I spent some time this morning putting down my thoughts on CFB at the close of 2023; see what you think.

I rarely watch professional football anymore, but I remain a big fan of college football. NCAA CFB is undergoing a sea change as a result of two relatively recent changes: the transfer portal and NIL. Right now it’s the Wild West out there and those things that separate college from professional football are narrowing, EXCEPT professional football players have contracts and college players, at this time, have much more freedom of movement than professionals.

NIL, in particular has evolved rapidly. What is NIL? “In the simplest of terms, Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) is a term that describes the means through which college athletes are allowed to receive financial compensation. NIL refers to the use of an athlete’s name, image, and likeness through marketing and promotional endeavors. This can include autograph signings, product endorsements, social media posts, and more.”

Everything You Need to Know About NIL

The concept of NIL is great. Allow a college athlete to make some money off his “name, image, and likeness.” Look at the definition above. “Autograph signings, product endorsements, social media posts…”. I believe that’s what was envisioned. Athletes on tv promoting a pizza place in their college town, standing next to a new Ford truck talking about the great people at Such-and-Such Ford, saying what a great dentist I’ve found.”

It was that way for about 20 minutes.

NIL should be SPE, “Stars (how many out of HS), Potential (what’s his potential to lead the team to a Championship), Experience (what has the athlete done at their school up to this point prior to transferring).

Nebraska Coach, Matt Rhule, pulled back a curtain a couple of weeks ago when he publicly stated that a “Good quarterback in the portal costs $1 - $2 million right now—just so you understand.” That is where NIL and the transfer portal has taken us, and that’s a long ways from a local tv ad for pizza.

What’s NIL at the close of 2023? It’s college booster individuals or organizations contributing large sums of money to “buy” players. Sometimes as a hired gun to bring athleticism and experience to a team for one season. Sometimes to encourage a young player to come to your university. For some players with remaining eligibility, it’s more lucrative to transfer as a 5th year senior (COVID rule relaxation made a 5th year senior almost quaint), because a NIL deal may well be worth more than the first contract of a professional player in the NFL.

CFB has been rapidly evolving anyway: the diminishing of the importance of bowl games, conference expansion and realignment, and playoffs. There’s a real danger of losing all those things that made college football unique, and so important to its fans. I hope that players will continue to be compensated while, at the same time, preserving much of what makes CFB unique.

Note: i’m focusing on college football, but college basketball is undergoing the same upheaval. Women’s college sports? At least right now, they’re still selling pizza, that may well change—and soon.

Tradition got shitcanned in the name of money. So it goes. The players should get a slice of the pie. If people want to fund collectives to pay the players, well, it’s their money. Now it’s out in the open. Why should the players be any less mercenary than their coaches? College is supposed to prepare students for work and life. The transfer portal with NIL money is little different than the job hopping everybody does outside of college. A super league is coming. 24-32 teams in a mini NFL. Maybe with relegation. The quaint notion of scholar athletes devoted to good ol’ State U is long dead at the highest reaches of mend football and basketball. We’re finally acknowledging it and the schools and NCAA are trying to stay one step ahead of the judiciary.

quote:

Originally posted by berto:
Tradition got shitcanned in the name of money.

This...in spades.

NIL has ruined college football, and it will be getting worse. Soon they'll be going after high school kids. It's all about the money. Everything else be damned.

And for those who say that it's only fair that these kids get some of the money, they are already getting money in the form of a free education, free housing, free food, etc....

You don't go to college to make money. You go to get an education in your chosen profession and an education on how to be an adult and a contributing member of society. This does nothing more than teach these kids some very bad lessons on how to chase the quick buck.

Regarding the portal, I'm against allowing these kids to simply go whereever whenever. The grass is not always greener and loyalty should mean something. Kids need to be taught to honor their commitments. Allowing them to pack up and go to another team that might have a better chance of winning a championship is teaching them to quit. No different than a cheating spouse. I'm committed to you with all my heart...until I'm not.

College ball has become no different than pro ball, and that's too bad.

From elementary through college, a school's message should be that a good education is the path to success. The extracurriculars are for becoming and being a well rounded person.

At some level and higher, college football is a sham.

Used to be kids knew they had to bust their butts to make the college team and do what it takes to stay on the team, like making the grades, to maybe get to the NFL and make the big bucks. Now, they just have to make the college team to make the big bucks. At least in football at some level and higher. If I were a kid again and you told me I could make a million dollars a year playing football in college I'd actually have joined the football team in high school.

I stopped watching the NFL, it wont be long before I stop watching CFB I fear.

Coaches will (maybe are) find it's impossible to build and coach a team and a school legacy, with the transfer portal.
If every year you have to buy players to replace those that left your team, how can you build a team identity.

I don't see good things coming out of this.

Make the kids getting millions pay for their schooling. Save the scholarships for those not getting squat

Also take a certain % of each NIL that gets distributed throughout the rest of the team

quote:

Originally posted by snwghst:
Make the kids getting millions pay for their schooling. Save the scholarships for those not getting squat

Also take a certain % of each NIL that gets distributed throughout the rest of the team

I rather like this idea. Making millions in NIL? Pay your own freight. Also, why should the million dollar QB make all the bank when his success is due in large part to the no name offensive lineman covering his ass so he can make throws?

I do dislike NIL and the TP for creating haves and have nots when it’s a TEAM sport.

quote:

I rather like this idea. Making millions in NIL? Pay your own freight. Also, why should the million dollar QB make all the bank when his success is due in large part to the no name offensive lineman covering his ass so he can make throws?

^^^^^^^^^^^
I like that idea. My alma mater is up to 78 grand per year. Football players also get better food. Considering the fact that players are expected to attend class most need five years to graduate. All of this alienates these guys from the rest of the student body. Most athletes will never play in the NFL and live in the same dorms as the rest of the student body. Most want to be treated like every other student.

quote:

Soon they'll be going after high school kids

Yep soon.
I come from Hoover AL where folks were setting up families in homes in the right zip code for them to play high school ball 30 years ago. Before that? Surely nothing.

Like BBQ, that ain’t shit compared to Texas!

College Football is a meat grinder.

Until fairly recently, if a kid got hurt, he lost his scholarship.

The kids do not owe the school a damn thing.

It’s great that they are finally getting a few scraps of the money everyone else is making off it.

Transfer portal is good, it now allows kids to move from schools where they will never play, or have a poor relationship/fit with the school to one where they can start, play, and have a good fit. NCAA rules of having to sit out to transfer, and have the destination possibly stopped by the old coach who doesn't want a competitor to get his backup QB are gone.

NCAA could have fixed this, it was on the wall for years, they just never anticipated that it would get done legislatively, same for NIL.

NIL has plenty of drawbacks, from high net worth people/companies using that money to buy a championship team, to players jealousy when the offensive tackles shirts don't sell $100 a month to him and the QB is driving around in a free Range Rover from the local dealer.

NIL doesn't pay everyone big money, stars shine, get paid, advertisers want to see sales from it, over time we may find that the NIL revenue either goes bust from local businesses not finding sales go up for the money spent, or, teams get bought by big business in order to win on Saturday, Sell on Sunday.

I’ve never had a good feeling about the NIL since it started. College football just isn’t the same. Started with the BCS 10 years ago and all that has followed. And, having said that, the Georgia/FSU game was a debacle. I don’t know as FSU would have matched up better in the playoffs, had they been chosen, but for a good portion of the team to simply abandon their team, quit on them, seems to be beneath them. Pride, teamwork, brotherhood, doesn’t count for anything anymore. It did once. Regardless of their NFL status, half of those that opted out didn’t have any status, just wanted to transfer out of the program, I believe they should have stuck together to maybe show Georgia “what it was all about.” Sad state of affairs and I’m glad this episode is over.

quote:

Transfer portal is good, it now allows kids to move from schools where they will never play, or have a poor relationship/fit with the school to one where they can start, play, and have a good fit.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I am curious. Schools such as Duke and Northwestern have some pretty rigorous academic standards. How do they handle the kid with poor grades and great athletic ability with the transfer portal? Do these students ever graduate? Are the academic standards waived?

Transfer portal should be limited to after bowl games so they will play for there team. The teams success to be awarded a bowl game is part of the players success.

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
I am curious. Schools such as Duke and Northwestern have some pretty rigorous academic standards. How do they handle the kid with poor grades and great athletic ability with the transfer portal? Do these students ever graduate? Are the academic standards waived?

Schools like that have a more difficult time using the portal. How they treat athletes in the portal is up to them and likely on a case by case basis. I know Stanfurd sticks to requirements. Just because a kid hits the portal and wants to go to Duke doesn't mean Duke will accept them. What blows my mind is kids with no real shot at the NFL leaving better schools. It's one thing to leave for exposure and NIL money and a better path to the NFL but if you aren't getting that the degree and connections from a better school probably set you up better for the next 40 years than playing special teams somewhere for two years.

quote:

Originally posted by wxl:
Transfer portal should be limited to after bowl games so they will play for there team. The teams success to be awarded a bowl game is part of the players success.

Agreed. The problem is Bowl games really don’t mean a lot to many players and they would just opt out of the game anyway.

Yesterday Georgia beat FSU by 60 points, and afterward both coaches lamented the transfer portal and players opting out of bowl games as FSU played with only 29 scholarship players.

quote:

"People need to see what happened tonight, and they need to fix this," Smart said, lamenting the flood of opt-outs and portal entries on teams playing in non-playoff bowl games. "It needs to be fixed. It's very unfortunate that they have a good football team and a good football program and they're in the position they're in."

GA's Coach Smart also made a good point about next year's playoffs further diminishing bowl games and turning them into glorified scrimmages.

NCAAF has to realize that the revenue comes from advertising money and advertising money will disappear if fans refuse to watch a scrimmage between 2 schools' 2nd teams.

I've always said that the vast amount of money earned from college sports should be redistributed back to the school in the form of tuition reductions primarily.
Save some for general infrastructure but limit the paying of coaches and only a nominal amount for player subsidies.
Tradition is gone, it is just a "minor league" for pro sports.
I imagine we would be surprised on how many can't even read or write.

quote:

Originally posted by tatertodd:
NCAAF has to realize that the revenue comes from advertising money and advertising money will disappear if fans refuse to watch a scrimmage between 2 schools' 2nd teams.

If you’re lucky. I’ve watched parts of at least two games that started 3rd string QBs, who hadn’t taken a snap this season. When USC played a few days ago there were 24 players missing from their roster. FSU had nearly that many out. I find it aggravating when a player won’t suit up, but is present on the sidelines—like Marvin Harrison Jr. in Ohio State’s bowl game.

I’m of the opinion the CFB has devolved into just another big business. The fact that old rivalries & regional conferences have been disbanded with schools from the left coast now playing in conferences on the east coast? When a Texas backup QB named Manning is making more than the 49ers starting Quarterback? As for the transfer portal? The NCAA needs to quickly evaluate the effects of it on this years crop of bowl games and enact some changes to the portal procedures. Yes, you can transfer but you must fulfill your obligation to your current school ( play in bowl games they’ve achieved ) before you can move. Oh yeah, btw, you can only also transfer once.