Strike 3: Big changes are on the horizon for college football. One of those changes can’t get here soon enough for Jay Norvell and the Colorado State Rams.
If a proposed settlement in the House vs. NCAA court case is approved – as expected – by a federal judge in April, one change that will happen on July 1 is that national letter of intent agreements will be replaced by Name, Image and Likeness contracts, which will detail how much an athlete will receive in NIL and revenue-sharing compensation from the school, and for how long.
In other words, schools may be able to start signing athletes to multi-year contracts.
For a school like Colorado State – a Group of Five level program that has been used by more than a few athletes the past couple of years as a stepping stone to bigger, more lucrative programs – having a player under contract and not just watching him leave for the transfer portal could provide at least a little bit of relief.
That’s not to say that CSU and other similar programs aren’t going to be damaged by much of what is included in the settlement, including the proposed new 105 player roster and scholarship limit, because they are. It’s going to be very strenuous for CSU to fully fund those additional 20 football scholarships, for example, and still muster up the approximately $20 million needed to fully fund – on the same level as Power Four conference schools – their new athletes’ compensation pool. It’s a safe bet that the only programs that will be able to do all this and not bat an eye are in the Big 10 and the Southeastern Conference. The rest of college football, with the possible exception of Notre Dame and a couple of current Athletic Coast Conference schools, will probably settle for something short of full funding.
And in the end, they won’t be able to compete.
At least Norvell and his ever-changing coaching staff won’t have to continue to re-recruit their entire roster every off season, so there’s that. Some players will already be locked in.
It would have been nice to be able to lock in a few key defensive guys on multi-year deals prior to the arrival of new defensive coordinator Tyson Summers. CSU has watched key defenders Chase Wilson, Gabe Kirschke, Boum Jock and Nuer Gatkuoth all walk away. Also hitting the portal were wide receivers Caleb Goodie and Jamari Person, along with talented (but under-used) running back Damian Henderson II.
Since he didn’t get the chance to “re-recruit” those players, Coach Summers in particular is going to have to build next season’s Rams defense almost from scratch.
You can’t really blame the players under the current set up. How many of us would turn down a promotion that comes with a bigger paycheck? The days of loyalty to a school or a coach – while it still exists in a few cases – are waning. They’re being replaced by simple money-driven contracts, just like in the NFL.
Of course players will have to agree to sign the deals. Letters of Intent, which are no longer a thing as of this year, were only binding for one year – and really not even that. If a player found out he didn’t like a school as much as he thought he would when he signed his LOI could decide to hit the transfer portal after the first week of classes. Now, if a player wants to leave, he may be subject to a contract “buy out,” much like coaches are. That’s probably going to slow the parade to the portal. At least we should all hope so.
You see where this is heading.
The sport is in upheaval, and the “middle class” of college athletics, which is where CSU resides – is bound to feel the brunt of the changes. The “haves” will no doubt end up widening the gap even more on the “have nots” over time. A super league is coming in some form, and all that remains to be determined is where CSU and the new Pac-12 end up in the pecking order when the dust finally settles. If it ever truly settles.
