SEC commissioner Greg Sankey wields more power than anyone in college sports. Sankey has even floated the idea of an SEC-only playoff because of the addition of Texas and Oklahoma. He is the co-chair of the NCAA transformation committee, which is responsible for crafting the future of college sports governance. Sankey doesn't want to abandon the core tenets of college football in favor of a more professionalized future.
Sankey said that they were tangled up in the process. "Everyone wants to touch, feel, have time to think through, and we're at a time where change is happening quickly around us." We're going to have to change.
Sankey spoke with us in July about the future of super conferences.
The interview has been edited to make it clearer.
Many people think the two super conferences are done. Are you in agreement? The SEC has a role to play in that.
Sankey remembers his first conversation about conferences going into the upper 20's. Ask why. Is it because we are moving away from a national governance? Is it possible to support young people in the best way? There are many questions that are not answered by observation. We don't feel like we're close to being done. It isn't motivation to just get to a number. Why do we want to add? We added like-minded universities and created more rivalries last year when we added.
What can we do to get to super conferences?
Sankey said it was impossible to answer all the hypotheticals. It sounds great to be at 18 or 20. You need to think about the right things. One of the most under-observed realities in college sports today is the support and sustainment of a healthy culture. That gives us an idea of how we make decisions. We can work together.
The SEC held its own playoff. Is that something you would like to do? As conference membership changes, how should the playoffs look?
We didn't have a discussion of a 16-team football schedule until August last year. A conference-only approach was on the agenda when we first looked at the possibilities. That has been placed in a folder. We want to contribute to a national championship. When the conferences walked away from a 12-team model, I told my colleagues that the SEC was going to take an entirely new look at expansion. The information that's happened is really useful. To get to a 12-team model, we are pulling back from all the work. A lot of pushing and pulling from the commissioner's chair was done by the SEC on that. If everyone wants to say no to this, we need to look again. Different data points entering with the Pac-12, Big 12 and others is an important part of our postseason consideration.
You are the Commissioner of the SEC. It isn't your job to look out for others. Fans tell me that the sport is just trying to make money and serve the greater good. Do you believe that the success of college football should be included in your job?
Sankey said that they had had a lot of change. All of us have to think differently about the big picture. The SEC did not need to add more teams to the College Football Playoff. We did not fight about it. The conferences that we looked at demanded expansion sooner than later. We haven't had any meaningful West Coast participation in the playoffs since 2016 It's not good for college football. The SEC didn't need a 12-team playoff, and we certainly didn't need to give conference champions guaranteed access, but that seemed like an enormously healthy step in bringing new participants in. Some people didn't want to leave. We have to rethink our stance. We're not perfect, and I'm not going to be altruistic in everything, but that's good evidence that we can think beyond our own needs to figure out how to keep college football strong.
Do you think college football is in a good place and will it improve in the future?
Sankey thinks it will be healthy. Our decision-making over the next few years will help answer that question.
David Hale is a person.
The change happening in college sports is as likely to come from outside the NCAA, via the courts or the federal or state legislatures, as it is from inside, and perhaps no politician has been as outspoken about name, image and likeness, player compensation and the big business of college football as U
Murphy talked to us about the government's role in the sport.
The interview has been edited to make it clearer.
The federal government should help dictate the direction of college sports.
Murphy wishes the federal government didn't have to be involved. I wish big-time college football realized that they are running a professional league and that the athletes who are getting paid nothing for their services are being unfairly treated. Since they're only interested in preserving the status quo, we have a massive workers' rights and civil rights issue that Congress can't ignore.
There are some real concerns with consumer protections and supporting athletes in the space that the NCAA wants Congress to step in on. Are you in favor of Congress acting?
It scares the hell out of the college football industry that players are being given the power to make their own decisions. College football wants Congress to take rights away from players and give them to the school or the NCAA. I don't want to know about that. You can solve the risk of an even playing field by creating a broad, national, unfettered right for players to use their names, images and likenesses.
Direct payments to players as employees is something you are in favor of. Is that the logical end point?
The future seems to be that a handful of schools, a few conferences, and possibly becoming minor leagues for the NFL, and I'm okay with that. If the Big Ten and the SEC consolidate power and become the minor league to the NFL, that's fine, because it makes it easier to justify paying the players at those schools. College football may continue at other schools if a group of schools decide to become minor league teams and get paid. Right now, it won't look the same.
What role do academics play if a league becomes an NFL feeder system? College football is still happening.
Murphy said that the schools did this on their own. Academics take a back seat to athletics at some Power 5 schools. The academic programs are not very good. You have to figure out what the utility is of the academic experience if it becomes an official minor league.
The economic landscape of college football will be in a decade.
One of the biggest variables is what the courts will do. The court is likely to conclude that the NCAA is an illegal monopoly because of the direction the Supreme Court is taking on this issue. I don't know if the entire industry will be affected by court decisions. If I had to guess, I think there will be a few conferences in college football that will be used as a stepping stone to the NFL. Players in those conferences will be paid a lot of money. A lot of people will show up to watch college football at other schools.
The name of the person is Hale.
Great conversation with @UKFootball's Will Levis and @jimcavale of INFLCR about how players are working with companies to capitalize on the new NIL era. pic.twitter.com/XFCF2mQyfl
— Paul Finebaum (@finebaum) August 1, 2022
College athletes are being tracked on a platform founded by Jim Cavale. More than 170 teams and 100,000 athletes have been helped by the business since that time. We asked Cavale about the past, present and future of NIL.
The interview has been edited to make it clearer.
The original intent of name, image and likeness was questioned.
Cavale said it came from the intent of opening up the opportunity for student-athletes to realize their value off the field. Donald de la Haye, also known as "Deestroying" on social media, is a scholarship kicker at the University of Central Florida and he has the chance to make money while he's there. He has to decide if he quits and pursues his college athletic career or if he quits and pursues his social media income. You are now able to do both.
The NIL became something. Where are we right now?
Cavale said that traditional NIL was based on what pro athletes had seen for a long time. Pro athletes have a lot of assistance. 99% of college athletes don't have a real agent because they don't have a player's association. They don't have much time because they have to go to class. Because of state laws limiting their involvement, many schools don't feel like they can help with NIL, which has led to the emergence of nontraditional NIL. The fan bases are supporting athletes in making money with their NIL.
What is the location where collectives come in?
The reason collectives came about was because the first six months of the school year were so hands-off with the NIL that it was hard for athletes to actually use it. It is similar to starting a business. "Let's organize donors to put money together and use those dollars with athletes in creative ways since it's so hard," the collective said. It can be a little taboo at schools where $10-15 million is being raised and the school isn't involved.
My last question is what's next.
"We have to have our collective run through our system so we can see what they're doing and we have to make them understand they have to work within our framework," said the schools who have been proactive. "These are millionaires and we can't really tell them what to do, we're going to let them work with our athletes and we're just not involved." Those are the schools that may end up in a tough situation. Collectives will be a little more regulated because the school is more involved. Let's look at the reality of the math for these groups. For instance, let's stay in the SEC. The average SEC school raises $10 million a year to do NIL deals with athletes. There are 14 schools with a total of 141 million dollars. Deals, appearances, and things that show value exchange, they're legal, and they're within the policy with 18-22 year old kids that they think are going to be really good on the field. The number of teams that make the SEC Championship is unknown. There are two $120 million from the 12 schools that didn't do as well, as well as the $60 million that have been given across the six bottom schools, how do those donors feel when they do a quote-unquote "NIL deal" with a student-athletes? "Let's build a building with our family name on it, let's start a scholarship fund with our family name on it." The future of collectives is that.
Alex was on "Scary."
Ramogi Huma was hoping that politicians would force college football to take a step that it had been avoiding. In Huma's home state of California, the senate was considering a bill known as the "College Athlete Race and Gender Equality Act" that was seen as a blow to college sports.
A pay-for-play system would've been required if the bill passed. If pay-for-play became law in one state, it was only a matter of time before it was all over the place.
The bill didn't make it to the committee.
Huma hoped it would be easy to start. That isn't the case. We are up against power. It requires real power. We don't think the NCAA will be proactive on these issues in the future. It isn't.
Huma said the challenges were a step forward. His work has changed the conversation if he hasn't reached his ultimate goal.
Huma was met with indifference and ignorantness when he first proposed the idea of NIL policy. The needle moved a bit more in his direction with each new conversation.
Huma said she watched that bill three times. It received unanimous bipartisan support.
There is a belief among many coaches, ADs and power brokers that direct compensation is more of a matter of when than if it happens, as conversations about paying athletes have shifted from taking away Reggie Bush's trophy to widespread public support.
Huma said that this didn't have to be so painful. He started his advocacy in the mid 1990s when he started a student group. He's been pushing for more resources, protections, safety guidelines and money for athletes ever since.
The NCAA was at each step.
In the aftermath of NIL rules taking effect nationwide, Huma said they could've gotten away with a lot more. They tripled down. They ran to the Supreme Court. They gambled the house and lost a lot of money. That is the core of the organization. The NCAA is who it is.
The landscape is shifting. The players have more power than ever before. Major conferences are flirting with a break away from the NCAA. The groundwork has been laid for players to be treated like employees.
It's easy to see a finish line for Huma's work, but he isn't quite there.
The wind is at our back. There are real barriers. One day, we're going to look up and see that another haymaker has landed.
The name of the person is Hale.
The transfer portal is a nightmare for many coaches in the group. Tyson Helton doesn't think that's the case. He lost key players to Penn State, Ole Miss, Minnesota and Texas Tech after Western Kentucky went 9-5 and won the Boca Raton Bowl.
The impact that a warm embrace of the portal can have on his program has already been seen. A year ago, Helton hired a rising star of his staff,Zach Kittley from Houston Baptist, who brought an entire passing attack in tow with him.
The Hilltoppers set NCAA records for passing yards and touchdown passes and finished second in yards per game. Jerreth Sterns was the only receiver since 2000 to lead the country in catches, yards and touchdown, and he was also the CUSA's Most Valuable Player.
Kittley left Texas to return to Texas Tech, where he learned the trade as a volunteer. Zappe and Jerreth were both drafted by New England and Jerreth was a free agent.
Helton is convinced that there is a new way to build a roster after embracing the portal a year ago.
He says he looks at NFL free agency. Every year, you can make your team what you want it to be.
Ben Arbuckle and Josh Crawford, who both worked under Kittley last season, were given the chance to replace him as co-offensive coordinators. Jarret Doege has played for West Virginia and Bowling Green.
"You can't get down when a guy leaves, because there's the next star out there, and you just have to keep flipping those rocks over to find them," he said.
Western Kentucky needs to be attractive to players whether they are on the current roster or looking for a chance to play. Some people want to move up a level. He said that many have stayed because of their culture.
The people are young professionals. They're called student-athletes. They are, indeed. They are learning how to be young professionals. I treat them in a similar manner. I tell them the truth. I'm quite honest with them. For a football season, we're all attached at the hip, and at the end of the season, we'll decide what's next.
If he has to find a new coach or a player who wants to throw for 5000 yards, so be it.
The job of a head coach is to recreate a team. There is another Bailey Zappe out there.
The person is Dave Wilson.
The All-22 view for college football recruiting has been given by Deion.
He chose to play football at Florida State after going through the process as a quarterback. He was in the front row for the recruitment of Deion and Shilo. During his time as a high school coach, he had players recruited by colleges. He has experience with name, image and likeness through his son, Shedeur. The first HBCU player to sign an NIL agreement was Shedeur.
"I'm looking at a lot of different things when it comes to recruiting."
Jackson State's coach has been able to secure prospects that were never thought possible for an HBCU program. Jackson State was on the right end of a signing day shock when the No. 2 overall recruit in the 2020 class flipped from Florida State to join the team. Kevin Coleman, a top 100 recruit, is one of three four-star players signed by the team.
Jackson State's class was highlighted by Shedeur, but they signed three other recruits and a junior college prospect. Jackson State hadn't signed a recruit in three years.
"You can go after a four-star, go after a five-star, and have an opportunity to win that kid over if you want to," he said. We go after the guys we want, not just because of their ratings.
Today's recruit is blunt about his college choice and believes in NIL.
"They don't think about the scheme, they don't think about the majors offered, they don't think about the city, they don't think about how they're going to fit in your program," he said. The challenge for the group is tremendous.
The challenge for the Hall of Fame football player is to convince recruits that there are ways to become a star. Jackson State can give a platform to HBCU players.
NIL can't be the sole motivator for recruits' parents, who should bebrutally honest about their sons and expect the same from their coaches, according to a message relayed to recruits' parents by NIL's CEO.
"I don't want to build a brand, I want to focus on your game," he stated. Who wants your brand if you are on the field? We need to get to the NFL and not get NIL deals.
Adam is the son of Adam.
While working for the American Football Coaches Association, Mike Taylor noticed that coaches spent less and less time on actual coaching. They used to dominate their days with recruiting.
AgDiago was co-founded by Taylor in 2016 to simplify the evaluation of prospects, not for what can be seen, but what can't. A 15-minute online assessment was developed by AgDiago. Pittsburgh, Michigan, Western Michigan, Kansas State, Division II national champion Ferris State and other programs are all works with the company.
Pat Narduzzi said that it was personality and how to coach a player that mattered. It's all about who that person is. It's not possible to cheat the test.
AgDiago is a good offense and a good defense, according to Taylor.
The interview has been edited to make it clearer.
AgDiago identifies with the assessments.
Taylor: When a coach says, "I've got a hunch about that kid," we're making that hunch visible. The athletic side is something they know. What's unseen, the behavioral, and unlocked that side is what it's uncovering. We're trying to make it easier for coaches to connect with their players.
How did you come up with the measures?
The five top strengths of elite players were found after we assessed a large group. The strengths are competitiveness, mastery, perseverance, team orientation, and then work ethic.
The coaches have always looked at these qualities anecdotally. How confident were you that the trait could be measured?
I was unsure if we could dive as far down as we did. We ended up being absolutely correct. All types of assessments are great, but they aren't football specific. The whole story is not told by them. It was important that our assessment was quick and accurate.
How has it been for the coaches to convince them to use the assessment?
When we assess a few players, we can give you the full picture. They said that they were looking for that. This tool can be used by us. The athlete is best coached through their strengths
What does AgDiago fit into?
It was more about trying to make the game better than it was about analyzing things. Variables are being brought in with NIL. The transfer portal is part of the puzzle. One coach said it was speed dating. It's going to be important to connect with your players and know them better than they are. You will be chasing too many ghosts if you don't.
The person said, "Ritttenberg."
The number of Black head coaches at the college level has not increased.
There were some big-name hires this year. There are 14 black head coaches in the next five years.
There needs to be an intentional process for the demographic to change. Mike Locksley is trying to open doors that had been closed to Black assistants.
The National Coalition of Minority Football Coaches was formed in the wake of the racial and social justice movements in the United States. The number of black head coaches in the college game has gone down since he was the head coach at New Mexico.
"That's enough work to do, I'm the head coach at Maryland," he said. It's time for me to give back to football.
The goal is to prepare Black assistants for head-coaching opportunities.
To do that, Locksley had to do a lot of things, such as call university presidents, athletics directors, NFL head coaches, agents and minority assistants. The Coalition and Locksley created an academy to place minority assistants who are ready to become head coaches in programs with athletics directors.
An annual convention that serves as a huge networking opportunity is one of the things the Coalition has created. The Coalition tripled its membership in less than two years.
"For us to be a two-year-old organization, we have probably 90% engagement from college ADs to college presidents to search firms that are hiring." We are one of the first people to call when these jobs open. The mentor-mentorship role is a part of the academy. They develop strong relationships and then you get this guy calling on your behalf.
There hasn't been a noticeable increase in the number of black head coaches.
If we get one more than we had the previous year, we have done our job. The success won't be measured by the number of points scored. The process is what you have. I feel like we're putting together a good process to help get some of these minority guys that are prepared and qualified to have opportunities in the future.
The name of the person isAndrea Adelson.
Over the past three years, "Tyler Talks" has raised awareness and erased stigmas about mental health among student-athletes, coaches and administrators. They started the Hilinski's Hope Foundation after their son, Tyler, a quarterback for Washington State, died by suicide.
Mark Hilinski said that they did it because they wished someone had done it before. I would like for Tyler to hear someone else's story.
If you don't know how to reach out for help, if you don't know how to start a conversation with your coach, parents, or teammates, use Tyler's story. After we do these talks, we hear that she did what she was told to do. I told my mom about Tyler and how I wasstruggling as well.
Since starting the foundation, the Hilinskis have noticed an increase in conversations around mental health and resources athletic departments are putting towards hiring counselors and mental health professionals. NCAA legislation requires member schools to make mental health educational materials, services and resources available throughout the year, but there are no statistics that show how many improvements have been made.
In an NCAA survey of more than 9,800 student-athletes, more than 70% of female athletes and more than 50% of male athletes agree that they know where to go if they have mental health concerns. Less than half of the respondents said they agreed or strongly agreed with the statement that they felt comfortable seeking support from a mental health provider.
While there are more resources, there is still hesitancy to seek help.
Athletes are taught to be strong. A lot of them see reaching out for help as a weakness, because their sport requires so much of them. It is a strength if they ask for help.
The Hilinski's Hope Game Plan provides a training program for mental health professionals, a handbook for team training, and a partnership with the NCAA Sports Science Institute and Prevention Strategies.
There is an online six-lesson package for student athletes. In each lesson, about 30 minutes, you'll learn about the stigmas associated with mental health, what it's like to see a counselor, and how to help teammates who are suffering.
College Football and Student Athletes Mental Health Week coincides with Mental Illness Awareness Week. Over 100 schools are committed to participating, according to the Hilinskis. They had 18 in the first year.
There is still a lot of work to be done. Multiple student-athletes died by suicide in the past academic year.
I sometimes wonder if we are doing enough. "I said that." Why didn't they call for help? Most of the time, the story is the same as ours when I talk to their parents. They didn't know that their child was having a hard time. A lot of them are very successful in their sport, and then one day they are gone.
One of the goals of the Hilinskis is to teach mental health the same as physical health.
"We think there's a lot of Tylers out there that are afraid to ask for help, for whatever reason, and sometimes that's saying it over and over again," Mark Hilinski said. We are talking about life and death, but we are repeating ourselves.
There's a person named Adelson.
A cesspool of hatred can quickly develop in the social media feeds of a person. It wasn't until she was away from her speaking tours and advocacy for victims of sexual violence that she realized how much it had affected her mental health.
Tracy said that it was a dark time for him. I had to sit and think about what I had been through. Other people's is not just my own. Speaking out in a male-dominated space like football can lead to death threats and other forms of harassment.
Three Oregon State football players were involved in the 1998 rape of Tracy. She spoke publicly about the incident for the first time in 2014, and she has spent much of the eight years since sharing her story trying to convince coaches, athletes and administrators to take sexual assault seriously. The Tracy Rule is a template for how schools can create safer campuses and was drafted by her.
Tracy wondered how much had changed.
She said that everyone will say this stuff is bad. Is that what you think, because we just paid DeshaunWatson a huge, guaranteed salary and there are no rules about sexual violence at the NCAA? Is it really that bad?
Progress has been made. The NCAA requires schools to ask prospective athletes about their prior histories with sexual violence, but schools can still admit offenders. The Tracy Rule has only been used by two schools.
Tracy wants to fight in different ways.
She wondered how she could scale the message and work without sharing her trauma.
She used to travel up to 300 days a year. She encourages athletes to become ambassadors for her work.
She has created videos to share her story without requiring her to repeat the details of her assault, written educational material to help athletes better understand issues like mental health and consent and created digital curriculum schools can share with athletes.
She said that changing perspectives on sexual assault and violence against women feels like a drop in the ocean. Every single drop is important.
Tracy believes it's not a matter of if but when cultural change happens. I don't know what the future holds for me but my hope is in the athletes and the men I work with. I see future leaders when I look at a crowd and I think they will run these regulatory bodies one day and maybe do something different.
The name of the person is Hale.
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