Happy Monday! Welcome to the Legacy Library Newsletter.
Thanks again to Ken LaVicka for having me as a guest on his “Florida Atlantic Voice” podcast last week to talk Legacy Library and former FAU running back Devin Singletary. At one point, we began discussing how emotionally invested people became in Motor’s historic 32-touchdown season in 2017, and how some of the best players on that team would have generated significant attention in the modern college football climate.
Had college football worked then as it does now, the best teams at both the mid-major and Power 4 levels would have closely monitored FAU to see whether players like Singletary, Azeez Al-Shaair, and Harrison Bryant would have entered the portal.
That conversation led to an interesting question: Is it difficult to become emotionally invested in players when there’s such a significant risk they’ll leave after one year, especially at the mid-major level?
I’ve gone on record as saying that each college player is effectively on a one-year contract. The days of a traditional multi-year rebuild are over. If not for buyouts, we’d likely see more coaches be one-and-done or be at significant risk of losing their job after two years if they fail to win in the transfer portal era.
I promise I’m not trying to get on some “get off my lawn” tirade. More than ever, though, it feels like we’re rooting for the uniform and the logo, not the players themselves, because we know the university itself isn’t going away.
As of July 20, Florida Atlantic lists 62 members of its 2026 roster who previously played for at least one other school. That number was only 29 in 2020, the final year when players were typically required to redshirt after transferring from one FBS school to another.
Akron has 18 players who attended at least two schools before joining the Zips. Quarterback Reese Poffenbarger is at his fifth college in six seasons.
Mid-major programs, whether at the FBS or Division III level, are nothing more than pipelines for the next level. If you’re an all-conference player in the Sun Belt or Mountain West Conference, then the Power schools are coming your way. That’s why it’s hard to blame FAU coach Zach Kittley for making it clear in the minutes after last year’s season finale that Caden Veltkamp had agreed to come back for 2026.
I won’t call it “impossible” to become emotionally invested, though the lack of consistent media coverage for most mid-major programs doesn’t help. If anything, that’s a far greater problem for creating that kind of bond between a player and fans, because you’re unaware of the stories and their journeys.
I don’t fault the players or their coaches, and I don’t even blame the schools. It’s an unfortunate result of the current system.
Let’s move on to brighter things. Very funny story on my end. At least, I think the story of the technical issues involved with the Legacy Library Podcast’s first official recording session is pretty funny.
So long story short, I’m recording podcasts at my dad’s house, which is roughly 10 minutes away from mine. His background is in digital media, so he already had some of the better equipment there. Selfishly, it gives me an opportunity to spend time over there and walk next door to my grandmother’s house and see her, too. They’re next-door neighbors in a 55-plus community.
So I record the podcast, and it turns out the audio got separated from the MP4! I’d call it a wasted session, but I got to spend some time with my family. So not a total waste.
I’m shooting for a Wednesday or Thursday release of the podcast, there’ll be two episodes, one of which is multiple raw Zoom interviews I did with some players we’ve recently profiled.
Speaking of those profiles, former FAU quarterback Daniel Parr was the subject of this past week’s Sunday Spotlight. We caught up with Parr, who is now a union man in Georgia.
Last week’s stories mainly involved high school football and basketball recruiting updates, including:
- Rangeview (Colo.) Lineman Biram Griffey Is Drawing Attention on All Sides
- Why Rhode Island Presented the Perfect Landing Spot for Iona Prep’s Dashawn Harley
- KJ Davis Was Willing to Switch Positions. Now He’s Headed to Coastal Carolina
- And a chat with Minnesota prep point guard Malachi Hill, who is widely considered a top-5 prospect in the entire state.
This week is loaded with content and exclusive interviews. So make sure to subscribe!
I know one of the whole jokes about living in Florida during the winter involves reptiles falling out of the trees. But Sunday might have been the first time I’d seen a lizard drop to the ground in July.
This week marks 11 years here, and I’m still seeing new things worth sharing. Better than the alternative, I guess.
Last week, I wrote about how I believe the most important lessons — in that case, I was talking about sports betting and irate bettors reaching out to athletes — should come from a coach or respected authority figure rather than a compliance person or someone who they’re meeting for the first time.
For whatever reason, I felt the urge on Saturday to listen to “Sister Mary Elephant” by Cheech and Chong. Which, if you’re unfamiliar, I’ve got you covered.
And then, for the first time in at least 10 years, I listened to the sequel, “Sargent Stadenko.” And while I still prefer Sister Mary Elephant, I had a couple good laughs here.
Talk to you all on Wednesday!
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