FCS Football Talk

Re-Airing: College Athletics Consultant KC Smurthwaite

Note: This episode originally aired on March 18. Sam is currently on parental leave and will have new episodes out in early August. On this episode, Sam is joined by KC Smurthwaite, HERO Sports writer and a college athletics consultant  The two discuss topics like future outlooks for conferences like the UAC and Summit League, future realignment dominoes, the college football landscape, and private equity in the FCS playoffs. The podcast is presented by HERO Sports and BetMGM. Visit HERO Sports [https://herosports.com/] for FCS coverage and BetMGM [https://www.betmgm.com/en/sports?utm_source=herosports&utm_medium=banner&utm_campaign=homepage&utm_content=risk_free] for online betting odds.

Re-Airing: FCS Offseason Storylines (w/ Craig Haley)

Note: This episode originally aired on March 4. Sam is currently on parental leave and will have new episodes out in early August. On this episode, Sam is joined by Craig Haley, the FCS Senior Editor for Stats Perform/The Analyst.  The two discuss: -FCS championship future -Private equity in the playoffs -Penn hiring Rick Santos, and Yale hiring Kevin Cahill -Future realignment -Where has the FCS improved over Craig’s time covering the subdivision, and where has it weakened? -Parity in the FCS -And more The podcast is presented by HERO Sports and BetMGM. Visit HERO Sports [https://herosports.com/] for FCS coverage and BetMGM [https://www.betmgm.com/en/sports?utm_source=herosports&utm_medium=banner&utm_campaign=homepage&utm_content=risk_free] for online betting odds.

An Early 2026 FCS Preseason Top 15

On this episode, Sam breaks down his early FCS Top 15 teams heading into the 2026 season.

Harvard Schedules Tough OOC Games + FCS Misses Prime Opportunity For Week 0 Scheduling

On this episode, Sam talks about Harvard branching out and scheduling tough non-conference games [https://herosports.com/fcs-harvard-announces-strong-non-conference-games-bzbz/] against FCS playoff contenders. He also discusses the Week 0 slate this year and how it was a missed opportunity for the FCS. The podcast is presented by HERO Sports and BetMGM. Visit HERO Sports [https://herosports.com/] for FCS coverage and BetMGM [https://www.betmgm.com/en/sports?utm_source=herosports&utm_medium=banner&utm_campaign=homepage&utm_content=risk_free] for online betting odds.

Top Returning FCS Linebackers

On this episode, Sam breaks down his top 30 returning FCS linebackers. The ranking in article form can be found here [https://herosports.com/fcs-football-top-returning-2026-linebackers-bzbz/]. The podcast is presented by HERO Sports and BetMGM. Visit HERO Sports [https://herosports.com/] for FCS coverage and BetMGM [https://www.betmgm.com/en/sports?utm_source=herosports&utm_medium=banner&utm_campaign=homepage&utm_content=risk_free] for online betting odds.