Just like in pro sports, this will happen in college football as well. Players are going to get together and a school is going to pay them on it. Why don't we take advantage of it first. (Appears USC might be ahead of everyone on this one if Riley is really taking all the players and recruits with him that my sooner fan is hearing). I'm sure there is some type of "tampering" but since NCAA is dead, lets go after it. The 3K semester payout isn't going to move the needle, need our big money guys to step up. Since it appears we are saving about 5 million a year on a head coach, lets use that 5 million and go after the best players in the country, especially in the trenches. All of the top players have agents today, a few phone calls from our boosters and should be able to make it work. We should have room for at least 10 transfers this year, go get top 3 OL, top 2 edge rush guys, top inside LB, 2 top cover corners, 1 WR, and a QB. We are top 5 next year. Rinse.Repeat after these 10 go in round 1 after season.
As outlandish as this initially sounds, it actually makes perfect sense. I'm inclined to believe it's a model that will be developed and refined in the very near future. Our move to the SEC will only serve to hasten this process.
I suggested a long time ago that we should pay recruits, especially the better ones, starting at a million dollars. Lets not play around
This is why the Big 4 conferences should secede from the NCAA. Set some basic rules, and let the big boys duke it out.
Surprised that hasn't happened already. Some T. Boone Pickins-ish guy can just pay everyone a de facto salary to come to his favorite school, in exchange for signing a few tshirts or something to make it technically within the rules.
I'm sure it's happening already. Heck, there was a group of Husker fans passing the hat to raise some money for a kicker earlier this season. Throw the players name on a T-Shirt and call it an endorsement. You don't have to actually sell any t-shirts as the player simply makes a flat licensing fee. That's how Master P's son at Tennessee St. supposedly pulled in $1M.
This is all legal now. As I said predicted in this post over a year ago, College Football has changed in a big way. The changes have just started, and it will continue to change in the years to come. Paying players through boosters giving NIL contracts to players will just continue to be used more and more by all DI teams. This is now what college football has become. However, do you think players actually care about the school anymore, or want to play for "school pride"? Absolutely not. They care (or will soon care) about which schools will pay them more. Do fans care as much about players who just want to go to the school with the biggest payday? That remains to be seen. I certainly don't care as much. I'm actually surprised that the Longhorns have not thrived in this new NIL environment. I would have thought that Texas has some of the wealthiest boosters who could afford to pay each player a large sum of money. Maybe the wealthy boosters still need time to get organized in order to do it more effectively/efficiently. It has only been a year, after all. Maybe the wealthy boosters are saving their money for Longhorn teams that are worth giving money to. This year's team was obviously not that. To attract top talent, wealthy boosters need to organize and let it be known that any 5-star recruit (or transfer) will get at least a certain amount of money, any 4-star recruit (or transfer) will get at least a certain amount of money, etc. Recruits or transfers have to know that they will be getting a certain amount of money in order to have that play into their decision process. If I was a wealthy booster (which I am not), I would stop giving to the University any money beyond the money required for my season tickets. I would use all remaining money for NIL deals with players. That seems like the best use of booster money, to be honest. Much better than giving money to the school directly. My post from last year: College football is about to change in a BIG way when players will be able to profit from their name, image and likeness, so long as the college or university they attend does not pay them directly. In the near future, players will pick which college will give the the best chance of getting paid the most. Nationally known players, especially good quarterbacks, will probably sign national deals with big sponsors. These players will go to the schools that give them the best chance for wide national exposure. All the other players, however, who aren't likely to be nationally known, or who play positions that do not lend themselves to wide national exposure (like offensive linemen), will pick the University based on the best chance for the school's boosters to pay them. These payments will obstensibely be for advertisements or promotions, but in reality the advertisements and promotions will probably not be for business reasons, but will really be for the boosters to put money in the hands of the players. Texas may in fact benefit more than most schools under this kind of system, since it has some wealthy boosters. But, don't expect any players to come to a University for the love of the University any more. In a few years, it will be all about the money for the players. That is why I hold out no hope for the future of college football.
