Romello Height is in the portal

[Root4GT]

It's hard to tell how much a top 25 recruiting class helps us in this new world to be honest. Sure, we probably spent alot for a pretty good recruiting class. How many of those guys are we going to spend 1-2 years developing into good players only to see them take a huge bag to play elsewhere?

It beats the Hell out of recruiting a bad HS class that no one wants any of the players!

Teams need to recruit good HS players, good players currently on their team and good players in the Transfer Portal!

 

[HouseDivided]

I've largely tuned out the portal and recruiting in general since it's the wild west of free agency now and unlimited at that. Losing Height hurts. Best DL we had last season.

That said, who do we have returning along the DL with any type of snaps and production? I haven't kept up with it....Biggers? Van Den Berg?

 

[LargeFO]

I've largely tuned out the portal and recruiting in general since it's the wild west of free agency now and unlimited at that. Losing Height hurts. Best DL we had last season.

That said, who do we have returning along the DL with any type of snaps and production? I haven't kept up with it....Biggers? Van Den Berg?

Biggers out of eligibility.

Harris gone. Robinson gone. Gore gone. Scott gone. Lockett portal. Basically Van Der Berg as far as any snaps.

 

[LargeFO]

Forgot Sylvain…gone.

 

[CEB]

Forgot Sylvain…gone.

 

[iceeater1969]

Forgot Sylvain…gone.

We now have a general manager over nil portal $.

Must work with the coaching about style of play as well as $.

Imo, singleton would have stayed at reduced $ if """Mid year""" coaches and es agreed THAT NEXT YEAR to have way less tunnel screens and way more down field throws (uga game plan vs runn the bawwl). Please trust us not some one else. King is trusting us. Also Imo, keeping es would send big time message AND WE HAVE CASH FLOW AVAILABLE.

 

[cpf2001]

You said:

“All the sports leagurs also have some antitrust exemption.”

I don’t think that statement is accurate.


“In the US, three of the four major professional sports leagues do not have any general exemption from Federal antitrust laws. In a court challenge, all major leagues except baseball, would be subject to the antitrust laws under the Rule of Reason analysis, but generally not under the stricter per se rule. Because of this, leagues and clubs are able to counter an accusation of anticompetitive behavior with justification based on the special circumstances inherent in maintaining a professional league.”

https://digitalcommons.law.villanova.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1321&context=mslj



“To protect the rights of workers, unions were formed to negotiate employment contracts collectively in order to achieve a collective bargaining agreement (CBA). In the sports industry, the unions that represent the players are called players associations. Labor and antitrust issues are governed primarily by federal statutes.

Baseball, football, basketball, and hockey have all had legal battles involving the application of the antitrust laws. Baseball has held a unique exemption from antitrust laws in accordance with the interpretation of the Supreme Court in Federal Baseball Club of Baltimore, Inc. v. National League of Professional Baseball Clubs(1922). The Court held that antitrust laws do not apply to professional baseball.

The case, Flood v. Kuhn, (407 U.S. 258,) eventually went to the Supreme Court. Flood’s attorney, former Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg, asserted that the reserve clause depressed wages and limited players to one team for life. Ultimately, the Supreme Court, acting on stare decisis “to stand by things decided”, ruled 5-3 in favor of Major League Baseball, upholding the 1922 ruling in the case of Federal Baseball Club v. National League.

Ironically, even though Curt Flood lost the lawsuit, the reserve clause was struck down in 1975. Arbitrator Peter Seitz ruled that since pitchers Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally played for one season without a contract, they could become free agents. This decision essentially dismantled the reserve clause and opened up the door to free agency.”

https://sportslaw.uslegal.com/antitrust-and-labor-law-issues-in-sports/

Yeah.

You don't need Congress to have a sports league CBA under existing judicial precedence.

I linked to this other page earlier https://www.lw.com/admin/upload/Sit...Antitrust-Exemption-Risk-In-Sports-Unions.pdf but was on my phone and couln't copy-paste - this is the most succint summary I've seen.

It's a union law precedent thing, not a congressional sports-league-specific thing.

Specifically, an agreement that is alleged to restrain trade is shielded from antitrust liability if it primarily
affects the parties to the agreement; concerns a condition of employment that is a mandatory subject of
collective bargaining; and is the result of bona fide, arm's length collective bargaining.[5]
The nonstatutory exemption derives from federal labor statutes, which delegate authority to
the National Labor Relations Board and seek to promote collective bargaining and good faith
coordination of wages, hours and working conditions.[6] Without an antitrust exemption, meaningful
collective bargaining could be chilled altogether.[7]
The U.S. Supreme Court explicitly recognized, in California ex rel. Harris v. Safeway Inc. in 2011, that the
nonstatutory exemption does not only apply to a final agreement between an employer and the union,
but importantly the exemption protects the collective bargaining process as a whole, including before an
initial collective bargaining agreement is approved and for a period after the agreement expires.[8

The congressional exemption for pro sports leagues (other than baseball which has it's own thing) is around broadcast rights. Detailed here as well: https://www.antitrustinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/USandEuropeExemption.pdf

Professional baseball, football, hockey, and basketball are statutorily ex-
empt from US antitrust laws for the purpose of collectively selling the rights to
television broadcasts of games. See Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961, 15 U.S.C.
§§ 1291-95 (1961). Broadcasting rights are beyond the scope of this Article. All
four are also exempt as far as labor relations are concerned, baseball by statute and
the remaining three by the non-statutory labor exemption for collective bargaining
agreements.

I have not found or seen anyone link any sources to the contrary, but this canard comes up over and over when CBAs are brought up.

 

[roadkill]

Those games are part of the ACC TV packet so GT does not lose money playing them. P4 teams need wins to become better, get to a Bowl Game and increase fan interest in the Program. GT always plays UGA (extremely hard game) and one more P4/ND game. That is 10 tough or Peer games (with 8 conference games). Need a couple of likely wins every year!

100% agree with the bolded part – and I have expressed essentially the same sentiment in other threads.

I didn’t mean for my post to seem like I favored dropping the rent-a-win game. I simply was puzzled by the inference from @stinger78 that it helped our budget. I remain unconvinced that it is revenue-positive unless the marginal value of that single FCS game in the ACCN deal is larger than I expected.

What I could envision is for P4 programs to go to an 11-game regular season like it was a couple of decades ago, in order to compensate for an increased number of CFP games, should the CFP continue to expand.

 

[roadkill]

Respectfully disagree. Yes, the NCAA made a hash of it, but what’s happening now was bound to happen through the courts with the rapid commercialization of college football and basketball. Was the NCAA part and parcel of that? Yes, but the original hole in the dam was the 1984 decision to open up TV negotiation rights to the schools.

Had that gone to court the NCAA would have lost as they have on virtually lawsuit brought against them. Paying players was eventually going to happen. The NCAA simply failed to try and establish reasonable guidelines before the Courts ruled against the Old System.

Some history may be in order here - when TV broadcasting was a new thing, the NCAA decided to restrict schools from televising their games under the premise that it would hurt attendance. As the potential revenue from broadcasting games grew, the NCAA stubbornly stuck to its outdated policy. Finally, in 1984, Oklahoma and uga sued the NCAA for restricting their free market rights. It went all the way to the Supreme Court where they decided against the NCAA.

If the NCAA had been reasonable and adapted to a changing market, they wouldn't keep losing so many lawsuits. This issue, and the current situation with NIL, lies squarely at the feet of the NCAA, not the Feds.

 

[SOWEGA Jacket]

It's hard to tell how much a top 25 recruiting class helps us in this new world to be honest. Sure, we probably spent alot for a pretty good recruiting class. How many of those guys are we going to spend 1-2 years developing into good players only to see them take a huge bag to play elsewhere?

It helps us because a larger pool of higher quality players will now look at GT. I totally agree that half these guys we recruited may portal out. But they will be replaced by similarly talented guys because the perception of our program has now changed.

You gotta simply just remove the names of players from your mind. That’s the biggest hang up most of you have - you are having a hard time replacing one 6’1” DB or WR with another. I dont have that problem. We’ll have another Singleton/McCollum type out there catching passes from whoever our QB is.

 

[SOWEGA Jacket]

Ole Miss has benefited the most, with Ohio State, Texas, and some other well funded schools right behind.

We are working to get back where we were before TFG. He set the bar is so low, that it looks like NIL is helping (I think it hurts us more than it helps)

Simply disagree. Ole Miss hasn’t won squat while they’ve pissed away a lot of money to win the same number of games they were use to winning. Ohio State and Texas were already top 8 programs so how have they benefitted? Without NIL they would have just bought the same player for cheaper.

And NIL and the portal have helped GT because of one 1 player - Haynes King. Without him we would still be a 4-5 win program. Some of you are putting waaaaay too much weight on these defensive players we lost via the portal. They sure didn’t put Ole Miss into the playoffs.

 

[slugboy]

Simply disagree. Ole Miss hasn’t won squat while they’ve pissed away a lot of money to win the same number of games they were use to winning. Ohio State and Texas were already top 8 programs so how have they benefitted? Without NIL they would have just bought the same player for cheaper.

And NIL and the portal have helped GT because of one 1 player - Haynes King. Without him we would still be a 4-5 win program. Some of you are putting waaaaay too much weight on these defensive players we lost via the portal. They sure didn’t put Ole Miss into the playoffs.

It’s easy to look pre vs post NIL to see what changed. NIL was July 2021. The transfer portal was October 2018.

Texas ended 2019 ranked 25th. In 2020, they ended ranked 19th. They fired Tom Herman, and Sarkesian was the coach from 2021 on. The NCAA “approved” NIL in 2021. In 2021, Texas ended unranked, in 2022 they were 25th, in 2023 they were third, and they’re currently 4th (AP). Their trajectory is definitely up compared to 2019.

Ole Miss wasn’t in the top 25 polls in 2019 and 2020 (Kiffin’s first year). In 2021, they ended 11th, in 2022 unranked, in 2023 9th, and they’re currently 16th and were one of the first teams out of the CFP (they were close). Ole Miss has used the portal and NIL to be relevant in a way that they hadn’t been since the 1960’s.

Ohio State has been a top 10 football program for 30 years, NIL just reinforces it.

As far as King, there’s the portal and there’s NIL. Yes, he used the portal, but he was moving on from A&M (Jimbo burned a few QB bridges along the way, didn’t he?). Having a QB coach he liked here was a factor, wasn’t it?

 

[SOWEGA Jacket]

It’s easy to look pre vs post NIL to see what changed. NIL was July 2021. The transfer portal was October 2018.

Texas ended 2019 ranked 25th. In 2020, they ended ranked 19th. They fired Tom Herman, and Sarkesian was the coach from 2021 on. The NCAA “approved” NIL in 2021. In 2021, Texas ended unranked, in 2022 they were 25th, in 2023 they were third, and they’re currently 4th (AP). Their trajectory is definitely up compared to 2019.

Ole Miss wasn’t in the top 25 polls in 2019 and 2020 (Kiffin’s first year). In 2021, they ended 11th, in 2022 unranked, in 2023 9th, and they’re currently 16th and were one of the first teams out of the CFP (they were close). Ole Miss has used the portal and NIL to be relevant in a way that they hadn’t been since the 1960’s.

Ohio State has been a top 10 football program for 30 years, NIL just reinforces it.

As far as King, there’s the portal and there’s NIL. Yes, he used the portal, but he was moving on from A&M (Jimbo burned a few QB bridges along the way, didn’t he?). Having a QB coach he liked here was a factor, wasn’t it?

I hear you and don’t disagree. My point is the world is not ending and the top programs will get players regardless of the system because they want to win and don’t care about breaking rules to do it. GT has been playing college football with one arm tied behind their back for 50 years because we refused to cheat which was ridiculous.

Look at today. We signed a transfer WR that looks the part of Singleton. At the end of the day what’s the difference in learning Rivers for a year? And there is no debate that GT has been a net benefit with NIL and the portal. Without Haynes King, Key doesn’t get that extension.

 

[ramblineck]

I hear you and don’t disagree. My point is the world is not ending and the top programs will get players regardless of the system because they want to win and don’t care about breaking rules to do it. GT has been playing college football with one arm tied behind their back for 50 years because we refused to cheat which was ridiculous.

Look at today. We signed a transfer WR that looks the part of Singleton. At the end of the day what’s the difference in learning Rivers for a year? And there is no debate that GT has been a net benefit with NIL and the portal. Without Haynes King, Key doesn’t get that extension.

Maybe NIL is a great equalizer for a school like GT. The $$$ is out there within the alumni base we just needed someone (Batt) who knew how to tap into what’s out there.

We’ve gone from losing 97-7 to uga to giving them absolute fits for the last 8 quarters (plus OT) with a new AD and HC!

 

[HouseDivided]

Biggers out of eligibility.

Harris gone. Robinson gone. Gore gone. Scott gone. Lockett portal. Basically Van Der Berg as far as any snaps.

Forgot Sylvain…gone.

Oh wow. Total rebuild along the DL.....

 

[78pike]

Oh wow. Total rebuild along the DL.....

Van Der Berg, Height and Gore all came to us from the portal last year. No reason we can't it again this year. Good DL are among the most sought after portal players and usually seem to commit later in the process. We still have time.

 

[CLHarperJackt]

You gotta simply just remove the names of players from your mind. That’s the biggest hang up most of you have - you are having a hard time replacing one 6’1” DB or WR with another. I dont have that problem. We’ll have another Singleton/McCollum type out there catching passes from whoever our QB is.

Then exactly what are we supporting? Besides being paid to wear the uniform for a season, how are the players meaningful connected to the school? What commonality/connection do they share with the larger student body. Why should the players even be on campus? Why should the student body even care about the team? Why should the alumni even care to get know and/or support any player. Why even require SAT scores or a high school diploma for admittance to play sports? What rules, values and traditions are being shown to the next generation? Why should reputable people and schools continue to participate?

 

[bke1984]

We now have a general manager over nil portal $.

Must work with the coaching about style of play as well as $.

Imo, singleton would have stayed at reduced $ if """Mid year""" coaches and es agreed THAT NEXT YEAR to have way less tunnel screens and way more down field throws (uga game plan vs runn the bawwl). Please trust us not some one else. King is trusting us. Also Imo, keeping es would send big time message AND WE HAVE CASH FLOW AVAILABLE.

Would he have agreed to catch the ball?

 

[SOWEGA Jacket]

We’ve gone from losing 97-7 to uga to giving them absolute fits for the last 8 quarters (plus OT) with a new AD and HC!

And better players since we take in transfers and now can use bagmen to secure a signature.

 

[SOWEGA Jacket]

Then exactly what are we supporting? Besides being paid to wear the uniform for a season, how are the players meaningful connected to the school? What commonality/connection do they share with the larger student body. Why should the players even be on campus? Why should the student body even care about the team? Why should the alumni even care to get know and/or support any player. Why even require SAT scores or a high school diploma for admittance to play sports? What rules, values and traditions are being shown to the next generation? Why should reputable people and schools continue to participate?

Come on now. It’s been this way for decades. I was in class with a lot of the Final Four players in 1990 and Natty team. You think Kenny was at GT for school or for GT? Or Dennis? They were here for playing time and Bobby C. I had a lot of classes with football starters and they could care less about GT. A lot of them were straight up jerks to regular students.

Just because a player in the old days were forced to stay at a school doesn’t mean they were any better than today’s guys. If they had the chance to leave a lot of them would have jumped at a better NIL deal.

NCAA is, has been, and will continue to be corrupt and played by people who are r the brightest. The brightest aren’t doing that to their bodies with very little reward but for a small percentage.