Romello Height is in the portal

[LargeFO]

So this guy is on to his 4th school?!
That’s ridiculou$.

I think I saw TJ Finley is onto #5 with Tulane.

 

[NewEnglandTransplant]

Big loss if he goes through with it, but this is the new era of come and go for one season. I don't like it but it is where we find ourselves. Let's see what we get for incoming transfers.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

Totally

By a long shot.

 

[RamblinCharger]

A commitment to a school means nothing now. Seeing how he has transferred twice now, makes me think there needs to be limits how how many times you can transfer, or that players need to sit for a year.
I'll keep saying it, the portal is going to ruin college football.
Transferring every year or every other year just isn't right.

Hell in the pros you can't even do this , at least not that I can think of

Worse yet, this is making bowl season meaningless now if teams are gutted

The only fair way to fix this IMO is to make the players somewhat equal to coaches. Have them sign contracts with buyouts. For example: Player has 2 years of eligibility left you give an NIL “contract” of 200k for 2 years. Buyout is 200k if you leave after the first year. Add incentives if you want to get creative for on field and academic performance.

 

[AlabamaBuzz]

It's simple, guys. If they hear from others that they can get more $$, most of them will be leaving.

He has a location already; it's just not public. I wouldn't be surprised if it were Ole Miss or South Carolina. They have successfully poached us before.

We need BIG BUCKS, or we can get used to being the farm team.

 

[BleedGoldNWhite21]

You know, these portal losses are exactly why some of us were getting upset at the “better luck next year” people after that putrid 8 OT loss…there’s never been a guarantee our team will be better each year, but now it’s even more of a crapshoot.

 

[GTNavyNuke]

So this guy is on to his 4th school?!
That’s ridiculou$.

He is majoring in football. Degree not required.

 

[Oakland]

Maybe the bowls pay a percentage of the bowl payoff going to each school / conference to the players. I'm not talking about the television money, but ticket sales. That could help keep them employed at the schools at least through bowl season. Notice I wrote "employed".

 

[stinger78]

I am more upset about this than Singleton.

OK, this is ridiculous. The NCAA (I know, I know) must step up to the plate on this.

 

[slugboy]

OK, this is ridiculous. The NCAA (I know, I know) must step up to the plate on this.

More seriously, with our current Congress and presidency, dominated by legislators from CFB hotbeds, I could see some action taken to restrict this economic activity. SEC and B1G legislators might like the advantages they get from the current setup, though. Nothing will happen before the end of 2025, though.

The NCAA hasn't shown any thoughtfulness or initiative, and there's no reason to think that will change

 

[RamblinRed]

In fairness to the NCAA, they actually have very little to do with major college football.
FBS is run almost exclusively by the conferences. They defanged the NCAA years ago.

About the only role the NCAA has in FBS football these days is verifying eligibility of players.

The Conferences basically wanted a figurehead at the top to give a glean of respectibility, but they are the ones that pull the strings.
What you see in college football is what happens when chasing the dollar (by every entity - schools, coaches, players) becomes the ultimate goal and no guardrails are put in place to manage that.

 

[stinger78]

More seriously, with our current Congress and presidency, dominated by legislators from CFB hotbeds, I could see some action taken to restrict this economic activity. SEC and B1G legislators might like the advantages they get from the current setup, though. Nothing will happen before the end of 2025, though.

The NCAA hasn't shown any thoughtfulness or initiative, and there's no reason to think that will change

Yes, yes, I know. Not sure I want the NCAA to touch it, but somebody needs to bring the sledge hammer. They are the entity which theoretically could make a difference. I understand no one is holding his breath.

 

[wvGT11]

Does anybody else think that discussions need to be had on when the Portal transactions take place?

I get that universities have a requirement for students and athletes to be transferred in for spring semester to start
However, with bowl and championship season going on right now while portal transactions are happening, it's kind of making this part of the season meaningless

In pro sports. Essentially these kind of transactions don't happen until everybody is finished with the season

Either move the portal dates to the spring or do some kind of mid-season transaction window like pro sports do

 

[UgaBlows]

Since nobody else seems willing or able- in a perfect world the feds (I know, they can’t govern jack) would set rules for cfb with neutral refs for all games, salary caps, collective bargaining, and actual laws/penalties. Create an agency that can enforce these laws with huge fees and/or prison time for those who tamper with or pay players under the table. Also, get rid of this current portal window and just have one after Spring ball.

 

[BCJacket]

More seriously, with our current Congress and presidency, dominated by legislators from CFB hotbeds, I could see some action taken to restrict this economic activity. SEC and B1G legislators might like the advantages they get from the current setup, though. Nothing will happen before the end of 2025, though.

The NCAA hasn't shown any thoughtfulness or initiative, and there's no reason to think that will change

The NCAA has been rendered entirely toothless in enforcing any rules on player eligibility by lawsuits and state laws and they're not even trying anymore. Essentially, it's legally untenable to claim revenue generating college athletes are 'just regular amateur students', but also treat them differently (regular students can earn money, transfer at will, not progress towards a degree...). With revenue sharing coming into effect, I'm really not sure what hurdles remain to admitting revenue athletes are employees. Other than the schools being scared that collective bargaining might be even worse.

It probably will take some enabling federal legislation, Title 9 exemption for FB and BB, and an anti-trust exemption to make sure a new system holds up to challenges and isn't nullified by state laws. I don't think the B1G or SEC will stand in the way. I don't think any schools are net beneficiaries of unlimited free agency. Even the few schools with massive booster money have to compete with other massive NIL programs to keep their players. It's also giving boosters massive power over athletic departments. Some form of collective bargaining, benefits, contracts, salary caps, league minimum salaries, will benefit the majority of players.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

More seriously, with our current Congress and presidency, dominated by legislators from CFB hotbeds, I could see some action taken to restrict this economic activity. SEC and B1G legislators might like the advantages they get from the current setup, though. Nothing will happen before the end of 2025, though.

The NCAA hasn't shown any thoughtfulness or initiative, and there's no reason to think that will change

Our entire culture keeps testing to see if chaos and the wild west is what we actually want or not. The test is just starting, in my opinion, so we are a long way from any kind of meaningful regulations.

 

[bhoffman123]

The only fair way to fix this IMO is to make the players somewhat equal to coaches. Have them sign contracts with buyouts. For example: Player has 2 years of eligibility left you give an NIL “contract” of 200k for 2 years. Buyout is 200k if you leave after the first year. Add incentives if you want to get creative for on field and academic performance.

Agree. Make them employment contracts vs NIL. NIL is a facade. Once you sign you are committed to the contract on both sides with the stated exit penalties. Those terms are negotiable but binding. This is the best way to help ease the chaos and stabilize things.

 

[FredJacket]

CFB needs contracts and a salary cap. Until then, F this system.

Have to believe this will be where things settle... eventually... not sure how long it will take.

Players under contracts as employees of the school. Unions & collective bargaining.

 

[Root4GT]

Does anybody else think that discussions need to be had on when the Portal transactions take place?

I get that universities have a requirement for students and athletes to be transferred in for spring semester to start
However, with bowl and championship season going on right now while portal transactions are happening, it's kind of making this part of the season meaningless

In pro sports. Essentially these kind of transactions don't happen until everybody is finished with the season

Either move the portal dates to the spring or do some kind of mid-season transaction window like pro sports do

Bowl Fames are and have been meaningless exhibition games since the first BCS Game. That players opt out has been around for a while for teams not in the BCS/CFP.

This is much to do about nothing in my view. For the CFP so far there have been a very small number of guys leaving their teams. Deal with it as you would an injury.

 

[leatherneckjacket]

Have to believe this will be where things settle... eventually... not sure how long it will take.

Players under contracts as employees of the school. Unions & collective bargaining.

How exactly would this work since the NIL is not (supposed to be) directly linked to the school. How can any entity regulate commerce between two independent parties like an NIL collective and the players? Would the government be able to set a cap on how much Shohei Ohtani can be paid by New Balance or LeBron can make from Nike? I doubt it.

The NIL collective is a poison pill. There is no remedy unless Congress give NCAA schools antitrust exemption to regulate the movement of players between schools. It cannot be through a cap on NIL funds.