Head Coach of LSU Football, Brian Kelly, says what we're all thinking when it comes to future college football
The college football landscape has constantly been changing over the last few years. Much of it has been for the better. A few big things have also likely been for the worse. But the one undeniable truth about college football is that it has become ridiculously complex, especially when it comes to proper player compensation.That's […]
The college football landscape has constantly been changing over the last few years. Much of it has been for the better. A few big things have also likely been for the worse. But the one undeniable truth about college football is that it has become ridiculously complex, especially when it comes to proper player compensation.
That's the one area coaches around the country are united. There has to be some sort of fix, change, regulation, or standardization put in place, and soon. Head coach Brian Kelly of LSU joined Mike Golic on the God Bless Football show Friday morning with the answer we all know is needed and certainly coming soon to college football: a salary cap.
Mike Golic and Brian Kelly covered several key issues college football players and coaches face today, but here's what Golic asked about player compensation:
"That's the next question for you in the evolution of coaching from what it was to what it is now. How much does this feel like professional sports now than collegiate sports with having the amount, the number that you need to know, what can you pay a guy when you go sit in someone's living room, now it's 'how much' before you know 'taking care of my kid', there's money involved and how much it's changed to like more of a pro level situation?"
Brian Kelly did not hold back, and was immediately transparent about the issue at hand in his response:
"Well, if we had a salary cap, I'd be okay with it. But there's no salary cap. I mean, that's the issue really. I mean, if we all were operating under the same guidelines, at least we could know, "Okay, this is what we've got." But that's really the biggest issue. But look, the parallels…you're right. I mean, look, Jayden Daniels, Malik Nabers, they're all looking for that rookie signing bonus. You know, we're out there recruiting seniors in high school. They're looking for that freshman signing bonus. The transfer portal, he's looking for a free agent bonus. And then the guys on your roster they want retention bonuses. So look it parallels. NIL money is broken down into the three categories that the NFL is paying out and we're doing the same thing. Unfortunately we're doing without a salary cap and that's where it makes it just absolutely crazy. Because you just don't know what the numbers are from from year to year. So you know, college football is in a great place. We know there's a lot of money. The problem is nobody knows what this is going to look like in a couple of years. And if anybody does, please let me know. But we just have to figure out how to cap this so we can move forward."
Brian Kelly just simply said what we're all thinking when it comes to the future of college football. We know a salary cap–or something similar–is coming. And of all the coaches in football right now, no one has put it better than Brian Kelly just did.
"We just have to have to figure out how to cap this so we can move forward." Absolutely.
College football is already functioning like a professional league. The same kind of bonus and compensation ideas are there for rookies (freshman), free agents (transfers), and veterans looking for contract extensions, but without any regulation or transparency.
Just last week, the "Super League" was pitched by College Sports Tomorrow. The idea of a complete restructuring with potential salary caps, relegation, negotiations with players and more. Kelly clearly isn't alone in his desire for some kind of meaningful change that would bring some sanity to the college football world at the moment.
No one seems to have the "right" answer, but everyone knows that more change is coming, and some form of standardization in player compensation will be one of the next big dominoes to fall.
But it's more than just simple player compensation that makes it complex for coaches. Coach Brian Kelly expanded further upon what's important to him as a coach, talking through his "why" and how the compensation conversation has complicated that aspect of college football:
"Look, this is my 33rd year, and my why is player development, and developing players, and the relationships with players. And I can tell a parent, 'Look I can help develop your son to be a better husband, a better father, better technically and tactically. I can develop him as a football player. I can help him graduate. I don't know what he's worth. I don't know. I don't know what that number is. I can't give you that. I don't know what that is. I got 33 years of doing it, but I don't know what he's worth. But I can do all those other things for him.' And so when it gets down to it from that perspective, if it gets to where I can't just develop kids and do it in the manner that I've talked about where we recruit freshmen and develop them…then I don't know if I'll go to West Palm Beach, but I'll be I'll be on a beach too."
"I don't know what he's worth." That's the complicated aspect of player compensation right now. No one has any idea what any college football player's contribution to the team is truly worth at the moment.
But perhaps more importantly, no one seems to care about the longer term development of these players as people. And that breaks the hearts of coaches, fans, and assuredly many parents too.
Hopefully one day soon college football finds the right way to compensate players across the board and creates a salary cap to standardize things. And perhaps that would finally simplify the recruiting process once again. And maybe, just maybe, some of the focus could shift back towards something besides just money for once in the world of college football.
Brian Kelly knows the salary cap is coming. He and many other coaches (and former coaches) are all but begging for it to get here quickly. If you'd like to check out more from the interview you can do so by clicking here.
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