Brian Kelly Is Calling For Major College Football Change
BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA – DECEMBER 01: Brian Kelly speaks after being introduced as the head football coach of the LSU Tigers during a news conference at Tiger Stadium on December 01, 2021 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman / Getty Images)
Lately, we’ve heard a number of college football coaches complain about the current state of NIL. Brian Kelly is one of them.
During an appearance on the “Off the Bench” podcast, Kelly expressed his reservations with how things have unfolded regarding NIL and the transfer portal.
“Certainly, I’m in favor of the student-athletes promoting their brands and having their name, image and likeness,” Kelly said. “We’re in a situation now, it’s unintended consequences. I do not know that anybody thought that we’d get to the point where seniors in high school are having multimillion dollar contracts.
“We’re looking at guys entering the transfer portal because they want to get paid to play. That’s not what Name, Image and Likeness was intended to do.”
Kelly is not the only coach to lament the lack of regulation in place. Sports Illustrated’s Ross Dellenger wrote extensively last week about the calls from college athletics leaders for the NCAA to implement some type of guidelines.
“There’s going to have to be corrections. It’s not a sustainable model from that perspective,” Kelly said Friday. “I want to recruit, develop and retain my players. I’m not a big believer of a freshman coming in, not having played a down, and getting a big contract, that’s not good for your locker room. Can they get travel expenses for their families and relocation expenses? I think that’s reasonable. But the big contracts we’re seeing, they’re not sustainable and they’re not healthy for your football team. “
Of course, some of what we’re seeing with the NIL world and booster collectives is just a legal manifestation of things that were happening “under the table” for years. There’s always been some kind of “pay for play” going on.
However, it does seem like the changes that Kelly and others are asking for could be coming at some point. There’s been a big enough outcry to suggest regulation is on its way.
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