MIRAMAR BEACH, Florida — Well, there is obviously a need for rules pertaining to governing college sports, but until schools are scared of the penalties that come with breaking them, not much is going to change.
Wait, were you expecting some type of grand reveal of a united front during SEC Spring meetings this week in Florida?
Come on, some of these coaches are playing at different levels, and they know it. But, if we keep heading down this path of no ramifications for the ongoing spending and just putting it on the tab, there will come a day when enough sports are cut to cause a ruckus.
Don’t believe me? Look no further than the SEC godfather, Kirby Smart.
“There is a limit in rev-sharing. There is until there’s not. My biggest concern for our sport is that we’re going to ruin our other sports, like Olympics,” Smart said on Tuesday.
The reality is that we are headed down a path of no return, if these schools don’t start working under some type of unified rules, that can’t be overturned in a court. And, I’m not just talking about eligibility or NIL contracts.
For some reason though, with all of the other problems going on in college athletics, we are hung up on the potential playoff expansion. If you see that your house is burning down from the inside, the smart thing to do would be to make sure you put that fire out first, before moving to the outside portion.
This is why Kirby Smart is not afraid to talk about breaking away from the current NCAA system, if unified guidance is not attainable under the current format.
“I’ve said this for a long time to our president,” Smart started. “I’ve been a huge advocate that if we can’t find rules that everybody plays by, then we should play on our own. I’m not afraid of that. I’m not afraid to break away and say that our conference (SEC) is strong enough to go out and play. If we could actually function financially, it would make our programs more stable.
“We could support things financially. I’m talking about all the sports, and do our own rules.”
He wasn’t the only one who took to the podium and voiced his blunt opinion.
“We’re living in a society of no fear, and if I don’t like the fact I got caught breaking the rules, go out and get a judge to grant an injunction,” Steve Sarkisian mentioned.
They aren’t wrong, but the words of coaches should come with a caveat.
What, you thought coaches were going to stand up for the sport they love? I hope you remembered that the house was fully engulfed in flames, while the current “flavor of the month” is to discuss expanding the current college football playoff.
Stop. How many times do we have to hear about the “better good” for college athletics? In all honesty, Mike Elko and most of his colleagues essentially nailed it: their opinion doesn’t truly matter.
“I don’t know why you ask us. It doesn’t matter what we think. There is two-sides to that conversation. I think there’s a ‘good of college football’ where we better be really careful. I don’t know why we’re trying to become a trophy sport. Then, there’s self-preservation.
“If you’re asking me, what Mike Elko wants. I want 40 (teams in CFP). Then, I won’t get fired.”
And, kaboom. There it is. You are getting the gospel truth from a coach who oversees a major program that spends a massive amount of money every season in this era to put a title contending team on the field.
Obviously, coaches want to stick around for as long as they can, until they can exercise their “buyout clause” because the wins stop coming.
But, don’t just think everyone is on the same page in terms of where we are headed as a sport. This time last year, coaches left SEC meetings under the impression that there would be an agreement reached to expand the CFP to at 16-teams.
Missouri’s Eli Drinkwitz remembers that conversation.
“Shoot, I remember last year we were told if we went to nine games (SEC) that the Big Ten was going to vote to be a 16-team playoff in 2026. And, I think we’re still at a twelve team playoff. I don’t get caught up in all that stuff.”
The overarching theme is that while expansion talk will never cease, even if they committed to changing the format for next season, the other problems currently rearing their massive heads are overtaking the sport.
Don’t worry though, we can always count on cooler heads prevailing in college athletics.
