All you need to know

[Turfdawg67]

Well ... As a matter of fact I've said similar about my industry relative to compensation. Hadn't turned anything down for the janitor yet tho LOL. When in Rome yada, yada, yada.

This is a much bigger topic overall. Another mantra we've been indoctrinated with is everything has to "grow, grow, grow". Now ... Everything is consolidating towards the top. CFB merging into mega conferences is a microcosm of the consolidation of huge corporations gobbling up smaller ones and/or merging with other huge corporations, which eliminates almost all competition. Before long, a few banks and corporations gonna control every aspect of our lives.

Deep topic. Better stop before Scooba boots me.

ETA: My industry is changing very rapidly in a similar manner as CFB.

All this started slowly many decades ago and has been building momentum while also getting the masses used to it. I picked up on it in my industry 25 or so years ago. Now, it's massive and rolling downhill very, very fast.

It started when the colleges could start making major money. It's taken a couple decades, but the decline started then. Big TV contracts, then salaries, now paying the players... it's over folks. Soon there will be a players union and then we'll have the Auburn/Yella Wood Tigers... and finally The Yella Tigers playing at Auburn, AL.

[RockyDog]

Georgia is claiming that they had Caleb Downs all but signed until his family came back and told them they wanted 1.5 million. Supposedly their offer was 500k max so he took what Ohio State was giving.

Sounds like bullshit, but nobody is going to listen to the Bama and Georgia crying and have any sympathy when they have gotten whichever 5 stars they have wanted for years.

[DawgFromOxford]

Remember when he was dabbling with Texas and Bama gave him a huge raise?

The real "return on investment" is showing up now. I guess all those boosters (and others at other universities) didn't Bank enough coin from earlier investment returns and that's why there are NIL funds college administrators are now begging the fans to contribute to. They looking for us to bail their asses out now LOL.

Sorta like 2008 financial crisis. Who paid to bail out the bankers? And what did they STILL keep doing after being bailed out?

Big money makes big mistakes and then they turn to working folks to bail them out. Happens every time.

ETA: Probably more blame on Boosters than Saban tho.

Both can be true. Saban made great money but it pales in comparison to what Bama made off of him. And both greatly profited off college kids who hardly made a dime if any.

There?s a new expense in the business model. Like any business they?re trying to pass the expense off to the consumer. You can hate but that?s capitalism

[RockyDog]

Both can be true. Saban made great money but it pales in comparison to what Bama made off of him. And both greatly profited off college kids who hardly made a dime if any.

There?s a new expense in the business model. Like any business they?re trying to pass the expense off to the consumer. You can hate but that?s capitalism

Then stop the charade and give the “poor kids” a piece of the pie and stop with the bullshit of telling Average Joe Fan “for a measly 20 bucks a month you can help the collective buy players”

[dawgday166]

Both can be true. Saban made great money but it pales in comparison to what Bama made off of him. And both greatly profited off college kids who hardly made a dime if any.

There?s a new expense in the business model. Like any business they?re trying to pass the expense off to the consumer. You can hate but that?s capitalism

I guess I kinda blame Saban for setting the precedent that has now evolved into the coaching salaries, buyouts, etc. ... which is what I think the players probably notice the most. I also blame the SEC and NCAA cause they could have self regulated all this IMO. I saw the beginning of the end back when this first started escalating probably around 10 or 12 maybe 15 or so years ago.

Now we're here. And I've been kinda pissed about that too, as everyone is.

"Capitalism" is a broad term. There are different forms of capitalism. What we're practicing now isn't a good one. Not gonna get into that discussion and ain't trying to win any debates either.

I've watched a lot of threads for a long time now about NIL before finally chiming in. IMO it ain't the "greedy" players' fault. They are just following the examples of the "adults" (University Presidents/ADs/Coaches, Boosters, CEOs, etc). And they're going "crazy" with it ... just like the adults have been doing for almost 2 decades or more now.

ETA: Seriously ... how many talking heads (who mostly don't know shit) making well over 6 figures and some making 7 figures are actually needed on ESPN and SEC Network talking about college sports (but specifically football) nonstop. Just an example.

I watch none of them anymore. I only watch games now and very few of those. MSU and key SEC games mostly. Then the CFP if I think it's a good matchup. I watch none of the hype leading up to big games. Same in NFL. I'm very selective in what I actually sit down and watch.

[DawgFromOxford]

Then stop the charade and give the ?poor kids? a piece of the pie and stop with the bullshit of telling Average Joe Fan ?for a measly 20 bucks a month you can help the collective buy players?

I can get behind this. NIL is a joke in its current form. But the schools aren?t going to willingly handover money they?ve been making off the backs of these kids if they don?t have to.

I also don?t fault the kids for trying to get as much of the pie as they can. Most of them will never go on to play professional sports and I imagine a fair chunk of players will take a pay cut when they leave college to take a real job

The current system sucks. No way around it

[Todd4State]

This doesn't really surprise me even if it is exaggerated to some degree. Alabama has always wanted the elite of the elite in football as far as recruiting goes and to their credit they have historically made moves to bring in those types of players. Part of that was bringing in Saban to start with.

The guys that they target are the phenoms who show out at the Under Armour combines and have been known prospects for years and are legit 5 star guys. And as a result many of those players in this era want money to perform in college. In the hundred dollar hand shake era I don't think any of them were commanding a million dollars like some of them are now though. If Alabama's NIL is less developed than we realize they may very well have built themselves a house made of cards. And if that happens it wouldn't shock me if the bottom falls out on them soon for a short period of time.

[AROB44]

In the hundred dollar hand shake era

I was around in the $20 hand shake era......Bob Tyler era. And $20 meant a lot to me and to the players I shook hands with.

[R2Dawg]

Can't blame Saban if that's true.

I read where Saban is going to stick around and have input to the football program. Isn't that sort of a slap in the face to DeBoer?

Yeah that is Bama fans coming off crack cocaine. The withdrawals will be epic, wait and see. That is why the narrative Saban will still be around to make sure he trains new coach so nothing changes. If DeBoer wasn't making so much money, I'd feel sorry for him. When they go 8-4, get the popcorn.

[R2Dawg]

I guess I kinda blame Saban for setting the precedent that has now evolved into the coaching salaries, buyouts, etc. ... which is what I think the players probably notice the most. I also blame the SEC and NCAA cause they could have self regulated all this IMO. I saw the beginning of the end back when this first started escalating probably around 10 or 12 maybe 15 or so years ago.

Now we're here. And I've been kinda pissed about that too, as everyone is.

"Capitalism" is a broad term. There are different forms of capitalism. What we're practicing now isn't a good one. Not gonna get into that discussion and ain't trying to win any debates either.

I've watched a lot of threads for a long time now about NIL before finally chiming in. IMO it ain't the "greedy" players' fault. They are just following the examples of the "adults" (University Presidents/ADs/Coaches, Boosters, CEOs, etc). And they're going "crazy" with it ... just like the adults have been doing for almost 2 decades or more now.

ETA: Seriously ... how many talking heads (who mostly don't know shit) making well over 6 figures and some making 7 figures are actually needed on ESPN and SEC Network talking about college sports (but specifically football) nonstop. Just an example.

I watch none of them anymore. I only watch games now and very few of those. MSU and key SEC games mostly. Then the CFP if I think it's a good matchup. I watch none of the hype leading up to big games. Same in NFL. I'm very selective in what I actually sit down and watch.

Can't blame Saban because Bama wanted to pay him more every year. Who is to blame? Scared fans/alumni etc who thought he might leave so pay him more. Arrogant Bama fans thinking they are the best and will pay the most to stay the best even if if means selling their mobile home and beef jerky stand at the fairgrounds.

[BuckyIsAB****]

If you want it to change, don't watch or attend

I went to one game this year. Least I have attended since my dad started bringing me in elementary school

[BuckyIsAB****]

I dont see how they do it.

You dont do it. They arent coaching them they are begging them

[dawgday166]

Can't blame Saban because Bama wanted to pay him more every year. Who is to blame? Scared fans/alumni etc who thought he might leave so pay him more. Arrogant Bama fans thinking they are the best and will pay the most to stay the best even if if means selling their mobile home and beef jerky stand at the fairgrounds.

LOL .. Them Bammers certainly will do anything for a Natty. Can't argue with what you said.

I remember when Saban was toying with Texas a little. I thought at the time that he was just tired of the expectations by Bama fans. They have a meltdown if they lose one game.

[SPMT]

Remember when he was dabbling with Texas and Bama gave him a huge raise?

The real "return on investment" is showing up now. I guess all those boosters (and others at other universities) didn't Bank enough coin from earlier investment returns and that's why there are NIL funds college administrators are now begging the fans to contribute to. They looking for us to bail their asses out now LOL.

Sorta like 2008 financial crisis. Who paid to bail out the bankers? And what did they STILL keep doing after being bailed out?

Big money makes big mistakes and then they turn to working folks to bail them out. Happens every time.

ETA: Probably more blame on Boosters than Saban tho.

I don?t believe he was ever dabbling with Texas anymore than Sark was dabbling with Bama this year. Maybe Sexton threw a little out there but Saban was never leaving Bama.

[SPMT]

His daughter let it slip that he was retiring at the end of the year months ago.

Yeah. He was retiring this year. Many people were talking about it during the season. He never complained about NIL, in fact I think he was pleased with that. He complained about the transfer portal as he should.

[dawgday166]

Yeah. He was retiring this year. Many people were talking about it during the season. He never complained about NIL, in fact I think he was pleased with that. He complained about the transfer portal as he should.

I thought he got into a little bit of a feud with Jimbo over how much TAM was paying players.

[Snowman79]

The NFL should take athletes straight from HS. That might be a good start to ending some of this ridiculousness.

[phatdog]

The NFL should take athletes straight from HS. That might be a good start to ending some of this ridiculousness.

I think that's next. No reason NFL or other pro football can't start signing players out of high shool. Players can get paid and not have to go to class. No limits on the time they can spend developing into NFL players. Once this happens the colleges may go back to some sort of amateurism.

[the_real_MSU_is_us]

At the end the day, all coaches face the same "give me more money or I leave" potential from their whole roster each year. Hard as that must be to manage, at least all coaches have to deal with it. Well, all rosters with players worth a damn anyway (Vandy doesn't have to worry about their player leaving for 700k deals lol).

Because of that, NIL seems to simultaneously strip poor schools of their talent AND strip big schools of their depth as these backups can leave and be starters elsewhere.

Ultimately, I think NIL injects a new aspect to how coaches need to evaluate "talent": How patient is this player, and are they delusional about their own talents? Rara was delusional, and left to ride the pine at UGA. But plenty of players are sane enough to take coaching and a reasonable NIL deal. Just another issue coaches have to work around BUT since all coaches deal with it I guess I can't have too much sympathy about it. Not at the big schools with lots of NIL anyway.

Like for all those 60 Bama players threatening to leave, there's probably 60 good players from UTEP, Washintong, ect entering the portal Bama can replace them with. It's a mess but it's not bad for Bama on the net.

[Schultzy]

If we had NIL with the old transfer rules it would be much more manageable of course, and none of the current rules are ever getting reversed even for $ sake. Ideology trumps everything.

Has the NCAA or any of the universities made a good decision in the last 50 years?