Troy Aikman did a Q&A with The Athletic this week and he was asked about Lane Kiffin but talked about NIL. Hereās the question with the full answer:
On a totally different topic: How do you view Lane Kiffin moving from Ole Miss to LSU?
College football has become the Wild West, as everybody knows. Forget about Lane Kiffin for a minute, but starting with NIL, there just has been no guardrails. Iām on the National Football Foundation Board, so I hear firsthand from a lot of the commissioners and athletic directors and the people involved in all of that. Itās gotta get cleaned up, first and foremost.
I was a transfer. I went from Oklahoma to UCLA, and Iāve always felt that if a coach is able to pick up and leave, that a player should have the same opportunity if a coach leaves. Whatās happened obviously over the years since I got out of college football is that in recent years with NIL, thereās been no accountability on the players. So the players pick up and now theyāre leaving all the time whereas before it was typically the coach. The player used to have to sit out a year. Now, the players can up and go regardless of whether or not theyāve been paid. Itās every man for himself.
I think it has created somewhat of a culture with that mentality to where the idea of team, whether itās from the staff or from the players, it just seems like itās a harder thing to put together.
Lane Kiffinās motivation? Is it his thoughts that itās a better opportunity for him at LSU? Possibly. Is it money? Possibly. Is it lifestyle? Possibly. I canāt answer any of those questions. But whatever his motivation is, he feels like LSU is the right place for him. So I donāt fault him for that at all. I know thereās always hard feelings. Ole Miss did not want to lose Lane Kiffin. Once he made the decision to leave, now heās a pariah. Letās get this guy just as far away from us as we can. I understand that as well. Everybody gets a little bit jaded.
Where Iām at is I think thereās gotta be some leadership at the very top that kind of cleans all of this up. Starting with players that accept money, thereās gotta be some accountability and responsibility on their behalf to have to stick with a program. I gave money to a kid. I wonāt mention who. Iāve done it one time at UCLA. Never met the young man. He was there a year, he left after the year. I wrote a sizable check, and he went to another school. I didnāt even get so much as a thank you note. Itās one of those deals to where Iām done with NIL. I mean, I wanna see UCLA be successful, but Iām done with it.
Full link (sub required): Troy Aikmanās guiding principle for āMonday Night Footballā: āI try to be fairā - The Athletic
Counter argument.
Letās just keep going with no guard rails and let it all sort itself out based on financial reality.
Why do we need guard rails?
college football is more popular than ever right?
Thatās all you hear. But to Aikmanās point about not even getting a thank you, that would rub me the wrong way as well, itās like a chancellor telling you your donations donāt matter because it isnāt enough. I know some of these kids are trying to do good things with the money but most are ungrateful.
As I suspected. Just another attention seeking loud mouth ex-athlete.
Per Bolch, āThe player in question didnāt know who funded his NIL deal, only that it was coming from the teamās collective, Men of Westwood. It was standard practice for players not to know which donors or alumni contributed NIL funds that were distributed to the team.ā
Instead of receiving thanks directly from the player, Aikman was thanked by the Men of Westwood leadership, head coach Chip Kelly, and athletic director Martin Jarmond, according to the Times.
The belief that all the players werenāt getting paid back in 70ās or 80ās is unreal. And the overused BS story of Chris Webber not able to buy McDonaldās when his jersey was being sold is as true as selling the Brooklyn Bridge. Ed Orgeron said it best, we now pay through the front door, not the back door.
This is the new world and itās the wild west but I think its fair for the players to be able to switch year to year with no year sit out penalty since the coaches they sign with can jump from school to school or pros.
The school being exited needs to be compensated for its developmental investment.
If the player is a student first then the kids should be able to transfer when they want and the scholarship should Be adequate compensation.
If the player is an employee first and they want to get paid to play then rules should come into play including restrictions on transferring, contracts that have to be bought out, transfer fees and more.
Correct. When coaches leave there is usually a buyout clause. Same principle applies here.
This is going to be fun to watch for the whole NIL landscape. Now there is enough money for agents and lawyers to get involved.
The lawyers have been involved all along. Afterall, thatās how everything got to where it is right now.
The scary thing is there are no grown ups anywhere who can or will fix this messā¦ Itās going to be high drama until it utterly collapses if no one does.
A post was merged into an existing topic: NCAA Eligibility rules challenged