Is Kadyn Proctor the new face of what’s wrong with college football? He sure is.
No one can argue against player movement. Not when college coaches can leave for jobs anytime they want and we are seeing Athletic Directors jump ship months after signing extensions or taking previous jobs. If the “adults” can do it, players can as well.
And no one can argue against NIL either, as universities have been making millions on the backs of players who were deemed “amateurs” for decades. If you want to be that guy who argues that “tuition is payment” in the day and age of multi-billion-dollar TV deals, go ahead — but that makes you a moron.
But with these two things being said, there is a right way and a wrong way to do things. Leaving a situation for NIL like QB Caleb Williams and WR Jordan Addison did is one thing. And multi-time transfers like QB JT Daniels illustrated are another. Go for the bag. Go for the best fit. It’s all cool. But when you do it multiple times and between the same two schools, you’re what’s wrong with college football.
Kadyn Proctor needs to learn what a high road is sometime soon. He has to learn how to treat his character and ethics as well as he does his wallet. And he needs to be a lesson to everyone else. You can commit to a school and decommit; that’s life. You can chase a bag these days and capitalize on your Name, Image, and Likeness — that’s cool. You can transfer from one school to another and even back again if that’s the right fit. But you can’t commit to a school AND decommit AND chase a bag AND hit the portal AND go back to your previous school all in the span of 16 months or so. You just can’t. Well, obviously, you can, but you can’t if you want to keep your character intact.
We will see many more poster children for what’s wrong with college football with NIL and unfettered free agency (AKA the portal). And things will get worse before they get better. Heck, Proctor will likely be trumped this very spring by someone else who will do something even more ridiculous. But right now, he’s the face of what ails college football. And this isn’t about players not deserving money or freedom. It’s about players using that money and freedom and forgoing all ethics.
