Guest Opinion: I’m Out

Note: Here is a guest post by a frustrated (former) college football fan

Guest Opinion: I’m Out

As the college football season opens this weekend, I’ve come to realize that I’m out. Maybe it all started five years ago when the business enterprise that is the UT Athletic Department insisted that I give up my premium parking and seats. Under the guise of renovation for an improved gameday experience, UT offered me the privilege of inferior seats at four times the price. “This is necessary to remain competitive.” I paraphrase but that’s essentially what Danny White’s letter said. Bull. It was about squeezing more dollars out of the sixteen inches where my butt used to sit and the nine feet where my automobile parked. And ever since I’ve watched UT play good teams from the comfort of my own sofa. The view is better and its air conditioned. I have attended a few games against lesser opponents but only out of the generosity of friends and I usually leave before half-time.

But this year is different. I’m only vaguely aware that the Vols are opening against the mighty Furman Paladins. I don’t know the name of our quarterback, much less the name of any other player on the team. I don’t know the name of any assistant coach. I don’t know what channel the game is on or kickoff time. I’m honestly more interested in Baylor/Auburn and Clemson/LSU, but I don’t know the names of any of their players either.

I should explain that I have been an avid college football fan since childhood. I enjoyed the college game far more than NFL football because it felt different, more pure than the professional game. I admit that I have known, everyone should have known, that D1 college players have been professionals for a long time with scholarships, health benefits, side jobs that required no work, sinecures for parents and assistant coaching jobs for high school coaches. And $100 handshakes and bundles of cash in Chik-Fil-A bags. But I was self-delusional and chose to believe that despite the shenanigans, those were our guys out there, playing for kith and kin, giving their all for Tennessee and bleeding orange.

No more. Players are now truly mercenary, performing for the highest bidder and leaving at the end of each season for a better opportunity. In the era of NIL, the transfer portal, NIL collectives and agents run amok, college football is now overtly transactional with a year-end game of high-stakes musical chairs. Those aren’t our guys on the field any more. They’re not the same guys we had last year. And last year’s guys weren’t the same guys we had the year before. It’s much worse than the NFL where players have contracts and agents have a rule book.

That’s my perception of the state of college football and it will never go back to the way it was. So I propose we be clear-eyed and allow the college game to evolve to create the most entertaining product possible. 

A few ideas:

Why are there more than one hundred teams when only the top teams are competitive? The top thirty teams should break away from the NCAA altogether. SEC and BIG10, are you listening? The game would be more competitive and the television rights would be more valuable. I can already see the advertisements for the BIG10/SEC Ticket offering exclusive access to all games for only $480. As a bonus, an expanded playoff with seeding earned on the field would eliminate all debate and generate new revenue.

In rebuttal to last week’s headlines and knee-jerk rulemaking, allow players to go back and forth between the NFL and the BIG10/SEC. They’re all professionals who should be allowed to play for the team that offers the best opportunity? As an aside, I’m confident the new rule will soon be tested in court.

The BIG10/SEC would seek exemptions from Congress that, like the NFL, allow teams to lock in players with enforceable contracts thereby ending the annual revolving door. In addition to the current benefits, players will gain access to retirement plans,  accounting and tax services. But going to class is optional. If a player wants an education, great, it’s free. But most won’t want to invest their spare time studying and we should quit pretending that modern student athletes actually attend class like regular students. Salary cap and smaller rosters? Of course. Endorsements? Sure thing. Five years to play four? No need for that. Diego Pavia can continue to play for the Commodores into his forties, at which time, he should have a plenty of money saved to retire.

Leave the rest of college football and all other sports, except men’s basketball, under the purview of the NCAA where the current rules remain. The BIG10/SEC would draft older, seasoned players of a minimum age from the NCAA where all high school recruiting would occur. The draft event would be televised, also generating new revenue. 

If you really want to make it fun, add a European Football element whereby the worst teams in the BIG10/SEC would be demoted and the best NCAA teams would receive a promotion. Goodbye Kentucky, hello Utah! Wouldn’t that make for interesting end of season games?

But won’t that make the BIG10/SEC just like a minor league for the NFL? Yup. It won’t be the game of our youth, but those who want the illusion of purity can still watch Tulane take on Duke and see some athletes who may actually attend class.

My titular premise remains, with a qualifier; as a fan, I’m out. I’ll continue to watch college football with detachment. But I won’t root against the bad guys in Gainesville and Tuscaloosa. I won’t even hope a house falls on wicked Lane Kiffin, and he deserves a healthy dose of antipathy! And I won’t root passionately for my home team because I just don’t care much anymore. Now I’m off to watch Kiffin’s home opener against Clemson or maybe US Open Tennis.

Wade