Everything that’s been going on the last couple of days has me thinking about a lot. Just venting my two cents 
I’m mainly referring to the greediness of grown men, from head coaches, to athletic directors, to chancellors, to presidents, to network executives; all allowing each of their superiority complexes to ruin why many of us (myself included) loved college football so much, and now think it’s been irreversibly damaged.
ESPN started this more than a decade ago, when they decided it was in their best interest to become cheerleaders for the SEC; so much so, that they literally created a brand new network so that they could cover them, 24/7. And it paid off. It generated them millions.
So then, over the next several years, FOX tries to play catchup and go a similar route with the Big 10 Network. Because of course, nobody likes being second fiddle knowing their competitor is making more money than them. So they invest more money… and more money…
Meanwhile, head coaches are bolting left and right for the next-highest paying gig (with money from the above-mentioned network investments). Promising a kid he would help him graduate & get him to the next level on one day, but then signing a multi-million dollar deal to be at University X instead on the very next day. Hey it’s just business though, right? I mean, who can really blame someone for taking a pay raise somewhere else. After all, it’s not like they CHOSE to be a head coach at a university because they genuinely wanted to help turn kids become adults or anything like that. For better or worse, they’re just looking for their next payday or promotion. If they cared about education they’d be a professor instead lol.
All the while, the student athletes are getting the short end of the stick time and time again. Finally, within the last 2 years, they start to make headway in getting a more-fair seat at the table… they can finally earn money off of their own name (but, keep in mind, those same head coaches and networks are STILL making more off of them, by the way). And then, shortly after that, the college sports world changed forever? The race for the “I Have More Money Than You” title officially begins NOW?
The most positive changes over the last 2 years of student athlete empowerment with NIL are the byproduct of the last 10+ years of NCAA’s greedy ameturism posture, head coaches greedy career moves, and networks greedy business practices.
The reason we now on the verge of having a 2-conference NFL farm system as college football, is because money talks. And when it does… most people tend to listen.
I’m mainly referring to the greediness of grown men, from head coaches, to athletic directors, to chancellors, to presidents, to network executives; all allowing each of their superiority complexes to ruin why many of us (myself included) loved college football so much, and now think it’s been irreversibly damaged.
ESPN started this more than a decade ago, when they decided it was in their best interest to become cheerleaders for the SEC; so much so, that they literally created a brand new network so that they could cover them, 24/7. And it paid off. It generated them millions.
So then, over the next several years, FOX tries to play catchup and go a similar route with the Big 10 Network. Because of course, nobody likes being second fiddle knowing their competitor is making more money than them. So they invest more money… and more money…
Meanwhile, head coaches are bolting left and right for the next-highest paying gig (with money from the above-mentioned network investments). Promising a kid he would help him graduate & get him to the next level on one day, but then signing a multi-million dollar deal to be at University X instead on the very next day. Hey it’s just business though, right? I mean, who can really blame someone for taking a pay raise somewhere else. After all, it’s not like they CHOSE to be a head coach at a university because they genuinely wanted to help turn kids become adults or anything like that. For better or worse, they’re just looking for their next payday or promotion. If they cared about education they’d be a professor instead lol.
All the while, the student athletes are getting the short end of the stick time and time again. Finally, within the last 2 years, they start to make headway in getting a more-fair seat at the table… they can finally earn money off of their own name (but, keep in mind, those same head coaches and networks are STILL making more off of them, by the way). And then, shortly after that, the college sports world changed forever? The race for the “I Have More Money Than You” title officially begins NOW?
The most positive changes over the last 2 years of student athlete empowerment with NIL are the byproduct of the last 10+ years of NCAA’s greedy ameturism posture, head coaches greedy career moves, and networks greedy business practices.
The reason we now on the verge of having a 2-conference NFL farm system as college football, is because money talks. And when it does… most people tend to listen.
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