Notre Dame A.D. foresees the end of college sports as we know it

Report: Notre Dame AD Jack Swarbrick believes NCAA D1 split is 'inevitable' (on3.com)

 

I think he's right. Dabo said about a month ago that it was going to end up about 40 teams playing "big time" football or something like that.

NIL, player free agency, all are leading to a professional college league.

 

Certain members of our society hate football. Between the Kaepernick movement in the NFL and the NIL injection into college sports, they've found a way to damage the sport, perhaps mortally.

 

College football is certainly undergoing tremendous change and Swarbrick makes valid points.

I am not sure just where I stand in all this but big changes seem on the horizon.

And I still prefer the College game to the pro game.

 

I'm Not Nostradamus and I have been wrong plenty of times but I started predicting this years ago after I read a book called The System by Armand Keteyan in 2013. That was about the exorbitant lengths and money major programs were expending to attract 17 year olds to their schools to play sports. And this was years before the NIL was even conceived. This kind of stuff has gone on for decades to varying degrees as money and possessions were funneled to players by boosters and friends of the program. It has simply escalated over time to where we are now : semi-pro status. Swarbrick is going even further with his predictions. He is saying that a contingent of big football schools will break away and form their own league with licensed teams affiliated with universities in name only. No education component whatsoever. And he sees the rest attempting to continue in the traditional model of student athletes.

 

Sadly, he's probably right.
Then again, we might have actual students playing again for those 100+ teams that don't become the minor league...
I suspect I won't be a big football fan for much longer.

 

I suspect the Mercenary League will be comprised of 40 or less teams who are licensed by the local university to use their name. We can probably guess who they will be. The rest will for a reconstituted NCAA framework of some kind and tie the sports into school work somehow.

 

For starters, the "educational" league should have incoming players assign their NIL rights to the school in exchange for a scholarship. When a player leaves school he receives a percentage of his NIL and if he graduates, he receives 100%.

 

While I agree with you gipper, I have a feeling that the NIL money will be little or nothing if you aren't playing in the Mercenary League.

I wonder if the ML will have a draft of players and have limited roster sizes compared to the NFL roster size.

Fans will still follow their team if they are in a new division that isn't the pay for play, heck Group of 5 schools still have fans, so do Div 2 and Div 3.

Will the kids in the pay for play even go to school where they are playing., ie will kids going to Texas Longhorns Pro have to register at UT, will they even have have min gpa, hs credits, min SAT/ACT. Or will it be they can attend if they want but not required. Will they be controlled by contracts like other professional players. I mean kids who go the MLB minor leagues after HS don't have the freedom of movement that college players have now.

Careful what you wish for.

 

Terry, I'd bet there is still NIL money for those not in the pro league.
It just won't be quite as silly as the other.
Boosters will still support those schools...

 

The Quasi-College Mercenary League will be like watching the the USFL. It will be pro football " in the rough". a stopover for kids to sharpen their skills for the NFL. Eventually you'll have kids skip the Q-CML and go directly from high school to the NFL if they are exceptional. Most will play in the Q-CML for whatever time it will take to hone their skills, from one to four years. These franchises will pay a hefty sponsorship fee to the University who's name they are utilizing. This fee will hopefully be used to offset real student expenses. And that is my preliminary look into the dystopian future of "college" football.

 

Mark Emmert has announced he's stepping down from leading the NCAA in mid-2023 or earlier, depending on when the NCAA chooses his successor. This column by Indy Star writer Gregg Doyel is - shall we say - less than charitable toward Emmert:
The Indianapolis Star

 

I hope you're wrong, but I'm afraid you're right

 

Can't read the Indy Star article Sid

 

Oops! Sorry! Didn't realize it's subscribers only. I'll copy/paste it because I believe it's a worthwhile, scathing read.

 

Emmert certainly has had a rough time as the President. I doubt any fans will be sorry to see him go but truthfully with the directions that college sports are heading, it's a daunting job with little reward.

Many NDNation fans are hoping that Jack Swarbrick is a candidate and gets the job, but it seems like he's likely close to retirement and unlikely to take a new job/challenge. Fat and happy where he's at, even if some/many fans don't like him.

 

The following is a subscribers only article from the Indy Star relating to Mark Emmert's retirement announcement. It'll take a few minutes, but in my opinion it's a worthwhile read for those who are lukewarm to negative regarding his leadership.

 

I would agree he hasn't been a winner, but I'm not sure I see a way to stop the monster that has been created...

 

Seems like the guy fought all the changes, but lost at every turn. The article seems to both criticize him for standing firm against the changes and for the changes after they occurred. I would agree that what the NCAA needed was someone with the wisdom of Solomon to negotiate those waters and it appears he didn't have it...but the author of the article certainly doesn't have much to say in terms of "what he shoulda done."

 

I think one of the problems that the NCAA has had forever is their autocratic attitude of absolute power. They went after some programs with a lot of energy and ignored the problems at other places. They blew up minor infractions at times and minimized them it other times. Corey and I both deplored the fact that they didn't even follow their own rules. I think the organizational arrogance finally has caught up to them. Emmert was guilty of this but he was just the last in a long line of NCAA Presidents guilty of these things.