Demond Williams Jr. has been dropped by his agent, Doug Hendrickson, in the wake of the former Washington quarterback’s announcement that he will enter the transfer portal.

“I have made the decision to end my representation of Demond Williams Jr. effective immediately due to philosophical differences,” Hendrickson posted Thursday on social media. “Demond is an incredible talent and we wish him and his family the best in their future endeavors.”

Williams announced Tuesday he would enter the portal, just days after he signed a contract in the mid-$4 million range to return to the Huskies for the 2026 season, sources told ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

The deal would have been near the top of the market for a quarterback in college football.

Hendrickson, the executive vice president at Wasserman Sports, also represents Washington coach Jedd Fisch.

Sources told Thamel that Washington is prepared to pursue all legal avenues to enforce Williams’ contract. According to details of the contract, Washington is not obligated to enter Williams into the portal or “otherwise assist or facilitate the Student-Athlete’s transfer to another college or university.”

In response to this, Williams has retained sports attorney Darren Heitner as legal counsel, Heitner announced on social media.

The situation has drawn the attention of the Big Ten, sources told Thamel. The conference was vocal in Xavier Lucas‘ controversial transfer from Wisconsin to Miami last year, supporting the Badgers in trying to enforce the defensive back’s contract with the team.

Williams, a sophomore, completed 69.5% of his passes for 3,065 yards with 25 touchdowns and eight interceptions this season. He also rushed for 611 yards and six touchdowns, earning All-Big Ten honorable mention honors.

ATLANTA — The Falcons will interview former franchise quarterback Matt Ryan, among others, for a new role entitled the “president of football,” owner Arthur Blank said Thursday at a news conference.

The president of football position will be hired first, and Blank has interviews with several candidates in the next few days. Whoever gets hired as president of football will lead the interviews for the head coach and general manager candidates, Blank said. The Falcons fired head coach Raheem Morris and GM Terry Fontenot on Sunday night.

One of those coaching candidates could be John Harbaugh, who was fired earlier this week by the Baltimore Ravens.

“John has been one of the most successful coaches in the last 20 years in our league,” Blank said. “He has won at every level. And so, he would certainly be a candidate who we’d want to spend some time with. Whether or not [he has] an interest in Atlanta, I don’t know.”

The firm Sportsology is assisting in the general manager search, and the firm ZRG Partners will assist in the coaching search. But the president of football will ultimately be leading those searches, Blank said, and will oversee both the coach and general manager once both are hired.

Blank said the president of football will hold the coach and general manager accountable and report directly to Blank himself. As for who will get the final say on decision-making once the roles are filled, Blank acknowledged that coach and general manager candidates would not be keen on ceding authority to the president of football, so those positions will remain the primary decision-makers in their respective roles.

“Obviously, you’ve still got to hire a great coach, a great general manager, and the president of football will not be doing their jobs for them at all, but will be holding them accountable and giving input with guidance, when necessary,” Blank said.

Ryan, 40, has no front office experience. But he was the best player in franchise history, the quarterback who led the Falcons to Super Bowl LI. Blank said he will be considered for the role — and many believe the role was created for him — because of Ryan’s experience leading a football team, as well as his knowledge of the game and how to work with players and staff.

“His EQ and IQ when it comes to football is extraordinarily high,” Blank said of Ryan. “I’ve known Matt personally since 2008, and his family, and he’s an outstanding individual, great community leader and kind of person we certainly would want to consider in that position.”

Blank made it a point to say there will be other candidates interviewed. The Falcons will announce who they have interviewed once those discussions are completed.

Blank said Thursday that his firings of Morris and Fontenot were based solely on their performances. He said he felt that the Falcons should have achieved more this season, and a four-game winning streak to finish the season did not sway him. Blank said that the decisions to sign quarterback Kirk Cousins in 2024, followed by the drafting of Michael Penix Jr. six weeks later with the No. 8 overall pick did not play a part in his decision.

“There were a lot of peaks and valleys — too many peaks and valleys — [and] too many levels that were not consistent throughout our play,” Blank said. “So, it’s a combination of things over a period of time, but nothing to do with the decisions that we collaboratively made.”

During the news conference, Blank was asked whether or not he felt that Penix was still the team’s franchise quarterback. Penix tore his left ACL in Week 11, missing the rest of the season, and he’ll be out for at least nine months. It was Penix’s third ACL surgery in eight seasons; he tore the ACL in his right knee twice in college. Penix had been inconsistent in 12 career starts before the injury. But Blank affirmed that he remains steadfast in Penix as Atlanta’s franchise QB.

“The injury he sustained was on his other knee,” Blank said. “The surgeon felt 1,000 percent secure in the medical procedure that he went through, and they felt his knee was going to be better than it was before. … He’s committed mentally, physically, and he feels good.”

Sportsology was hired months ago by the Falcons to do an internal evaluation of their football infrastructure. Blank said the thing that most surprised about the firm’s findings was a lack of clarity when it came to the vision of how the team was supposed to play. That is one of the reasons why the president of football role was added. That person will be the one who sets and leads the vision of the product on the field, Blank said.

“In any industry, if you don’t have clarity around vision, but you’re trying to establish and trying to build, you would end up with a lot of disparate parts that are moving in different directions,” Blank said. “And that means you’re not only unsuccessful or partially unsuccessful, but you can be very inefficient. [You must be] as laser focused as you can be in terms of exactly what you want to do. You can make better selections of players, coaches, coaching staff and hold that kind of consistency in place. And then you modify it all the time depending on what’s happening in the game.”

With the calendar flipped to 2026, college hockey teams are back from holiday break and ready to hit the iron of their conference schedules.

The Big Ten and NCHC have been the strongest leagues so far, with teams from those leagues holding down the top seven spots in the first USCHO poll of the new year. No. 1 Michigan, No. 2 Michigan State and No. 3 Wisconsin give the Big Ten a tight grip on the top of the rankings, with Nos. 4-7 held by North Dakota, Minnesota Duluth, Western Michigan and Denver of the NCHC.

Quinnipiac of the ECAC, Penn State of the Big Ten and Connecticut of Hockey East round out the top 10, with Dartmouth, Maine and Boston College not far behind.

An important change this season is the switch from the PairWise rankings to the NCAA Power Index, or NPI, to determine selection and seeding for the NCAA tournament. While the NPI is intended to address some statistical anomalies, preventing teams from being excessively rewarded for strong wins or penalized by poor losses, the overall effect is not expected to be drastically different from PairWise.

As we cross the imaginary midpoint of the season, ESPN college hockey analysts Sean Ritchlin and Andrew Raycroft break down the top storylines and teams on the rise, as well as provide early looks at the Hobey Baker race and what teams will be in Las Vegas on April 9 and 11 for the Frozen Four.

What is the most compelling storyline this season?

Sean Ritchlin: The decision by Gavin McKenna, the likely No. 1 pick in the upcoming NHL draft, to leave Major Juniors and play for Penn State has captured the full attention of the college hockey world. It represents a seismic shift in how elite prospects may view their development paths going forward.

College hockey has always been a proven development league, producing NHL stars through a model built on strength development, structure and maturity. But it was rarely viewed as a true alternative for generational Canadian talents who traditionally followed the CHL-to-NHL pipeline. McKenna’s move challenges that longstanding model.

Andrew Raycroft: The changing landscape in men’s hockey in general, with McKenna being a big part of that. With changes to eligibility rules and the increased influence of NIL money, it has been fascinating to see which programs have come together and built the best teams through the first half. So far the Big Ten is leading the way, with four of the top eight teams in the country based on NPI.

What team has been the most pleasant surprise so far?

Ritchlin: Dartmouth coach Reid Cashman has brought energy and edge to Hanover this season, building off last year’s breakthrough 18-13-2 campaign. The Big Green have taken another step forward, showing pace, structure, and confidence under Cashman, though they recently ran into a buzzsaw, dropping games to surging Princeton and a typically disciplined Quinnipiac squad.

Raycroft: Sitting at No. 6 in NPI, Dartmouth has to be the answer here. After rising to No. 1 in the country with 12 straight wins to open the season, the Big Green have lost four in a row but there’s no denying Cashman has done an amazing job.

What team are you looking to have a second-half surge?

Ritchlin: In his first season behind the bench, Dane Jackson has the North Dakota offense humming, averaging 3.77 goals per game and putting constant pressure on opponents. North Dakota sits first in the NCHC and is 16-4-0 overall, a familiar position for a league that continues to churn out national champions year after year. With pace, depth and scoring balance driving results, look for the Fighting Hawks to take another step in garnering national attention as the second half of the season unfolds.

Raycroft: Denver. With back-to-back Frozen Four appearances, look for David Carle to elevate his team in the second half. Ranked ninth in NPI and led by junior defensemen Eric Pohlkamp and Boston Buckberger, the Pioneers always face a difficult schedule in building their game for the postseason.

What’s your early take on the Hobey Baker race?

Ritchlin: The first half of the season has pushed several players into the spotlight, including Michael Hage and Will Horcoff at Michigan, along with Cole Hutson at Boston University — the likely favorite –and Max Plante at Minnesota Duluth. But a lot of players have a chance this year — it remains to be seen who will catch the eye of the voters. Hutson has the flash and had a great season last year, which helps his cause.

Raycroft: This season’s Hobey Baker race is wide open. The last few years have seen clear-cut finalists emerge by the halfway mark, but that’s not the case this season. Arizona State’s Cruz Lucious leads the country in scoring (12 goals, 20 assists), BU’s Hutson leads defensemen in scoring (7 goals, 13 assists) and Michigan State goaltender Trey Augustine is at the top in save percentage (.938). All three are in the mix along with Plante, Pohlkamp and Arizona State’s Bennett Schimek, among others.

Who are your picks to make the Frozen Four in Las Vegas?

Ritchlin

I may be going all West here — and possibly all chalk — but these teams have been impressive to this point. I’d love to see the UConn Huskies make the trip to Vegas, and they’ve got a legitimate chance. That said, I think the following teams sit a tier ahead right now.

Michigan has found its identity defensively while continuing to score at a high level. The consistency in net with Jack Ivankovic has been a difference maker, giving the Wolverines a dependable backbone heading into the stretch run.

North Dakota continues to impress in a conference that routinely dominates the national tournament. With Will Zellers returning from the World Juniors, the second half sets up well for another surge in Grand Forks.

Denver always seem to find a way when tournament time arrives. Coach David Carle has become a wizard in one-and-done settings, whether at the college level or on the World Juniors stage. It’s hard not to envision the Pios rolling the dice in Vegas.

Michigan State won’t forget last year’s early exit in Toledo against Cornell. That lingering bad taste could be the fuel that drives a deeper, more focused postseason run this time around.

Raycroft

I agree the West is where the power is this season — at least for the time being.

North Dakota: Freshman goaltender Jan Spunar is 10-0, while first-year coach Dane Jackson is leading the Fighting Hawks’ resurgence.

Wisconsin: Mike Hastings has turned around the Badgers in his third year on campus. They have an 8-2 record in a tough Big Ten.

Western Michigan: The defending national champs will use their experience to work their way through the tourney. Coach Pat Ferschweiler and returning goalie Hampton Slukynsky will lead the way

Michigan State: The Spartans have been close to making the Frozen Four in recent years but this season, they will break through to Vegas. With one of the most talented lineups in the country, led by Augustine, MSU has all the pieces to go on a championship run.