Amidst the ongoing chaos in the college athletics landscape with the finalization of the House Settlement and what appears to be the final stages of the Pac-12 securing a media rights deal, Utah State football continues its offseason preparations for what it hopes will be a rebound season. Roughly 65 percent of the Aggies’ roster comprises of newcomers, with only 31 percent of the team’s 2024 production returning for 2025 (and a significant portion of that returning production is accounted for by two players, Ike Larsen and Bryson Barnes). There are a lot of new faces to learn and stars yet to emerge. It can be difficult to predict, but here’s a list of players to keep an eye on as the offseason progresses and when the season actually begins. We’ll separate this analysis into players who were on the roster last year and should have bigger roles and/or higher production this year, and then the newcomers that could step in and be key players right away in their position group. Returning Player Breakouts John Miller | Sr. | LB It’s a little tricky to call John Miller a true breakout player considering he finished fourth on the team in

After months of uncertainty and waiting, things may finally be settling down for the Pac-12. Fans of the eight institutions currently on the path to be in the storied conference starting in 2026 have only had speculation and a lackluster level of detail regarding the future of their league. On Monday, Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports, reported that each of the eight known future member schools — Oregon State, Washington State, Utah State, Boise State, San Diego State, Fresno State, Colorado State and Gonzaga — had all signed the Grant of Rights and membership agreements. Dellenger said this move “is a signal that the league is finalizing a new media rights package that is expected in the coming days.” Dellenger further reported that the media rights package could include as many as four different partners, though no specific potential media partners were named. Speculation has turned largely toward media companies such as ESPN, CBS, The CW, FOX and Turner Sports. The first three in that list are of particular note as they form the core of the one-year media deal for the current two-member Pac-12 with Oregon State and Washington State. CBS and The CW will broadcast 11 OSU and

In the month May, two national sports outlets have released rankings of football head coaches. Athlon has a Mountain West-specific ranking by Steven Lassan while Sporting News ranked every head coach from all 136 FBS teams for the 2025 season. Let’s have a look at those rankings and see how the 12 coaches of the Mountain West stack up based on the national perspective. We’ll go in order of the average rank between Athlon and Sporting News’ publications. T-1 — Troy Calhoun (Air Force) Athlon MW Rank: 2nd Sporting News National Rank: 69th (2nd in MW) Coaching Record: 135-89 Record at Current School: 135-89 (19th year) Calhoun has been around nearly as long as the Mountain West itself (or at least it kind of feels like that since he didn’t start at Air Force until 2007, eight years after the MW got started). He’s been a model for consistency with only two of his 18 seasons having less than five wins (one of those was when the Falcons went 3-3 in the COVID-19 shortened 2020 season). Perhaps the onset of NIL and the transfer portal will find a way to slow Calhoun down, but until then, Air Force will be

LOGAN — Utah State football will appear on national television eight times this fall, including a home finale broadcast on CBS, the program announced Thursday. The Aggies’ 2025 broadcast schedule includes five home games and three road matchups slated for national distribution, with two Friday night contests on Merlin Olsen Field in Logan. Highlighting the slate is Utah State’s Mountain West matchup against Boise State, which will air on CBS on Friday, Nov. 28 at 2 p.m. It marks the third time in five years the rivalry has received national CBS coverage, including previous broadcasts from Logan in 2021 and Boise in 2022. Five of Utah State’s games will air on CBS Sports Network. That coverage begins with the season and home opener against UTEP on Saturday, Aug. 30 at 5:30 p.m., followed by home matchups against San José State on Friday, Oct. 17 (7 p.m.) and Nevada on Saturday, Nov. 8 (5:30 p.m.). The Aggies’ road games at UNLV (Nov. 15) and Fresno State (Nov. 22) will also air on CBSSN. Utah State’s non-conference game at Texas A&M on Sept. 6 will be televised on the SEC Network at 10:45 a.m. Mountain Time. The Aggies will host Air Force

Nearly six years after he wore a Utah State jersey, Siaosi Mariner is still finding ways to dominate on the football field. Mariner, currently a member of the Michigan Panthers of the United Football league, or UFL, is the leading receiver for both his team and the league as a whole. His play has helped lead Michigan to a 6-3 overall record ahead of its regular season finale against the Houston Roughnecks. Mariner currently has 528 total receiving yards, ranking first among all players. His 31 receptions ranks eighth, his yards per game and yards per reception rank second behind Deon Cain, the former Clemson receiver and five-year NFL veteran. For reference, Mariner’s 58.7 yards per game would put him right on the brink of a 1,000-yard campaign in a 17-game NFL season. According to James Larsen of Pro Football Newsroom, Mariner said he feels as though he’s one of the best pass-catchers in the UFL. “I feel like my name doesn’t get brought up enough. I think I’ve put myself in a position to be All-UFL. Our team success has triumphed a lot of that, and that’s fine,” Mariner said. “But I think I’m definitely one of the best,

Offseason training camp for the NFL is getting underway and there is a decent handful of former Utah State football stars that are participating. Some have roster spots nailed down while others are fighting for a spot on the depth chart, or even to make the roster altogether. Six former Aggies in total can be found on offseason rosters. Several recent Aggies in the NFL are no longer on this list. Firstly, there were a couple players who were invited to rookie camps that have not apparently made it to OTAs with those respective teams. Spencer Petras (QB), was invited to both the Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers rookie camps, but is listed on neither of their OTA rosters. Jacob Garcia (LS) was at the Miami Dolphins’ rookie camp, but is not on their 90-man OTA roster. As for veterans, Deven Thompkins (WR), Nick Vigil (LB) and Patrick Scales (LS) all played in the league last year, but are not on any OTA roster. Vigil (31 years old) and Scales (37) appear to have reached the end of relatively long careers. Scales played nine seasons, eight of those with the Chicago Bears. Vigil spent time with five teams