Interesting comments regarding college football recruiting

[TJ8869]

I listened to a few minutes of Lance McAlister and Rocky Boiman tonight on the radio and Rocky talked about a conversation he had with Dan Mullen. He asked Mullen if he was going to get back into coaching and Mullen told him a lot of coaches are burned out on recruiting because the only thing recruits and parents want to know anymore is how much you’re going to pay them.

He went on to tell a story about Arkansas coach Sam Pittman. One of his recruits had been verbally committed for awhile but on signing day he didn’t send in his LOI right away. Pittman called him to find out why and the father said they were thinking about switching to Colorado, but if Arkansas could give him some more money it might change his mind.

Pittman told him he had 5 minutes to send in his LOI or he was giving the scholarship to someone else.

Lance then talked about SEC schools trying to convince Cincinnati players who are still on UC’s roster to enter the portal.

I don’t know how to link directly to it, but if you want to listen to the whole segment and you have the iHeartRadio app, search for today’s episode of The Roundtable Show and jump to about the 1 hour and 43 minute mark.

 

[win1forthe]

None of this is surprising and I’m bet there are hundreds of more stories just like this.

 

[SeaPA]

I'm sure a lot of it is true; I also think Mullen never much liked the recruiting side of college football. He's a very good, creative offensive coach but probably would probably be better suited for the NFL

 

[noleclone2]

It is a crazy new world but one silver lining I think that is starting to sort out is I think most programs are realizing it is foolish to throw money at 17-18 year olds and that money needs to go to transfers and proven players. In other words, changing already to like how all professional sports are these days. They spend on just a few rookies. So schools need to have a good culture and keep their veterans and get some veterans. Portal tampering though will only escalate.

 

[cfbfan23]

I'm sure a lot of it is true; I also think Mullen never much liked the recruiting side of college football. He's a very good, creative offensive coach but probably would probably be better suited for the NFL

I agree. Pro football would be a much better fit for the hunchback.

 

[TJ8869]

It is a crazy new world but one silver lining I think that is starting to sort out is I think most programs are realizing it is foolish to throw money at 17-18 year olds and that money needs to go to transfers and proven players. In other words, changing already to like how all professional sports are these days. They spend on just a few rookies. So schools need to have a good culture and keep their veterans and get some veterans. Portal tampering though will only escalate.

The portal tampering is a huge problem. As Lance mentioned on the podcast, SEC teams have contacted players who are currently on Cincinnati’s roster and told them there’s a six-figure NIL deal waiting for them if they enter the portal.

At least in the NFL there are written contracts. In college now every player is a free agent, not just every year but multiple times every year.

 

[bhawk24bob]

I don’t understand what’s in it for the people paying these guys, how are they benefitting?

 

[HawkeyesAndCubs1023]

I don’t understand what’s in it for the people paying these guys, how are they benefitting?

I guess it is tax-deductible, and it "benefits the community," as a number of these revenue collectives pay athletes if they perform community service.

The whole thing is crazy. It's professional sports with no salary cap, no contracts (so kids can change teams every year if they like), and inferior athletes.

 

[NDallasRuss]

I don’t understand what’s in it for the people paying these guys, how are they benefitting?

Same. I guess there are people who are just a lot more invested (emotionally and financially) in college football than me. Is it really that important for your team to win football games that you'll put out a bunch of your own money for some kid who may only be there a year or two?

And beyond the players, I'm amazed that there are boosters that are willing to put out millions to buy out coaches' contracts. Like even the potential that there's someone out there willing to pay $70M or whatever the number is to get aTm out of Jimbo's contract is insane to me!

 

[hydro2.0]

Colleges should stop sanctioning sports all together.

 

[JupiterHawk]

The recruiting doesn't bother me as much but a player who is being poached does. Especially if that player is a starter and has been developed under your program. My biggest fear this year was a team poaching Kaleb Johnson. Thankfully he is happy at Iowa. But if that does start happening, that would be a line where I give up on college sports. Might as well stick with the pros at that point.

 

[Hoosierhawkeye]

Honestly as unfair as it seemed perhaps the whole idea of college football players not being able to profit off their name and likeness was a good thing in many ways.

 

[Hoosierhawkeye]

The recruiting doesn't bother me as much but a player who is being poached does. Especially if that player is a starter and has been developed under your program. My biggest fear this year was a team poaching Kaleb Johnson. Thankfully he is happy at Iowa. But if that does start happening, that would be a line where I give up on college sports. Might as well stick with the pros at that point.

I think it's bothersome that recruits out of high school are looking for the highest bidder. To me this only expands the difference between the haves and the have nots in college football. Which teams have the richest boosters? Those teams will always have the inside track.

 

[NDallasRuss]

Colleges should stop sanctioning sports all together.

I get that schools still benefit from athletic success through increased visibility, applications jump, etc, but it seems like the scholarship is less and less an important part of the "package" for a lot of the better players. At some point a lot of schools have to start reconsidering the cost vs benefit of "revenue sports" like football. Some like Bama seem like they're largely tied to football but other schools may feel like the juice is no longer worth the squeeze as they become beholden to boosters and companies that are paying to bring in players, or keep players from leaving.

 

[BioHawk]

Honestly as unfair as it seemed perhaps the whole idea of college football players not being able to profit off their name and likeness was a good thing in many ways.

In many ways, it was, but it was also being abused. The NCAA had 10 years to prevent this and they did nothing. I don't know, but there is a good chance this significantly lowers my interest in college sports. It's tough to get emotionally invested in a team when the players you are cheering for can easily be stolen by other teams for the next year.

 

[Hoosierhawkeye]

In many ways, it was, but it was also being abused. The NCAA had 10 years to prevent this and they did nothing. I don't know, but there is a good chance this significantly lowers my interest in college sports. It's tough to get emotionally invested in a team when the players you are cheering for can easily be stolen by other teams for the next year.

Feels like the NFL but everyone is on a 1 year contract.

 

[Funky Bunch]

So nothing has changed except the payments are public?

 

[BioHawk]

Feels like the NFL but everyone is on a 1 year contract.

Yup. Worse than the NFL though because at least in the NFL there is a theoretical amount of time a player will be with the team (unless the team drops him). At the very least, you won't have to worry about other teams offering more money to a current player that is under contract.

 

[dgordo]

I think it’s great that the athletes finally have more control than the schools who profited off of them.

 

[BioHawk]

I think it’s great that the athletes finally have more control than the schools who profited off of them.

I agree to this, to an extent, but if they don't figure it out soon it will end up costing everybody. Maybe the NCAA should have allowed the players to unionize a few years ago. At least then there would be a single entity to negotiate with to bring some sense of order to all of this.

 

[St. Louis Hawk]

I’m glad that the kids are finally getting some share of the money they help create. But this system can’t go on like this for now.

The NFL has rules on tampering and player movement. College can’t have a system where it’s basically a free for all.

 

[NDallasRuss]

I’m glad that the kids are finally getting some share of the money they help create. But this system can’t go on like this for now.

The NFL has rules on tampering and player movement. College can’t have a system where it’s basically a free for all.

My understanding is that football scholarships are year to year? I've read about schools like Bama pulling the scholarships for kids that are underachieving, so they can give them to new kids. If that's the case, then the players should also be able to leave if they choose. Maybe the cure is that scholarships are binding for 4 years - although I'm sure there'd have to be conditions - the kid having to actually try and play football, the coach not leaving, etc. At 4 years the player can change schools if they have eligibility left, or the school can extend it. Have penalties associated with the scholarship: If the school wants to pull the scholarship for any reason they don't get to re-award that scholarship for 2 years. And if the player wants to transfer to another school, they can't play for 2 seasons.

I agree though - it can't just be a free for all every year for every school and every player.

 

[B1GDeal]

Feels like the NFL but everyone is on a 1 year contract.

True, but the NCAA could have said they were employees and created contracts and then they'd have had an agreement with a union to create some rules and framework to work with. Instead, they did nothing and now the cat is out of the bag with virtually no rules and this is what you end up with.

 

[SoDakHawk]

I’m glad that the kids are finally getting some share of the money they help create. But this system can’t go on like this for now.

The NFL has rules on tampering and player movement. College can’t have a system where it’s basically a free for all.

I see it as doing a lot more damage to players than it benefits them. This system is designed for the top 1-2% to benefit, the Caleb Williams of the CFB world. There is another 95%+ of players in all levels of CFB that don't benefit as greatly from the NIL system and too many players end up getting shuffled around and their educational careers interrupted as they get cycled out and transfer schools. Just look at the transfer portal and where these players end up. A large enough portion, roughly 50%, end up moving down and/or losing their full athletic scholarship.

Remember that 99% of college athletes will not play professional sports. In the end, they will need that education.

 

[St. Louis Hawk]

I see it as doing a lot more damage to players than it benefits them. This system is designed for the top 1-2% to benefit, the Caleb Williams of the CFB world. There is another 95%+ of players in all levels of CFB that don't benefit as greatly from the NIL system and too many players end up getting shuffled around and their educational careers interrupted as they get cycled out and transfer schools. Just look at the transfer portal and where these players end up. A large enough portion, roughly 50%, end up moving down and/or losing their full athletic scholarship.

Remember that 99% of college athletes will not play professional sports. In the end, they will need that education.

Absolutely. There are some smart business and college sports people. There has to be a solution to address the problems created with the new normal.

 

[bhawk24bob]

This new normal is by design. Power and money continues to be consolidated by less conferences and talent can be filled by the top programs yearly through the portal and NIL. There will be no down years for the USC's or Alabama's of the world. The whole thing is unfortunate because you have young adults and their parents with no perspective.

The overwhelming amount of these college football players are throwing away their futures by not taking advantage of the free education with every support resource on earth available to them in order to chase the dream of a brief career in the NFL. And for what? To be broke with CTE? So they can lay bricks and do construction? It's predatory imo

 

[tumorboy]

I don’t understand what’s in it for the people paying these guys, how are they benefitting?

Ego stroke. Nothing more.

 

[SIXERS24]

The Big 10 Sec Acc and who ever is left will have 4 teams in their conferences who will basically be the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The colleges will eat their own they will get down to about 32 teams.
The sport is already too regional and will only become more so.
The ratings will fall drastically in the next 10 years along with attendance.

 

[Obviously Oblivious]

The halcyon days of major college football is over. The fallout from this currently unregulated NIL environment will destroy the sport if left unchecked for much longer, the golden goose will eventually keel over dead as a result.

 

[SoDakHawk]

The halcyon days of major college football is over. The fallout from this currently unregulated NIL environment will destroy the sport if left unchecked for much longer, the golden goose will eventually keel over dead as a result.

Agree. I am a HUGE CFB fan, as are many of us on this site, a site dedicated to college athletics and CFB in particular. If there is NIL/Transfer Portal fatigue amongst the most hardcore of us fans and we are starting to get turned off, it's just a matter of time before the entire thing collapses.

With each year where CFB starts more and more resembling professional football, I find myself drawn more towards the real thing, the NFL, and caring less and less about CFB.

 

[NoleinATL]

I think it's bothersome that recruits out of high school are looking for the highest bidder. To me this only expands the difference between the haves and the have nots in college football. Which teams have the richest boosters? Those teams will always have the inside track.

This is a common perception, but is it a reality? The majority of guys are taking any bidder because there are a lot more /2 and 3-star players than 5-star. The top-level talent is getting the ridiculous offers ( and those may be overstated), but that has always been the case.
The major difference in college recruiting is the portal, and now the athletes have some power when making decisions.

There was an article in The Athletic in which they gave more than a dozen Under Armour All-America Game players anonymity so they would answer openly about recruiting and NIL.
Out of all the players, not one said NIL was the determining factor in where they went to school, the primary reason was development.
The offers ranged from low-end 50k to 3.2 million for 4 years ( these are all 5-star guys ). Now, of course, they could all be lying, who knows, I guess that is the point with NIL, no one really knows what is going on.

One other interesting note from the article was that four players already had a list of schools they would transfer to if it didn't work out at the school they chose.

 

[SolarHawk]

Lol at anyone thinking college football won’t survive nil. Get the fvck out of here with that nonsense. It’s evolving, that’s it.

 

[lucas80]

The portal tampering is a huge problem. As Lance mentioned on the podcast, SEC teams have contacted players who are currently on Cincinnati’s roster and told them there’s a six-figure NIL deal waiting for them if they enter the portal.

At least in the NFL there are written contracts. In college now every player is a free agent, not just every year but multiple times every year.

I know there is an automatic eye roll when rules and regulations are brought up, but I think at this point Congress needs to pass some laws. The NCAA screwed up royally on this, and it's probably too late for them to try and create some structures.
I've posted this several times, I think we are going to see lawsuits in the near future where a booster sues a kid for breach of contract, or something else stemming from backing out of a commitment, or a NIL deal gone bad. And, we are certainly going to see kids lose a ton of money, and then try and sue their handlers.