love with making music in the first place.

“It’s showing the bluegrass side of me, the part of me in Kentucky that made me want to do this for a living,” she explained. “And I think being in this town for 17 years, my first single came out 10 years ago, which is crazy. I think all of the highs and the lows made me just kind of have to go back and find my why, if I’m honest. And I found it, and I found her again, and I found that little girl and the fire that she had to do this and chase this.”

In celebration of Honest Woman, Pearce will embark on the “HONEST WOMAN: UP CLOSE” Tour, performing special two-night residencies across North America.

Click HERE to view a full list of upcoming tour dates.

The post Carly Pearce Kicked Her Ex Out of the Family After He Wasn’t Nice to Her Dogs — Then She Wrote a Song About It appeared first on Country Now.

Country Now

Sports Fox

It Has Never Been Harder To Win In College Football Than In 2026

Post author By alaskaadmin
Post date August 19, 2026
No Comments on It Has Never Been Harder To Win In College Football Than In 2026

I got news for you, and it ain’t just that USC gotta Boobie Feaster — eatin’. Or that the Big Ten got two turbos at running back (Richard at Indiana; Rogers at Ohio State) and you ain’t even heard the lag hit. Or that UCLA got receiver Major Pride, or that Ampersand U, also known as Texas A&M, got running back Tiger Riden Jr. And the doggone circus ain’t even in town. Here it is: You’re about to watch the most competitive season of college football ever. It has never been harder to win than it is in 2026. “I agree with you,” UCLA coach Bob Chesney told me. “I think that probably a lot of it stems from the fact that every year it’s a new team as well, right? There’s a lot of new guys on a lot of teams across the country every single year. Some made their team better. Some didn’t. “Ultimately, for me, the margins are thin, and that’s what you’re pointing toward. It’s not easy to be in a position where you just walk out and expect to win a football game. Doesn’t really happen anymore in my mind.” At Big Ten media days last month, I pointedly asked Chesney about how difficult it is to win a college football game as someone who’s coached at almost every level the NCAA offers. From Division III Salve Regina, to Division II Assumption, to FCS Holy Cross, to Group of Six James Madison, to, now, Big Ten UCLA. He’s also won at every one of those levels, and led the Dukes to their first-ever College Football Playoff appearance before USC, Wisconsin or Florida — to name three — could (or ever) do the same. There’s never been a fiercer fight for players, to win recruiting battles, to raise money to fund a roster and a program capable of winning. “I think you got to fight and scratch and claw for everything that you got, and you got to bring these kids together as quickly as you possibly can that maybe never played together before, and with coaches that maybe never coached together before,” Chesney told me. “So the continuity we have coming from JMU to here [UCLA], bringing some coaches and players, I think is paying itself forward quite a bit. “But ultimately, I agree with the sentiment. It is a challenge to end up on the left side of that column.” The way I see it, 2019 Oklahoma would’ve never seen a semifinal in this new era of ball. LSU might’ve never had a chance to stomp a mudhole in the Sooners and walk it dry, as it would’ve been the No. 1 seed in a 12-team CFP. 2025 Oklahoma might have beaten that 2019 team by three scores, and it gave up the booty (a synonym for treasure, you cad) at home while up 17-0 to an Alabama team that got RKO’d by Indiana. That same Indiana program was a dumpster dweller in 2023. Then Curt Cignetti arrived, and a program I ranked 97th in the 2024 Ultimate 134 CFB Ranking ended its season 11-2 with a berth in the CFP. Perhaps a previous Oklahoma team would’ve earned a No. 4 seed based on record. But so did Texas Tech in 2025, and the Ducks showed you what happens when the defense is as supremely over-matched as the Red Raiders were in the face of a better team. And Miami showed what can happen if the right quarterback walks through the door at the right time. Still, neither Mario Cristobal nor Miami has ever won the ACC championship because it’s damn hard to do. The players are smarter and older, and there’s never been more money and resources behind them. Consider that a player can make 60 starts over the course of their career and as many as 80 with the new rules. It’s not hard for a Power Four starting quarterback to clear $30 million over five years. I need to catch up people here: This is professional football with a term limit. It will be a theme in my work this year. This is the story of 2026, a sport that is quite literally ungovernable and getting older, more skilled, smarter by the day. It’s never been harder to move the ball. FBS teams averaged just 383.5 yards per game in 2025. That’s the lowest output for total offense per game across the subdivision since 2010. It’s never been harder to score, either. FBS teams averaged just 27.5 points per game last season, and that’s the lowest average points per game across the subdivisions since 2010, too. Predictably, though, since clock rules changed in 2023, offenses are running fewer plays and seeing fewer possessions. Couple that with the knowledge that defenses are increasingly built not to take the ball away or create negative plays but to prevent offenses from executing explosive plays. “It’s a hell of a lot harder for an offense to run a 15-play drive for a score than it is for them to hit me over the head for 70 yards on one play,” a Group of Six defensive coordinator told me. “We play sound defense and let the offense do the screwing up.” If football is a chess game — and I believe it is — the game has turned from one that values fast-forcing moves and aggressive tactics to one that is simply about eliminating blunders, building a formidable defense and waiting for your opponent to blunder. And if you play with too much tempo — don’t castle your king to safety to press your advantage — that can hurt you in the endgame. This is precisely why Lincoln Riley hired College Football Hall of Fame coach Gary Patterson to coordinate his defense at USC. Riley has famously had a difficult time partnering with a defensive play-caller who can keep up with his explosive offense. When the defense plays as many snaps as it can when Riley’s offense is its partner, that’s more chances to get beat, more chances for mistakes to happen, more chances for the opposing team to find its way back into a game Riley’s teams should be able to put away late in the second half. This has made the game about psychology as much as physicality and preparedness. “Quarterbacks and OCs are people, too,” the same defensive coordinator told me. “They want to throw the ball downfield. They don’t like checking down. They don’t like field goals, and they hate punting. Most immature quarterbacks throw into coverage because they’re frustrated. We want to frustrate quarterbacks.” But quarterbacks are older and have played more football than their predecessors, and that’s only going to become an even more pronounced signifier of just how difficult it is to win in the modern game. Thanks to the NCAA’s new eligibility rule, players have five years to play five years. That means a college football player could make 60 regular season starts and as many as 80 career starts before leaving the sport. Some of those players return this season. Texas offensive lineman Cole Hutson is taking advantage of the fifth-year rule and could end this season with 60 games played if he plays in all 12 of Texas’ regular season games. Colorado coach Deion Sanders lamented the age eligibility rule as it makes it harder for him to field and recruit a team. “It affects your recruiting,” he said. Doesn’t everything, Prime? There has never been a more skilled and experienced labor force in college football than there is now, and because these players are experienced, they take on new concepts and complicated systems better. Multiple tight ends in a formation on one play. A fullback in formation on another. Four wide receivers in a bunch formation in another. This is the kind of sequence offenses can use to force defenses to show themselves, their coverages, that might not have been available to most teams because offensive players just didn’t have time to learn as much as they do now. Programs with returning play-callers and head coaches are just reinforcing their systems each year but adding to them to make themselves more difficult to stop. The inverse is also true. Defenses are more complex, better drilled and prepared for the challenges offenses will present. In this way, offenses and defenses are sharpening each other — growing older and more experienced together — and are able to play at a level heretofore unseen in the sport. That means it’s never been harder to win a college football game. That also means it’s never been a better time to be a college football fan.Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

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