By Rock Westfall
College football tradition is making way for the deadly combination of the transfer portal, NIL, the CFP, and load management.
A Four-Front War on God’s Game
Fox College Football game analyst Spencer Tillman has often said that “tradition is the currency of college football.” If an alien asked you to explain the sport, that quote sums the game up perfectly.
College football was never perfect. There has always been corruption, pay-for-play, cheating, coaches having the upper hand, politics, illogic, and unhappiness. But there were also limits to all of that. In 2023, insanity has been unleashed. And in 2024, it will only get worse.
There is a perfect storm being unleashed on college football. The earthquake of NIL money, the tsunami of the transfer portal, the tornado of the College Football Playoff, and a blizzard of load management will combine to destroy the soul of what was imperfect perfection and Tillman’s succinct description of what made college football God’s Game.
https://twitter.com/SpenceTillman/status/1518214023422087169
Un-Checked Player’s Rights and Media Extremism
Coaches indeed had too much of an upper hand in the pre-transfer portal days. But the pendulum has swung too far the other way, creating spiteful diva players who are taking control of the sport and turning off fans.
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These days, players come and go on a whim. Some have legitimate reasons. But in many other cases, it’s a case of cutting off one’s nose to spite their face.
Increasingly, college football players are easily offended by a coach holding them accountable. A raised voice, a benching, a reduction in playing time, or a host of other “transgressions” will trigger players into the transfer portal. It’s symbolic of a soft and emasculated society.
As a result, many coaches are scared to coach players hard. So they coddle and baby them, hoping they won’t storm off in a fit of pique. The most delicate way to put it is that the pupils are running the school these days.
One of the reasons that the NBA will never become America’s favorite sport is that it is a player’s game. The players dictate everything. They wag the dog. Not only do “coaches” click their heels to the players, but so too does commissioner Adam Silver. It is impossible for working people to relate to a game like that. The average fan has no such power or leverage with his boss. And now college football is sliding down that path. It’s becoming unrelatable.
The strange college football media brought on much of this. Most people who cover college football equate player’s rights to civil rights. And college football cracked, cowered, and caved to this cadre of “journalist” turned activists. Now, the storm is unleashed.
CFB media members would scream that coaches could leave on a whim while the players were stuck. That was true. But the coaches were the adults, working a 24/7/365 gig, constantly on call, under demands for time and public pressure and spotlight that a pajama boy “journalist” could never begin to fathom. Much of the media are lazy, resentful, and emotional. They wouldn’t survive an hour as a college football coach.
College football is a demanding game for players. But in no way is it on the level of the burdens a coach must bear. Ignored in this was that players were getting educations and full nutrition and other benefits worth six figures or more that regular students could not fathom. It was hard-earned, but it was not for nothing.
The old days of a kid being developed into a man and top player that fans get to follow, know, appreciate, and finally love over several years are over.
https://twitter.com/mfarrellsports/status/1731704150063210989
NIL Creates Player Privilege, Entitlement, and Perpetual Problems
In the same way, Name, Image, and Likeness money is turning college football players into entitled spoiled divas. And the NIL feeds into the transfer portal, where players can enter to get a better deal, much like free agency in pro sports.
NIL deals are eating at the grain of college football. And an ignorant emotional media has fanned the flames. Before NIL, there were “journalists” and players equating college football to slavery. Seriously. And there were cheap phrases such as players being forced to play for “free.”
If you have ever sat next to or managed a young person at work, it doesn’t take long before they start whining about the mountain of student debt they are trying to climb out of. It is almost always in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
College football players did not have that problem. Football wiped their expenses out. They could leave with a valuable college degree worth six figures or more without owing a dime. And they were fed at lavish training tables fit for a king. Does that sound like playing for “free” or “slavery?” Perhaps only to a hyperbolic lunatic and ignoramus.
https://twitter.com/kstone06/status/1731771002932129852
The Jordan Travis Injury + CFP Will Fundamentally Transform College Football
This week, the firestorm over Florida State being left out of the College Football Playoff continues. The main reason given for the 13-0 Seminoles being passed over for the 12-1 Alabama Crimson Tide was that FSU QB Jordan Travis would be unable to play, arguably making Florida State the lesser team.
On November 18, in a Senior Night game against FCS lightweight North Alabama, Jordan Travis was injured late in the first quarter and carted off the field and into history. What was supposed to be a night of sentimental celebration and a guaranteed win will go down as the game that changed college football forever.
Next year, the College Football Playoff expands to 12 teams. Part of college football’s currency of tradition was having a regular season unlike any other. The genius of the regular season was that it served as the damn playoff. But no more. And the implications will likely turn the traditional Thanksgiving Rivalry Weekend into exhibition games.
Every college football coach in the country will remember what happened to Jordan Travis and Florida State and apply those lessons to their lineups. Once again, college football is becoming the NBA. Load management is coming to a stadium near you.
A portent comes in this year’s Orange Bowl between Florida State and Georgia. A marquee bowl between two playoff-level teams will be reduced to an exhibition. Inexperienced players will get tryouts for next year. The top players will preserve themselves for the 2024 NFL Draft.
From now on, there is no way a coach will play key players in winnable games if he knows his team is playoff-bound. Self-preservation is the main reason why. Suppose top players are injured “needlessly” in games against overmatched opponents, costing a school a playoff berth or championship. In that case, that coach will be roasted by fans and media, regular and social. It would be seen as a fireable offense. And even against quality opponents, players most certainly will be held out.
If Michigan and Ohio State meet with undefeated records and guaranteed playoff spots coming their way, there is no way they will go all-out in The Game. The same holds for Auburn and Alabama in the Iron Bowl or the rivalry of your choice. And why should they? After all, there is the real possibility of a rematch in the playoffs, where everything will be on the line.
Thus, The Game, the Iron Bowl, and Texas vs. Texas A&M in the Lonestar Showdown, to name a few matchups, stand a real chance of resembling August NFL preseason games.
https://twitter.com/UCFSports/status/1732139726185083298
Identity Theft
Once upon a time, college basketball was a thing. It was a sport followed closely for several months instead of two weeks for March Madness. But the game was destroyed by constant player movement and unstable rosters. The revolving door made the sport impossible for casual fans to follow. So they stopped following. Now, college hoops are a two-week sport of brackets and gambling. It’s gone, and it ain’t coming back.
Is college football next?
College football has allowed itself to fall into the same trap. And because of media and legal pressure, there will be no return to its more regal era. The game will not be recognizable to the millions of fans who fell in love with its traditions. It has become the NFL, which it was never meant to be.
College football’s identity has been stolen right in front of all of us. It was stolen by fools who never understood the essence of the game and “journalists” who became misguided and ignorant wannabe social justice warriors to atone for their small, miserable, and insignificant lives.
Also, the game’s soul was surrendered by a cowardly conclave of clods who refused to fight and make the case that players were, in fact, well-compensated. Instead, they folded like a house of cards.
If players playing football to earn benefits and college degrees worth six figures or more was slavery, what in the hell is this?
https://twitter.com/mfarrellsports/status/1731496975927791675
