Tony Barnhart preparing for his 50th & final year covering college football

Entering his 50th season covering college football this year, Tony Barnhart has decided to retire after the 2025 season. Mr. College Football joined TexAgs Live to speak on this new era of the sport, including NIL, transfer portal and college football playoff talk.

Key notes from Tony Barnhart interview

• I am saying goodbye to the daily grind. I got one more year. I'm doing my last tour of the SEC, and I'll turn it into a book. I have a deal already with the University of Georgia Press to print the book and call it, “Mr. College Football: 50 Years of SEC Memories.”
   
• I told everybody I have been on with that, “Hey guys, I'm here.” I’m walking away from the daily grind of the league, but I have told people, please invite me back. I went and met Nick Saban in Tuscaloosa and spent some time with him. It was a fun day, fun conversation.
   
• I do like the direction of the SEC. I want to go to nine SEC games. There will be some more losses there, but it’ll be good for the conference. My favorite game is Georgia vs. Auburn, which goes back to 1892. I am in favor of the 16-team college football playoff. I think it would be tremendous.
   
• Listen, we are transitioning into a new era. We have to figure out a way that makes it work to take care of the athletes the way they should be. The courts have made it clear that there are certain things the school will have to do. Saban had a good point, he said, “It's never going back to the way it used to be, but what we are doing now isn’t sustainable, but it's up to the adults in the room to figure out what it is.” I think we have a couple of years before it settles down.
   
• I'll be very surprised in 2026 if we don’t go to 16 teams in the CFP. I think it takes care of all the issues you would have. I think it's the way to go. So many things have got to be done, and eventually, college sports will have to have an antitrust exemption. Take the NIL model, where they get some money. When they get rid of this group… The doorway will restrict how much the guys will make. The court of law will ask why you are limiting what these guys can make. That's not how the free market works. There are a lot of steps to be done, but we'll get there.
   
• The irony of this is that the game we watch every Saturday is better than ever before. It is a great game. It always delivers. What we need to figure out is how to make it work financially, not only for the schools but the athletes involved. I still think collective bargaining is somewhere in our future unless you get an antitrust exemption.
   
• I talked to a lot of coaches at the SEC Spring Meetings, and a lot were adamant about going to one transfer portal window that goes from January 2 to January 12, and that’s it. Now, you have a team, and it brings stability. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me to have two windows. If teams are in the playoffs, it's a real issue for what? Two teams? Four teams, maybe? You can make it work.
   
• Mike Elko is a really good football coach. He’s won every place he's ever been. A&M ran into a string of tough luck and tough injuries. If Marcel Reed stays healthy and does what we think he can do, the Aggies will be fine. Having said all that, there are a lot of really good teams in the conference. Same thing as last year, I felt there were a lot of good teams and no great teams. At least three or four teams could win the national championship. I think Georgia, Alabama and Texas. As well, you need to keep an eye on LSU.
   
• This may be the best roster Brian Kelly has ever had. Now, having said that, you have to go to Clemson for the opener. They probably have the best defensive line in college football and a veteran quarterback in Cade Klubnik. Could someone sneak into the SEC and win a national championship? Yeah, always in this league, but from a sheer talent standpoint, I think it's those teams named, plus LSU.
   
• It's absolutely possible that all these new quarterbacks are good. All my Georgia friends were worried about Gunner Stockton. I think he's going to be fine. Florida with DJ Lagway. If they get off to a good start, that’s a team that could make some noise.
   
• Florida's schedule is just ridiculous. Now again, you have a quarterback that can make all the plays, but you can't ignore the schedule. Credit to Billy Napier with the same schedule from last year, but roles reversed. They had a very, very good finish. That's got to be encouraging, but Lagway has to stay healthy.
   
• Tennessee is a contender not because of the offense but because of the defense. They have Tim Banks returning for the defense. Joey Aguilar, the transfer, will end up being the starter. Can he carry the team for 12 to 13 games? We'll see, but I don’t know which way Tennessee will go. There's so much we don’t know.
   
• Lane Kiffin is one of the best play callers of our generation. Now his plays look better when Jaxson Dart is throwing the ball. I think that is an issue. They have the talent level now when they should be pretty consistent, but how will the quarterback work out? Can the guys in the quarterback room give him the elite play he needs?
   
• I think the SEC has a better chance. It did not go unnoticed. The Big Ten has won the past two national championships. I think the SEC has more quality teams than the Big Ten. It’s top-heavy. The SEC goes five to seven teams deep in terms of quality teams.