The World of College Football

[Let'sGoZips94]

3 hours ago, kreed5120 said:

The state of Louisiana is looking to pass legislation to raise taxes specifically to fund NIL. They're also seeking to make NIL tax free money. S*** is getting out of hand.

 

https://lailluminator.com/2025/04/21/louisiana-legislators-to-consider-college-athletics-subsidies/

 

Rumor has it Mardi Gras is going to become a NIL fundraiser. You get beads for donating. 

[GP1]

On 4/23/2025 at 10:26 AM, kreed5120 said:

The state of Louisiana is looking to pass legislation to raise taxes specifically to fund NIL. They're also seeking to make NIL tax free money. S*** is getting out of hand.

 

https://lailluminator.com/2025/04/21/louisiana-legislators-to-consider-college-athletics-subsidies/

So much about this story is disgusting. It's hard to even begin where to discuss it. 

Edited May 3 by GP1

[GP1]

1 hour ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

 

Rumor has it Mardi Gras is going to become a NIL fundraiser. You get beads for donating. 

That's not what they give out beads for. 

[GP1]

I heard an interesting proposal about the NIL this week on Full Ride. Teams will be allowed to have a maximum of 105 players on their teams. I forget the number, but it would keep over 1,000 players out of college football. 

 

I don't care if that many don't get to play. It just ends their playing career a year or two early. If this rule applies to DIII, it will greatly harm many of this schools. Filling teams up with players is a source of revenue these schools will be without. It could put some of them out of business. Schools like Mt Union have around 200 players on the team. Those students may just end up at state schools, which would be great for Akron. It would be a $3.5 million hit for Mt Union. 

[zippy5]

200 players on the team? You sure about that?

[adzip]

200 might be a bit high but GP1 is certainly correct that football is a major source (maybe THE major source) of male freshman enrollment at Mt. Union. I counted 100 freshmen listed on their football roster several years ago. Most will never see the field. They will lose many of them to state schools but their hope is that some will like the school enought to continue there with added loans/family funds even without the football. Those will be largely students who would never have gone to Mt. Union otherwise and therefore worth bringing them in as football players who will never play. 

[kreed5120]

Texas is estimated to spend $35-$40 million on this years roster...

 

https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/texas-will-spend-35-40-million-on-its-2025-football-roster

[GP1]

https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/shedeur-sanders-wont-be-doing-it-but-someone-could-try-to-return-to-college-after-the-draft

 

The NFL response would be interesting depending upon how often it happened. There could be an apprehension about picking players with eligibility. There could also be an increase in players declaring for the draft because the risk could be low. The NFL could solve the problem by starting a minor league, which might be awesome for college football by getting people out who don't want to be there, but that would be really expensive. 

[GP1]

What could go wrong with the P4 deciding our fate?  https://frontofficesports.com/charlie-baker-power-conferences-will-enforce-house-settlement-not-the-ncaa/

 

I've been saying it for years. Schools like Akron need to separate from the P4 and chart a better course for ourselves. 

[Hilltopper]

7 hours ago, GP1 said:

What could go wrong with the P4 deciding our fate?  https://frontofficesports.com/charlie-baker-power-conferences-will-enforce-house-settlement-not-the-ncaa/

 

I've been saying it for years. Schools like Akron need to separate from the P4 and chart a better course for ourselves. 

I believe you are going to get your wish but not in the way you think. What's going to happen, is the P4 schools are going to break away from the enforcement policies of the house settlement. If what I am reading is true, they won't want to abide by the salary constraints. That will leave the rest of us with a more manageable framework.

 

https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/conference-expulsion-no-penalty-structure-frustration-mounts-as-college-sports-enforcement-comes-into-focus/

[GP1]

10 hours ago, Hilltopper said:

I believe you are going to get your wish but not in the way you think. What's going to happen, is the P4 schools are going to break away from the enforcement policies of the house settlement. If what I am reading is true, they won't want to abide by the salary constraints. That will leave the rest of us with a more manageable framework.

That would be awesome. My question is, what would that framework be?  What if the framework was this simple below the P4 level. 

1. Eliminate scholarships for college athletes. We are the only country bankrupting universities with athletic departments. 

 

2. Allow college athletes to earn a living. This is America. 

 

3. Restrict transferring to one time. Eliminate the obnoxious. 

 

4.  Academic standards that require movement towards a degree. This is actually helpful to kids. 

 

5. Better regionalized conferences. Better rivalries. 

 

6. Needs based financial support for athletes who cannot otherwise afford college. Help those who need help. 

 

7. Schools agree to not charge out of state tuition for varsity athletes. Stop the shell game. 

[Lee Adams]

On 5/22/2025 at 6:31 PM, GP1 said:

That would be awesome. My question is, what would that framework be?  What if the framework was this simple below the P4 level. 

1. Eliminate scholarships for college athletes. We are the only country bankrupting universities with athletic departments. 

 

2. Allow college athletes to earn a living. This is America. 

 

3. Restrict transferring to one time. Eliminate the obnoxious. 

 

4.  Academic standards that require movement towards a degree. This is actually helpful to kids. 

 

5. Better regionalized conferences. Better rivalries. 

 

6. Needs based financial support for athletes who cannot otherwise afford college. Help those who need help. 

 

7. Schools agree to not charge out of state tuition for varsity athletes. Stop the shell game. 

A lot of this sounds good. I am afraid that a lot may be difficult to put into operation. When we talk about 'needs based financial support' for athletes. I am wondering where that money is going to come from. With the current political environments in Washington and Columbus the politicians running the show right now aren't allocating more money to higher education. If anything its generally getting reduced. Where do you get the additional financial aid that would be necessary?

Athletes allowed 'to earn a living'. What are the parameters? How much can they work to earn a living? They still have to attend classes, do school work and practice and play their sport. I worked part time jobs while in school. I didn't play sports. I couldn't work enough to 'earn a living'.

I would love to see the P4 schools go away. I would love to see the NFL have to do what baseball and hockey do. Develop high school athletes who can't or don't want to attend college in a minor league system. The NFL has gotten a free ride on this. Start spending some of those billions of $$$ developing your own players. That would help eliminate some of the BS that is going on at the college level.

How do schools like Akron really expect to consistently compete the way the system is currently set up? 

Frustrating. Great discussion.

[GP1]

2 hours ago, Lee Adams said:

A lot of this sounds good. I am afraid that a lot may be difficult to put into operation. When we talk about 'needs based financial support' for athletes. I am wondering where that money is going to come from. With the current political environments in Washington and Columbus the politicians running the show right now aren't allocating more money to higher education. If anything its generally getting reduced. Where do you get the additional financial aid that would be necessary?

Athletes allowed 'to earn a living'. What are the parameters? How much can they work to earn a living? They still have to attend classes, do school work and practice and play their sport. I worked part time jobs while in school. I didn't play sports. I couldn't work enough to 'earn a living'.

I would love to see the P4 schools go away. I would love to see the NFL have to do what baseball and hockey do. Develop high school athletes who can't or don't want to attend college in a minor league system. The NFL has gotten a free ride on this. Start spending some of those billions of $$$ developing your own players. That would help eliminate some of the BS that is going on at the college level.

How do schools like Akron really expect to consistently compete the way the system is currently set up? 

Frustrating. Great discussion.

Good questions. If there are 85 current scholarships, reduce the total number of players to around 60, no scholarships. Reducing the administrative staff will be a savings as it will involve the deprofessionalizarion of college athletics. There are millions of dollars spent on administrative staff that can easily be reduced. The money is all there, just not in the hands of those who need it. Do they really need as many assistant coaches as they have?  The bloat in college athletics is enormous. Cap head coaches salaries. 

 

The elimination of spring practice and summer jobs lend themselves to more time for a part time job. Spring practice is a joke so use that time in a less joke like manner. If a kid is so poor that he needs a full time job to earn a living, that's where the needs based financial support comes in. 

 

The one thing we all have to keep in mind is playing college athletics just because you were good at sports in high school isn't a right. In addition, just because someone earns a masters degree in Sports Management doesn't give them a right to a job where the taxpayers support their desires. There is no magic pool of money. 

[kreed5120]

3 hours ago, Lee Adams said:

 

I would love to see the P4 schools go away. I would love to see the NFL have to do what baseball and hockey do. Develop high school athletes who can't or don't want to attend college in a minor league system. The NFL has gotten a free ride on this. Start spending some of those billions of $$$ developing your own players. That would help eliminate some of the BS that is going on at the college level.

How do schools like Akron really expect to consistently compete the way the system is currently set up? 

The simple answer is schools like Akron aren't expected to compete. There are even schools in the P4 (Northwestern, Vanderbilt, half the ACC, etc. that aren't expected to compete. Programs like Akron exist because someone needs to be at the bottom of the food chain to prop others up.

 

The P4 isn't going to go away because there is no way the NFL can replicate a farm league that would generate the revenue that the top ~30 FBS programs do. There have been how many spring leagues over the years that have failed? There is no market for minor league NFL. College football thrives off tradition and millions of people feeling connected to schools they didn't even attend. 

[GP1]

12 minutes ago, kreed5120 said:

The simple answer is schools like Akron aren't expected to compete. There are even schools in the P4 (Northwestern, Vanderbilt, half the ACC, etc. that aren't expected to compete. Programs like Akron exist because someone needs to be at the bottom of the food chain to prop others up.

 

The P4 isn't going to go away because there is no way the NFL can replicate a farm league that would generate the revenue that the top ~30 FBS programs do. There have been how many spring leagues over the years that have failed? There is no market for minor league NFL. College football thrives off tradition and millions of people feeling connected to schools they didn't even attend. 

Schools like Northwestern, Wake Forest, Duke, Stanford, etc will be finished. 

 

P4 is going away. It will be one super league. It has nothing to do with the NFL and everything to do with TV networks. One super leage is less expensive to produce and more expensive to buy advertising for. It's a win-win for the TV networks. 

[kreed5120]

2 hours ago, GP1 said:

Good questions. If there are 85 current scholarships, reduce the total number of players to around 60, no scholarships. Reducing the administrative staff will be a savings as it will involve the deprofessionalizarion of college athletics. There are millions of dollars spent on administrative staff that can easily be reduced. The money is all there, just not in the hands of those who need it. Do they really need as many assistant coaches as they have?  The bloat in college athletics is enormous. Cap head coaches salaries. 

 

Coaching salaries have become absurd. Sure, guys like Nick Saban did enough to generate buzz and revenue at their schools to be worth their salaries. I just don't see how the math math's that guys like Moorhead are worth $500k and his assistants are worth ~$150k (or more) each. Most of the revenue Akron generates in football is fixed. The other revenue (ticket sales, concessions, parking) that are coach can impact is very minimal at schools like Akron. Camden Stockton I remember in an interview said ticket sales only generated ~$800k in revenue and that was for all sports. Even if we say football makes up 75% that would be barely enough to cover just Moorhead's pay. The whole system is propped up because of institutional support.

Edited 1 hour ago by kreed5120

[GP1]

3 minutes ago, kreed5120 said:

The whole system is propped up because of institutional support.

People like to pick the language apart, but it's propped up by taxpayers. If it wasn't for taxpayer support, UofA wouldn't exist.