AAC Football

The Cincinnati Bearcats scored a huge commitment Tuesday when Malik Vann joined their 2018 class.

Vann announced his decision on Twitter:

Vann is a 4-star prospect who is ranked as the No. 2 defensive end recruit from Ohio and the No. 27 defensive end prospect in the nation, per Scout.com.

A native of Fairfield, Ohio, Vann had Michigan State and Wisconsin high on his list of candidates before choosing to stay close to home.

New Cincinnati head coach Luke Fickell is looking to turn things around after the team's win totals declined in each of the last two seasons, going from nine in 2014 to seven in 2015 to four last season under Tommy Tuberville.

The Bearcats didn't have a dominant 2017 recruiting class, ranking 62nd overall, but Scout.com did rate the crop as the best in the American Athletic Conference.

The addition of Vann to the 2018 class put Cincinnati on track to improve that national ranking and stay atop the AAC recruiting rankings. Now, Fickell and his staff need to turn that talent into results on the field.

For more news, rumors and related stories about Malik Vann, Cincinnati Bearcats and College Football, check out the College Football and Cincinnati streams on Bleacher Report's app.

Navy Athletics confirmed that former Oregon, Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers head coach Chip Kelly is expected to spend the week with the program and help at spring practices.

"Obviously one of the best coaches in the game," Navy head coach Ken Niumatalolo said of Kelly, per Gene Wang of the Washington Post. "For us to have an opportunity to be around him, learn from him, we're just trying to soak in as much as we can."

"Some of the things he did at Oregon revolutionized football," Niumatalolo added. "Everybody's doing no-huddle, one-word concepts. His offseason stuff, his uptempo stuff, a lot of the things that he implemented, literally high school, college and pro guys are doing it. He's definitely a trendsetter."

The admiration is mutual. Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk broke down Kelly's well-documented respect for the program:

Chip Kelly has long been an admirer of the U.S. Navy. When he coached at Oregon he modeled some of his offseason program on Navy SEALs workout routines, and when the Eagles hired him he hired a Navy SEALs trainer to serve as Philadelphia’s sports science coordinator. Kelly has attended Navy games while he was an NFL head coach, and there was even talk that he might be interested in coaching Navy.

Kelly, 53, was indeed a visionary at Oregon, where his read-option spread attack and and breakneck pace influenced college offenses and inspired Oregon's trip to the BCS National Championship Game in 2011. And while he went 10-6 in his first two seasons with the Eagles, he never had the same level of success at the pro level, going 6-9 in his final year with the Eagles in 2015 before going 2-14 in his lone campaign with the Niners last year.

Kelly has been making the rounds at college campuses, however, attending a New Mexico Lobos practice on April 3 and a Texas A&M Aggies practice last Wednesday. He also visited with Alabama's coaches in January.

"If I get a chance to watch someone else practice and train, I jump at the opportunity," Kelly said during his New Mexico visit, per Rick Wright of the Albuquerque Journal. "It's always good to see how other people do things."

For more news, rumors and related stories about Chip Kelly, Navy football and college football, check out the college football and Navy streams on Bleacher Report's app.    

Safety Hassan Childs was officially dismissed from the South Florida football team Tuesday following a road-rage incident Monday.

According to Joey Knight of the Tampa Bay Times, Tampa police said Childs was shot after pointing a gun at a car near the South Florida campus Monday. He is expected to make a full recovery.

Per Knight, Bulls head coach Charlie Strong said the following regarding the dismissal: "I had a chance to speak with him. They all want to continue and go play, and he was a senior, but he totally understood."

Strong added:

When you look at this university and how great an institution it is, and the football program, it is a privilege to represent this program. And there are standards and there are values that we uphold, and our players understand it is an obligation and it is a responsibility to represent it the right way.

Per Knight, Childs was charged with three counts of aggravated assault and misdemeanor marijuana possession.

The Kissimmee, Florida, native spent four years at South Florida, including a medical redshirt campaign in 2015 due to a torn ACL.

He appeared in seven games for the Bulls last season, registering 16 tackles. Childs pulled in three interceptions as a freshman in 2013.

Former University of South Florida defensive back Hassan Childs will face aggravated assault and marijuana possession charges after an altercation led to him being shot three times Saturday night. 

Joey Knight of the Tampa Bay Times and Jenna Laine of ESPN.com reported the news. 

On Monday, coach Charlie Strong confirmed to Knight that Childs had been dismissed from the team.

Laine categorized the altercation as a "road rage incident." Childs has been booked on three charges of aggravated assault and one count of misdemeanor marijuana possession. Strong released a statement Sunday after news of Childs' incident broke. 

"We are deeply concerned that an incident occurred overnight in which one of our players, Hassan Childs, was injured in a shooting," Strong said in the statement. "Thankfully, Hassan is in stable condition and being well cared for, and no one else was injured. There is an ongoing investigation of the incident and we are in the process of gathering further information. Out of respect for the integrity of the investigation, we cannot comment further at this time."

A man identified as Jovanni Jimenez told police he shot Childs in self-defense, per Knight. Jimenez says Childs pulled out a gun and pointed it at him, his wife and his child before Jimenez fired his weapon.

Childs is in stable condition after suffering injuries to his arm and upper torso.

The Houston Cougars are still coming off this year's National Signing Day, but they got a jump start on 2018 with the addition of running back Kelan Walker. 

Walker announced his decision to attend Houston on Twitter:

The addition of Walker is a huge boon for Houston head coach Major Applewhite. Walker plays high school football in the state of Texas, so keeping him close to home is a strong indication the Cougars will be able to offer talent an opportunity to win. 

He's bringing his unique talents to Houston when he arrives in 2018. He's a 4-star prospect who is ranked as the No. 3 running back in Texas, No. 22 running back in the nation and No. 265 player overall, per Scout.com.

Greg Powers' scouting report for Walker on Scout.com paints a terrific portrait of what he can become at the college level soon.

"While he plays in a one-back spread-style offense in high school college coaches may be dreaming about what he would do with a lead blocker," Powers wrote. "The fact that he can play in multiple offenses only helps his value as a prospect. A north-south runner with good feet if he can If he can get a crease then he will get the ball to the end zone in a hurry. Should be a valued weapon at or around the goal line whether he gets the ball or is an option fake."

Applewhite has the tall task of taking over for Tom Herman, who led Houston to 22 wins in two seasons with the program before moving to the University of Texas last November. 

While Applewhite doesn't have any previous head-coaching experience, he served as Houston's offensive coordinator during Herman's two seasons. He's been in coaching since 2005 and is prepared to handle this stage. 

If Applewhite and his coaching staff can continue reeling in stars like Walker, the Cougars will have no problem matching or exceeding the bar previously set during Herman's brief run.

Central Florida scored an elite running back recruit for the 2017 season Thursday, as Cordarrian Richardson flipped his commitment from Maryland to UCF. 

Knights head coach Scott Frost made the move official with the following tweet:

Welcome to the family, Cordarrian. #OTownBound17 pic.twitter.com/bf2emrQGBK

— Scott Frost (@coach_frost) February 2, 2017

The switch came one day after Richardson surprised many by committing to play for the Terrapins, according to Jonas Shaffer of the Baltimore Sun.

Per Scout.com, Richardson is a 4-star recruit who ranks as the No. 101 overall player, No. 8 running back and No. 2 player at his position from the state of Tennessee.

Richardson originally committed to Clemson but decommitted in December before seemingly settling on Maryland on Wednesday.

He even partook in the following video with Bleacher Report to announce his intention to play for the Terps:

The Memphis, Tennessee, native had another change of heart, however, which is a major coup for up-and-coming UCF.

According to Brandon Helwig of Rivals, Richardson's commitment to the Knights helped shoot their 2017 recruiting class to the top of the American Athletic Conference:

Richardson has yet to provide the reasoning behind his late switch, but he now figures to be in a situation that will provide more opportunities for early playing time.

Prior to Richardson's commitment Wednesday, Maryland had already landed a commitment from Anthony McFarland Jr., who Scout.com ranks as the No. 6 running back in the 2017 class.

Conversely, UCF's leading rusher (Jawon Hamilton) had just 495 yards in 2016, which suggests Richardson could be an immediate starter.

The Knights went 6-7 in their first year under Frost after going 0-12 in 2015, and they appear to be trending toward becoming an AAC power.

Frost led Oregon's high-octane offense for three seasons, and with Richardson now in the fold, he is starting to accrue the talent needed to make UCF an elite offensive team as well.

Charlie Strong's tenure as head football coach at the University of Texas was a letdown, leading to his firing after the 2016 season. 

Beyond his own disappointment with posting three straight losing seasons with the Longhorns, Strong told Stewart Mandel of Fox Sports another reason he was unhappy with his performance.

"When you’re the first minority coach at a major university like that, you feel like there’s so many people counting on you," he said. "I got upset at myself for not being successful, and I got upset at myself because you feel like you let a lot of people down. There are only so many African-American coaches, so when you get on a stage like that..."

Strong didn't wait long before getting a new head coaching gig, taking the job at South Florida on Dec. 15 after Willie Taggart took over at Oregon. But his comments about minority head coaches at major universities do highlight another issue. 

In December 2015, Marc Tracy of the New York Times noted there were only 13 minority head coaches (11 black head coaches) from the 128 FBS schools. 

"The percentage of black head coaches in college football (less than 9 percent) is even lower than the NFL’s rate of 16 percent (five of 32)," Tracy wrote. "Among the 65 programs in the so-called Big 5 conferences, seven employ black head coaches."

Strong's teams at Texas never lived up to the lofty expectations fans and the media always have for the program. He went 16-21 over three seasons, losing his only bowl appearance in 2014, and became the first Longhorns head coach since Edwin Price from 1954-56 to have three straight non-winning seasons.

He built up a successful program at Louisville, going 37-15 in four seasons with a Sugar Bowl win in 2012 and a 12-1 record in 2013 that led to him getting the Texas job. 

With a fresh start at South Florida, Strong again has the platform to take an overlooked program that's coming off an 11-win season and make it a national powerhouse.     

Just over two weeks before he was set to sign his letter of intent to play football at UConn, linebacker Ryan Dickens had his scholarship offer pulled by the school Sunday. 

According to Matthew Stanmyre of NJ.com, Dickens verbally agreed to play for the Huskies seven months ago when Bob Diaco was head coach, but Diaco has since been fired, and new head coach Randy Edsall reneged on the offer.

Due to the last-minute nature of UConn's decision, Dickens has been left scrambling to find another school willing to offer him a scholarship.

Raritan High School coach Anthony Petruzzi has been working the phones in an effort to secure a landing spot for his player, but he admitted the situation has taken a toll on Dickens, per Stanmyre:

The kid's world went into disarray. We're just trying to pick up the ashes right now and find the best way to move forward. ...

Ryan stuck by [UConn] through their turmoil and their regime change, and now in a crucial moment they've decided to let him go. He's having a hard time right now realizing that the last seven months of preparation is not going to see itself out. He's devastated. But he's a tough kid. He got knocked down today but he's going to get up tomorrow and realize his dream.

According to 247Sports, Dickens is a 2-star recruit who ranks as the No. 2,601 overall player, No. 173 outside linebacker and No. 53 player from the state of New Jersey in his class.

Prior to the call from Edsall, Pettruzzi revealed Dickens turned down an inquiry from Monmouth, staying firm in his commitment to the Huskies. After having his scholarship offer withdrawn, Dickens went back to Monmouth, only to find out the spot was offered to another player.

However, Stanmyre revealed Rhode Island offered Dickens a scholarship early Tuesday morning and that the player will "weigh his options" ahead of signing day on Feb. 1

Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter.

Playmaking defensive back R.J. Potts completed his journey through the recruiting gauntlet Sunday by choosing to play football at Cincinnati.

The safety reported the decision himself on his personal Twitter account:

Potts is a 4-star prospect who registers as the No. 32 overall safety in the 2017 class, according to the Scout rankings. He's also listed as the top incoming safety from Indiana ahead of next season.

Although that's a fair assessment based solely on his safety ability, the Fishers High School star brings a lot more to the table. He's also capable of playing cornerback and may eventually grow into his 6'2" frame, giving the coaching staff the option to play him at outside linebacker as well.

That's not all. Ryan Green of Gridiron Now noted Potts spent some time as an offensive weapon in high school and believes he could make an impact on that side of the ball in college.

"I played offense this year, and a lot of colleges saw that I'm an athlete," Potts said in December. "It doesn't really matter to me where I play, but I'd like to play both sides if I can."

Jordan J. Wilson of the Indianapolis Star showcased a touchdown in which Fishers got Potts the ball in space and let him work some magic:

Ultimately, his combination of range, ball skills and vision makes him an ideal safety, and that's likely where he'll spend most of his time in college. But there's nothing wrong with keeping his options open since he's displayed terrific versatility. It gives him more routes to playing time.

He represents a nice addition late in the recruiting season for the Bearcats. Not only is he the first 4-star recruit in the incoming class, but he's also somebody capable of making a quick impact, and his ability to fill various roles should come in handy over the next four years.

Now the question is how soon Potts may find himself earning meaningful in-game reps at Cincinnati. The team returns a lot of contributors in the secondary from last season, so it probably won't happen immediately, but his talent might be difficult to keep off the field for too long.