It’s no secret that the new Wild Wild West world of NIL and the transfer portal helped drive Nick Saban to his early and abrupt retirement.
The 2024 college football season is going to look a little bizarre not having Saban or Jim Harbaugh on the sidelines – not to mention the continued absence of Urban Meyer.
I’d love to hear Jim Harbaugh, Nick Saban and Mickey Mouse discuss the future of name image and likeness in 2024 https://t.co/VPNIqAQd28
— Eric Mintzer (@MintSports) December 28, 2023
Speaking of legendary college football coaches, the beloved Bob Stoops recently spoke about the current structure of the sport and all of the challenges facing it.
Stoops, the former head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners, minced no words in his critique of the NCAA’s management.
“One thing I think most college football fans can agree on is how poorly the NCAA is run. There is no consistency, and several teams have been rumored to be doing corrupt things without punishment,” Stoops said on 92.3 The Fan’s Afternoon Drive.
Plenty of coaches have complained about NIL and the transfer portal. Now, former Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops is weighing in.
Stoops says the current state of college football is "not very good" and not sustainable.
MORE: https://t.co/jKtqYxragq pic.twitter.com/YOaariWO4I
— OutKick (@Outkick) March 24, 2024
“It’s not very good. I don’t think it’s very good for anybody,” Stoops continued. “Is it sustainable? In my eyes, it’s not.”
“It’s a pro model right now with college football,” Stoops added. ”It’s a pro model. So, the NCAA isn’t governing it.”
“We need to have a commissioner. We have to have salary caps on what you can spend. You have to have contracts, on and on. I don’t see how you cannot if it’s going to continue this way.”
I don’t know about the salary caps or contracts but there definitely needs to be rules that are actually enforceable outside of this joke of NCAA.
— IversonSixx (@iversonsixx) March 25, 2024
Highlighting the contentious issues surrounding NIL regulations and the transfer portal, Stoops labeled the latter as probably the worst thing in college football right now.
He lamented the adverse effects of transfers with immediate eligibility, which often disrupt team dynamics, particularly during critical periods like bowl season.
Schools like ou cheated for decades. Now they don’t like the disruption in the status quo so they are screaming for someone to fix it and return to the way things used to be.
— Matt Vogt (@MatthewWVogt) March 25, 2024
Stoops is far from alone in his criticism.
Most coaches, if not all of them, want strong guardrails put in place and an overall better and more effective structure to what’s allowed and what’s not.
In many ways, everyone is just waiting for common sense to take over.
(But as we all know, common sense is usually not all that common.)
'We need to have a commissioner': Bob Stoops calls for a college football commissioner: https://t.co/UMtEbvRZmI #Sooners
Brilliant article, so true! The NCAA is in a fetal position and needs to be booted from KC, or wherever they hide out, and shipped to California.
— Thomas Inman (@TinmanSooner1) March 26, 2024
What do you think needs to be done?
What guardrails need to be put into place to help prevent the train from completely going off the tracks in college football?
Would it be a good idea to break off from the NCAA?
Would you be in favor of a salary cap system?
How about a Commissioner to oversee everything?
I hear Saban has some free time on his hands … Would he be a perfect fit???