What Returning Production Says about 2026, Feat. Bill Connelly

What Returning Production Says about 2026, Feat. Bill Connelly

From Split Zone Duo: College Football Podcast by Richard Johnson and Alex Kirshner

May 6, 2026 · 59 min

About this episode

Bill Connelly discusses returning production rankings and their implications for the 2026 college football season.

ESPN’s Bill Connelly joins Alex and Richard to talk about his returning production rankings for the 2026 college football season. The power leagues are retaining more of last year’s snaps and yards, while the G6 is increasingly forced into annual rebuilds. Bill explains how the formula for returning talent has evolved, how the transfer portal has made it messy, and which 2026 teams look interesting based on who’s coming back. In this episode: * 0:55: Exactly how dire is the returning production picture in the Group of 6? * 4:10: How the returning-production formula has changed in the portal era, from FCS/FBS translation to incoming-transfer weight. * 12:58: Why the weights look the way they do, including offensive line snaps, pass catchers, quarterbacks, and defensive stickiness. * 15:02: What we can learn from last year’s big returning production flop, the No. 1-ranked (sort of) Clemson Tigers * 20:18: The new grind of roster evaluation, why G6 previews can become transfer lists, and 2026 FAU as a returning production test case. * 27:13: AI in roster work and recruiting operations, and why Bill still prefers doing his own spreadsheeting * 35:55: 2026 case studies near the top…

People in this episode

Hosts: Alex Kirshner, Richard Johnson

Guest: Bill Connelly

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: ESPN, Clemson Tigers

Places: Group of 6, FAU, Notre Dame, Maryland, South Carolina, Texas, Tulane, North Texas, James Madison, Ohio State

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