College Football

Now. I do think it’ll be delayed a bit if this roster blowup goes poorly, but it has to happen. Well into The G5, and even into FCS to some extent, the football team is a marketing investment for the schools. They go all out to keep alumni happy, attract undergrad applicants, and generally stay in the public eye. It’s expensive to win, so they seek money to enable their business goals.

The ADs make a lot of money; the assistants make a lot of money; the contractors who build locker rooms make a lot of money; the head coaches make an obscene amount of money. They all absolutely work for it and are selected based on perceived rarity of their skills, but that’s just one more way it’s obviously a business.

The players meanwhile, have their athletic and academic lives micromanaged (the latter sometimes to their detriment if they’re funneled into jock majors) and must participate in their “extracurricular” in good faith to continue receiving their “scholar”-ships. You can argue semantics and tax law all you want, but duties + compensation = job.

Just figure out the structure that pisses off the fewest blue hair donors (one 5yr contact only? Lifetime tuition waiver after playing?) and retains some essential nexus to university life, and embrace that FBS is the second division of professional American football.