Mike Farrell Sports

College Football Recruiting, Opinion, and Analysis

World-Class Education Can’t Beat the Bag

Several previously successful programs with strong academics face the prospect of being left behind by the bag.

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Sep 24
Sep 24

By Rock Westfall

Several previously successful programs with strong academics face the prospect of being left behind by the bag.

Recruiting and Portal All About the Bag, Books Be Damned 

Once upon a time, a coach could sell his program to prospective players and their families by offering the important benefit of a “world-class education.” That was more than enough for players and parents who wanted more than football. But these days, schools with strong academics are struggling on the recruiting trail and at the portal if they show up with an empty bag. And that will have competitive balance and coaching carousel implications for years to come.

Players want money more than books. And it’s understandable. Many prospects come from financially struggling families. And NIL cash serves an immediate need more than a college diploma four or five years out. Even families with money find it hard to resist the bag.

But the bag goes beyond NIL payments to players. It also pertains to programs that invest in football compared to those that can’t or won’t. To win big, programs must spend big. And some lack the means and or will to do so.

Schools such as Stanford, Cal, UCLA, Wake Forest, Duke, Minnesota, Illinois, Northwestern, and Purdue have had past success, some recently. But long-term sustainability is looking problematic for such schools.

Players and families with an immediate financial need are universally saying, “show me the money!”

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Stanford Was the First Warning With Cal and UCLA Exposed 

From 2010 through 2016, Stanford was a perennial top-ten contender. The Cardinal went bowling from 2009 through 2018. But then-head coach David Shaw became increasingly low-energy. Additionally, the lack of a full commitment by the administration sank his program.

Among the problems at Stanford is the difficulty in finding Ivy League-caliber students who can play big-time football. Stanford also takes a longer period for application acceptance compared to other schools. And the transfer portal has proven deadly to the program. Most portal players can’t transfer their past academic credits to Stanford. Finally, the school tradition of treating Olympic sports as important as football, while politically correct, is not conducive nor relative to serious championship football.

The thought of paying players and transferring in mercenaries is beneath Stanford’s stodgy, self-important image and administration. Yet Notre Dame is an academic peer of Stanford and a similarly funded private school. The Fighting Irish have adapted to the new world of college football. Stanford arrogantly refuses. That is why the Cardinal was left behind Big Ten expansion and forced to find a life raft and odd fit in the lesser Atlantic Coast Conference.

Stanford’s arch-rival, California, is in a similar pickle. The Golden Bears will tag along with the Cardinal to the ACC. Cal is an academically elite school with an athletic department near bankruptcy. The Golden Bears have shown flashes of success in the past 20 years. But, like Stanford, they are not all in for football. Both schools have terrible fan support, which is an ugly tell to visiting recruits—and helped eliminate their Big Ten aspirations at the door.

The future is troubling for Stanford and Cal. The ACC TV revenue pales in comparison to the Big Ten and SEC. Even the Big 12 offers more. Thus, the need for donors is more pronounced.

The solution for Stanford and Cal is obvious. Pony up or get out of big-time football.

UCLA matches Stanford in tone-deaf conceitedness. The Bruins have a winning program under Chip Kelly but are not serious championship contenders. UCLA has only a toe dipped in the pool of serious football commitment. Like Stanford, UCLA emphasizes Olympic sports and refuses to prioritize football.

The best example was the loss of defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn to the hated cross-town rival USC Trojans. Kelly fought to keep Lynn, but UCLA would not provide the bag. Instead, USC backed up the truck for a quality impact DC. 

Just as USC will aggressively offer players the bag, UCLA will emphasize a world-class education in its sales pitch to prospects. Therein lies the difference. USC wants to win championships, while UCLA is content with winning the Gronk Bowl.

The Bruins are off to the Big Ten in 2023. But only because of their LA-based rivalry tie to USC, branding, and academics. It is doubtful UCLA would have gotten into the Big Ten as a stand-alone program, especially with shots of the empty Rose Bowl stadium for its games.

Big Ten Schools Facing Bigger Dilemma 

The Big Ten Conference has long been full of itself, among other things. And a big part of its sneering snot-nose is its quality academics. With the exception of Nebraska, all Big Ten schools are in the Association of American Universities (AAU). Minnesota, Purdue, Northwestern, and Illinois are prestigious AAU academic powers that have also had success in football. But these schools face a daunting future.

Minnesota coach PJ Fleck is the most successful post-1950 head coach in program history. But during this year’s 5-7 campaign, he warned of the need for Golden Gopher backers to put their money where their mouths are for NIL or face oblivion. The smart money is on oblivion.

Purdue is one of America’s best engineering schools and enjoyed success under Jeff Brohm with four bowls in six years (2017-2022). But Brohm went home to Louisville, and rookie head coach Ryan Walters finished 4-8 in 2023. As a school difficult to qualify for and without a Michigan and Ohio State-sized bag, the Boilermakers are “stock down” in the years ahead.

Northwestern caught lightning in a bottle to go 7-5 and qualify for the Las Vegas Bowl in 2023. Head coach David Bruan had the interim tag removed after successfully staving off a lost season. Braun was forced to take over in August when long-time head coach and favorite son Pat Fitzgerald was fired over a hazing scandal.

While Fitz was successful, he was also running out of steam, with records of 3-9 and 1-11 in his final two years. NIL and the transfer portal were key factors in sinking the Wildcats. Braun will be swimming upstream in the years ahead at a school that offers an Ivy League-caliber education but comparatively less in the bag.

Illinois has less of an excuse. While it is strong academically, it has fewer restrictions than Purdue or Northwestern. Yet success has been fleeing for the Fighting Illini. Its last big year was a 9-4 Rose Bowl campaign in 2007. Only five bowl seasons followed that epic campaign.

Illinois coach Bret Bielema went 8-5 last year but fell back to 5-7 in 2023. Bielema was never a great recruiter and is at a school that offers smaller bags and more books to recruits than its top Big Ten rivals. That is not a sustainable model as we advance.

Wake Forest and Duke Offer Elite Degrees But Less Cash

Wake Forest is not in the AAU based on curriculum, but its academics rank as high or better than most AAU schools. Wake ranks near the bottom in enrollment for big time football schools in great part because of its private school and academic status.

Under head coach Dave Clawson, the Demon Deacons have enjoyed their greatest era. Wake Forest went to an unprecedented seven consecutive bowl games before flaming out to 4-8 in 2023. Clawson led the Deacs to an 11-3 season in 2021 and a final ranking of 17th, the best in school history.

The 2023 campaign could be an omen for Wake Forest. ACC rivals such as Florida State, Louisville, NC State, Clemson, and Miami all enjoyed greater institutional advantages for winning football before NIL and the portal. Now, the gap is likely to be more pronounced. Wake Forest lacks the resources to compete for or keep elite talent.

Duke is coming off 9-4 and 7-5 bowl campaigns under coach Mike Elko, who took the bag himself to become the new Texas A&M HC. Previous head coach David Cutcliffe led Duke to six bowls in seven seasons (2012-2018) and an appearance in the ACC championship game. But in the new world of NIL and the portal, the Blue Devils lack the means to attract top-shelf talent.

Previously, new Duke head coach Manny Diaz had jobs at Texas, Miami-FL, and Penn State. Diaz was so desperate to become an HC again that he ignored his past experiences at fully committed football powers to take a job that offered little hope for sustained success.

The NFL Model and Ultimate Question 

With more money paid to players, free agency (transfer portal), and an expanded playoff, college football continues its acceleration to the NFL model. But with that comes an enticing quandary that will no doubt happen in the future.

What happens if a player satisfied with his big bag decides to cut class and focus only on football? Will a school punish a star player being paid a million dollars or more for not making his grades? Or will donors and sponsors demand the player stay in the lineup by any means necessary?

And that leads to another possibility. Will college football teams someday reflect NFL franchises that represent their respective locales with players not attending class at all?

The current trajectory indicates college football could be a no-class operation in more ways than one. 

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