Video: Pate on the biggest threat to College Football

[Cruloc]

 

[Tidewater]

Interesting comments from Franklin. (Full disclosure: He's not my favorite coach).
Pribula felt if he was going to leave PSU, he had to declare early so he had a chance to land someplace he wanted to be. Whoever decided to open the portal during the season made this possible and likely.
That is a problem.

 

[Tidewater]

I also would love to hear who he thinks are "the people who made the mess."
Names. duty positions. Do those people even know who they are? That it was they would "made the mess?"
I know he cannot do that for slander as well as professional access reasons, but I would be curious.

 

[Tidewater]

Sorry for adding more comments, but what Pate says starting at the 10:17 point about damaging the sport I have heard echoed a lot here.
I was not talented enough to play football at Alabama, but I chose the University of Alabama. And so did Coach Bryant. And Tua. And Snake. And Major. And Biscuit. And the Slim Reaper. And Jeremiah. And Derrick.
We all have that choice in common. And Bama fans who never took a class at the university also made the same choice. We all chose Alabama.
The powers that be in college football screw with that at the peril of losing life-long fans.

 

[smith5753]

Sorry for adding more comments, but what Pate says starting at the 10:17 point about damaging the sport I have heard echoed a lot here.
I was not talented enough to play football at Alabama, but I chose the University of Alabama. And so did Coach Bryant. And Tua. And Snake. And Major. And Biscuit. And the Slim Reaper. And Jeremiah. And Derrick.
We all have that choice in common. And Bama fans who never took a class at the university also made the same choice. We all chose Alabama.
The powers that be in college football screw with that at the peril of losing life-long fans.

Could not be said any better. The college football machine starts to lose momentum when fans lose interest in recruiting, lose interest in players jerseys, there’s no connection to your favorite player because they transfer after 1 year, no loyalty to the university as the players are paid employees going to the highest bidder, power conferences knock each other out of the playoffs, inclusion in the playoffs allows weaker teams in. The list goes on and on.

Now, on top of all that, you have an AD making 2+ million per year, with a coaching staff making 19+ million per year, asking fans like myself for financial support to give a bunch of kids millions of dollars I’ll never have… get out of here with that. It’s all a disgrace in my humble opinion.

 

[BamaFan6462]

The people in charge of college football right now seem to be of the mindset of wringing every cent possible out of it and if the sport dies tomorrow, they’ve made their money and will move on to something else. The NCAA went down this path and opened the doors for the NIL and transfers, then sports media, networks, conferences and university admin have jumped in for their piece of the pie and nothing they’ve been doing is for the good of the sport. I didn’t walk away when I saw the SEC serve Alabama up to the NCAA years ago, but afterwards I quit pulling for other SEC teams even when they play out of conference games. I didn’t leave when sports writers and talking heads squealed like pigs when two SEC teams played for a national championship and playoffs were created. I didn’t walk after NIL started or unrestricted transfers, but I’m not nearly as interested as I was in the past. I do think one more improvement to the sport like I’ve seen over the past few years will be my line in the sand, fwiw.

 

[mdb-tpet]

I simply dread coming in here to read about the next player to abandon our team. There is no joy of seeing who leaves and what hired gun comes in and replaces them. No joy in that.

The portal should ONLY be open after all of the recruiting is completed after the spring semester is over. Kids and schools need to focus on their classes and majors. I can't even imagine what a mess the portal is creating for schools and administrations trying to figure out which classes qualify, what majors they are trying to get into, which classes they need overrides to get into etc. These kids and this portal/NIL system we have now is a disaster.

But, I don't blame the kids for going after NIL. I would have done the same if I had any size/talent seeing that billion dollar contracts are being written by networks and coaches are all paid multi-million dollar contracts based upon my play.

I think we're watching college football slowly collapse due to incompetence in it's structure and management.

 

[Cruloc]

Nick Saban spoke about NIL and the future of college sports 🤔 #shorts

Former Alabama Crimson Tide HC Nick Saban speaks at Capitol Hill and endorses revenue sharing among college players#collegefootball #sports #football #cfb #v...

www.youtube.com

 

[BigPoppa52]

The portal should ONLY be open after all of the recruiting is completed after the spring semester is over. Kids and schools need to focus on their classes and majors. I can't even imagine what a mess the portal is creating for schools and administrations trying to figure out which classes qualify, what majors they are trying to get into, which classes they need overrides to get into etc.

I'm not sure that you're mot making a huge assumption here. What's the point for a 19-year-old making $750K a year and knowing that he may only stay a year depending on the money, to bother with such mundane things as a "major" or "going to class"? Maybe we should just fire the admissions folks and put that money in the hands of ADs to buy another kid. This whole thing sucks.

 

[lowend]

I've posted before that sports need heroes and villains. They need dynasties. Cinderellas are cute and fun for a little wile, but nobody really wants to see Jax State rise up and make it to a CFP final four. People may hate Bama, USC, Notre Dame, etc.; but, they really want those teams in there, even if they don't recognize it. It's hard to get that when the teams have no continuity.

Pate referenced NASCAR. I used to be a HUGE fan as a teen. Every Sunday, when the lunch dishes were cleared, I turned on the race. Dale Earnhardt was my guy and, when he died, the sport lost a lot of lustre because it lost one of their most historically dominant drivers, the guy that everyone that didn't love him loved to hate, and -- much like Saban -- an older voice that commanded the respect of everyone else at the track. When Dale Sr. spoke, people listened. Couple that with MANY poor rules decisions since then, plus an aging fanbase, and you have a sport that's a shell of what it once was.

Like NASCAR, college football is losing its legends -- coaches are hanging it up and players won't be able to build legendary careers at a school when they bounce every few years. The rules changes of the portal, NIL, and now roster size are massively changing the game.

I'm glad my kids got to experience a little bit of what college football was and I hope they remember it when they're older.

 

[JamieSPC]

He says at the end we are "nowhere near" the point of downward momentum where the issues can't be fixed. I disagree with that, along with the premise that the calendar is the problem. He does briefly mention the mercenary nature that is emerging in the sport that, along with the lack of territorial regionality that the conferences used to represent. But that there is evidence enough that the point of no return may be in the rearview mirror already.

He also disregards history. The NCAA has rarely if ever had "the right people in the room." The solution will not come from the current governing body.

Greg Byrne is a smart man with experience that sets him apart even in the high-rent district of athletic director-dom, and even he has been reduced to panhandling.

This is a broken sport. And Josh, apparently, many more folks than you know are breaking with it.

 

[BamaFanatJSU]

I've posted before that sports need heroes and villains. They need dynasties. Cinderellas are cute and fun for a little wile, but nobody really wants to see Jax State rise up and make it to a CFP final four. People may hate Bama, USC, Notre Dame, etc.; but, they really want those teams in there, even if they don't recognize it. It's hard to get that when the teams have no continuity.

Pate referenced NASCAR. I used to be a HUGE fan as a teen. Every Sunday, when the lunch dishes were cleared, I turned on the race. Dale Earnhardt was my guy and, when he died, the sport lost a lot of lustre because it lost one of their most historically dominant drivers, the guy that everyone that didn't love him loved to hate, and -- much like Saban -- an older voice that commanded the respect of everyone else at the track. When Dale Sr. spoke, people listened. Couple that with MANY poor rules decisions since then, plus an aging fanbase, and you have a sport that's a shell of what it once was.

Like NASCAR, college football is losing its legends -- coaches are hanging it up and players won't be able to build legendary careers at a school when they bounce every few years. The rules changes of the portal, NIL, and now roster size are massively changing the game.

I'm glad my kids got to experience a little bit of what college football was and I hope they remember it when they're older.

Well said, though I must say that I personally would LOVE to see Jax State make the CFP.

 

[lowend]

Well said, though I must say that I personally would LOVE to see Jax State make the CFP.

If the Marching Southerners get to perform at halftime, I'm all for it!

 

[BamaNation]

I'm not sure that you're mot making a huge assumption here. What's the point for a 19-year-old making $750K a year and knowing that he may only stay a year depending on the money, to bother with such mundane things as a "major" or "going to class"? Maybe we should just fire the admissions folks and put that money in the hands of ADs to buy another kid. This whole thing sucks.

It's gonna take someone like Saban with a "devil may care" attitude, with the respect of the college football world, who has been there and done it at the very highest level for a long time, to make the changes necessary. I believe CNS (or someone who looks/acts very much like him) is the guy but nothing is going to happen until all the lawsuits are settled and he knows what he's working with.

Right now it is like all of college football is on a greyhound bus going 90 mph with a big curve ahead. The driver had a heart attack but nobody on the bus is willing to take the wheel b/c they're so scared they'll get sued if there's an accident. THAT is the college sports world right now.

 

[tusks_n_raider]

It's too late to repair anything.

CFB has been completely broken and it's nowhere near operating in a sustainable way.

It may as well just go full on Pro Football at this point.

Just evolve it into a Minor League Farm system for the NFL and rename all the teams and tie them directly into their NFL affiliates.

Just completely shutter the College programs and team names.

If these 18-22 year olds want to be pros then be pros.

They are already nothing but free agent mercenaries now that go to the highest bidders.

The scholarships that would have gone to them can now be allocated to academic students who actually care about being at the Universities and gaining an education.

 

[bamaslammer]

I think he's right on the issue but wrong on the timing. I believe it's probably too late. Not too late to fix, but the people in charge are so "bought out" and generally incompetent that by time they get some sort of solution to the insane player movement it will be too late. As a fan I'm barely hanging on. When I pull up the Bama roster and don't recognize any names and don't know who the players are, I won't care if they win or lose and if I don't care about that I won't care to watch them play because I have much competing for my time. I alone mean nothing but when the TV ad money dries up. It's game over, insert losing tune from your favorite video game.

 

[Tidewater]

Right now it is like all of college football is on a greyhound bus going 90 mph with a big curve ahead. The driver had a heart attack but nobody on the bus is willing to take the wheel b/c they're so scared they'll get sued if there's an accident. THAT is the college sports world right now.

Good analogy.

 

[TideMan09]

It just makes me mad that we almost got te death penalty a few years back..

For doing something that is normal & legal now in college football..

 

[tusks_n_raider]

It just makes me mad that we almost got te death penalty a few years back..

For doing something that is normal & legal now days in collegefootball..

Yep

I believe the $ amount thrown around was $150,000 which if you pop into an inflation calculator comes to $300,000 in 2024 dollars.

We are paying a single player 10x's that amount now with about the same return on investment.

It's insane, depressing, infuriating etc etc.

 

[TideEngineer08]

Someone made a point on X yesterday that hit me like a brick.

So tomorrow, the CFP will go head to head against the NFL. And both NFL games are featuring teams right in the middle of their own playoff races. It's always been assumed that the NFL would crush CFB if the two actually went head to head on a regular basis for TV ratings. There was a writer or broadcaster that posed the question of "why would the NFL go against it's unofficial feeder system?"

The point that I'm referring to was then made. College football has ceased to be a "feeder" system and is instead now a direct competitor with the NFL due to what NIL has turned into. College football now pays its players, players are increasingly receiving waivers to the point that perpetual eligibility seems a realistic thing. It's now a direct competing semi-pro organization.

In that case... the NFL is going to crush college football. I would suggest CFB tread lightly with what it has stupidly created.

***Yes the point was also made that the NFL has had Saturday games in late December once the CFB regular season ends for over 70 years. It's not the NFL that has changed its schedule to interfere with CFB. It's the other way around.