What Will The Portal And NIL Combined Become?

[Haywarduck]

I think a pandoras box has been opened in college football. What will that mean and can it ever be closed again?

 

The combination of the portal and the NIL may create even more of a tiered system.

 

I can see a bidding war for the truly elite talent. Programs may have boosters setting up NIL opportunities for any impactful players, freshman or transfers. Getting rated a 5* may mean 7 figures straight out of high school.

 

Only the top booster led programs may be able to recruit the 5* talent in the future. Some of these kids may take a pay cut when they reach the NFL. If a kid comes out of high school as a top 10 talent he is going to get huge money. If he disappoints, becomes fat, happy and lazy, or gets injured he may have reached his highest earning potential.

 

The portal may develop a farm type system out of the lower tiered programs. A freshman with an amazing season at a lower rated school could get a massive NIL opportunity based off one season of college football. These lower tiered programs will get robbed of their players, and be stuck as just feeder programs for the big boys.

 

The last item is the unscrupulous donors may be the ones who have the biggest impact. Paying players large sums will be the new way to build a program. No longer will be building academic centers or rehabilitation facilities be the large incentive to go to a school. It will be all about the short term, the money payed to players now. Those who have been playing in the shadows can now rule the programs.

 

Who knows what will happen. All we know is the future won't look like the past, nor the present. Big changes are happening, and the outcome can only guessed as to the ultimate impact. It doesn't look too good from where I am sitting.

[Charles Fischer]

It is hard to spin any positive from it, IMHO.  Fans at Oregon State and Washington State would ask why we would worry with our War Chest?  But we will not win the bidding wars often, as more attractive locations with the same NIL pay will win.

 

A super-league and a new Ivy League?  I am not sure that a middle ground would survive?  And of all schools...I would think that Stanford, with their alumni, could pay the most!

[Haywarduck]

I do think the era of the dynamics of successful programs will forever be altered. This has to be a bigger shift than the lowering of the scholarship numbers. 

 

A dollar competition for players changes everything. I don't think it will be as easy as who can spend the most. The old trailblazers showed that was a failed formula.

 

Recruiting in the new era will be a whole different ball game. A competitive culture will still be important and money can kill that.

[HappyToBeADuck]

What will happen is the million dollar question. For the super talented they will get the million dollar answer and maybe much more.

 

No real answers at this point. To early to tell. Some AD'S will lose their jobs if they don't get NILS lined up for next season. The leash just got shorter for coaches. If A & M boosters spent $30 million for a season then Jimbo is on the hot seat to bring a Natty to the trophy case. Right now hot.......

 

Some schools won't do anything. Just ride out their current TV deals and then see where the landscape is at that time. The snapshot will be a full blown album of good and bad shortly.

 

As a fan, I just wonder how many top 10 recruiting classes can Coach Lanning bring in without a solid NIL support system.  I guess the term "never in my lifetime " is no longer applicable to paying college athletes. 

[Principal Duck]

You have all hit on exactly the thoughts that have been going on in my mind. The one thing that I would add that I believe is another contributing factor to the changing landscape is the ever-increasing salaries paid to coaches that can lead to jumping ship. The days of having a Bellotti and tenured coaching staff who recruit athletes that stay at the school, play in their bowl games, and become names that we really root for may be coming to an end.

 

Imagine if an NFL player could simply say I'm going to play for a different team next year?  The inequities in the system that exist may devastate all of this even if it is well intended for the athlete.  What tools or governing bodies even exist at this point to regulate some of these factors?  

[Jon Joseph]

It will accelerate the pace of the coming Super League.

[Steven A]

Well, it has cured one defect with the NCAA, there are no more cheaters since there aren't any rules to break!

[Duck 1972]

I believe we should look at the lower tiers of CFB and emulate them.

 

Across the country we have league 1A for the super teams. Next is 1B for mid teams next is 1C for the lower schools. Etc if needed.

 

They all form new leagues and only compete against each other with their own championships. They could have their own bowls too to save as much as possible of the old.

 

You could move up and down if the league accepted you. This would help mitigate teams moving to try to steal a championship with better talent.

 

The product on the field would be better due equalization of team talent. 

 

The transfer portal could be mitigated by some means so a team doesn't get stripped of its best players every year.

 

These are some of my thoughts but now have to go do some chores. 

 

 

[Duck1984]

After the dust settles, the early investors in pay-to-play may be dissatisfied with their investments for a number of reasons.

- high school success may not prove an investable measure of college or NFL success.

 

- highly paid college players may not work hard once they have the taste of luxury.

 

- unpaid or underpaid players may be motivated to work harder and outshine the prima donnas.

 

Stupid money is easily lost, and must eventually become smarter to survive.

 

Once reason prevails, all could be well and better.

[Haywarduck]

I would like to see a faction of schools compete on the academic side. Give the athletes more school support and money for academics. A scholarship from Oregon could be good for 8 years, and a masters degree.

 

Most in the real world realize a bachelors degree is like a high school degree was decades ago. Schools should push the NCAA to allow them to give even more academic help. There is always those who do well without college, but those are the exception.

 

There could be a super league for non-students, and those who are truly into the NIL world. These kids could go to the Auburns and learn how to manage money, and just learn life skills while playing football. Both leagues could compete against each other if they wanted to, but some schools could choose to only compete against the academic schools. 

 

The student athlete league would be where kids go to school to get a degree and create a future beyond football. These student athletes could become the future of a more student athlete driven football. 

 

My main concern is students, at this age, aren't ready for the money coming their way. They need to learn how to work hard, compete as a team, and gain advanced life skills, go to college. The whole portal, NIL direction is going to leave even more kids without an education, and broken bodies.

 

Money destroys many who end up in the NFL, just wait for what the college game does to the kids with all the money. The pension is what saves many from the NFL, and there won't be a pension from college ball. Donors will drop these athletes as soon as they don't perform, probably quicker.

 

It would be a tough sell, but many parents would be for a safer, more academically driven athletic experience. I think there should be some creativity put into this whole formula, by the innovative schools. The academic side of the student athlete should be a focus too!

[Duck 1972]

Agreed. The pay for play is on the field training to earn a spot in the NFL.  The college has the advantage so I would make scholarships means tested against NIL money. These players would be walk ons.

 

And then cut down and untie roster numbers from scholarships so no one can stockpile.  Maybe only allow the portal to be used to replace a position with someone of the same position that u lost. 

[Jon Joseph]

On 1/9/2022 at 6:20 PM, Haywarduck said:

I would like to see a faction of schools compete on the academic side. Give the athletes more school support and money for academics. A scholarship from Oregon could be good for 8 years, and a masters degree.

 

Most in the real world realize a bachelors degree is like a high school degree was decades ago. Schools should push the NCAA to allow them to give even more academic help. There is always those who do well without college, but those are the exception.

 

There could be a super league for non-students, and those who are truly into the NIL world. These kids could go to the Auburns and learn how to manage money, and just learn life skills while playing football. Both leagues could compete against each other if they wanted to, but some schools could choose to only compete against the academic schools. 

 

The student athlete league would be where kids go to school to get a degree and create a future beyond football. These student athletes could become the future of a more student athlete driven football. 

 

My main concern is students, at this age, aren't ready for the money coming their way. They need to learn how to work hard, compete as a team, and gain advanced life skills, go to college. The whole portal, NIL direction is going to leave even more kids without an education, and broken bodies.

 

Money destroys many who end up in the NFL, just wait for what the college game does to the kids with all the money. The pension is what saves many from the NFL, and there won't be a pension from college ball. Donors will drop these athletes as soon as they don't perform, probably quicker.

 

It would be a tough sell, but many parents would be for a safer, more academically driven athletic experience. I think there should be some creativity put into this whole formula, by the innovative schools. The academic side of the student athlete should be a focus too!

 

In one form or another you will see 'this,' sooner rather than later. The questions? Where does Oregon fit in 'this?" Where does the Alliance fit in 'this?'