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2025 College Football Thread: Lane Kiffin suddenly feels compelled to read morals clause of contract (15 Viewers)

We're done with the whole "student athlete" notion right? They are rented athletes each season.

There are over 30,000 D1 football players. My impression is the majority probably still qualify as "student-athletes" under any reasonable definition of that term. How much NIL is a back up right guard earning at a MAC or Sun-Belt school? I think the scholarship, room, board and degree is still extremely important for most college football players.
Cletius you nailed it with your comment, my son and I made several visits for football, mostly MAC and FCS schools. Largely these schools pride them on getting players to graduate and make their money through the jobs they can attain via their degrees. Everyone we visited had a requirement of 8-10 hours of study hall per week at the athletic building for all players. Plus the number of support staff to help a player navigate school and sports. I spoke to one player during a tour and he stated to me with the amount of support staff and studying requirements it is nearly impossible for a player to not graduate. If you think about it, all these smaller schools are all very similar, the one thing they pride themselves on is graduation rate and earning potential when players graduate. Obviously, top level division 1 is different where players can move around and be enticed by NIL money.
Not arguing your overall point, which is correct. But as a former D1 athlete, the bolded is a sham at many schools. Study hall is mostly a place for 1) FB and BB players to meet girls that are other athletes or are paid tutors, 2) FB and BB players to have tutors do their work for them, 3) people to sign in and walk out the door (what 80% of us did), and last and least 4) athletes to get real help with their studies. If you are in a non-revenue sport, I'd label the study hall requirement a complete and utter joke and waste of a walk from the dorms. At least that was my experience at two D1 schools.


Good watch with Bob Costa on NIL and the state of college sports today.
Costas wants Congress to step in. He definitely knows about the court cases, right? Why didn't Costas want Congress to step in when the players were being exploited?

That's weird, huh?

Not that part in general, just the part about trying to be a fan now.

NIL was meant for a player to earn some $$$. Hey Saturday morning will you come to my car dealership and sign some pictures for a couple hours for a grand. Things they can make money. Not for some rich donor just to cut checks to buy players. But it is totally the wild west now.
Brian Jones played at Texas in the 90's and is now a commentator for CBS Sports. He was on Sirius/XM Chan 84 College Sports a couple days ago. He was describing when he played you got your money "under the table" (prior to NIL) and he was given a construction job - to go to the construction site and watch the workers. Props to him as he returned to Texas in the early 2000's and got his degree.
 
Im pretty sure if one were to dig up past posts around when NIL was 1st being talked about, the posts would go something like:
"They're getting a free education"
"Just stop the bag men"
"My kids would kill for a free ride"
Etc etc etc.

No its flipped. "They should get a piece of the pie", "they've been exploited for years", "its about time they got paid".

Getting the grand prize "free ride" used to be the goal, the dream, its what players strived for. Now what? There's nothing to strive for. Give me what im owed is all I hear. At this point, blow it up and make a minor league system already. Turn college back into College, no outrageous salaries or NIL and let the dudes just go play AAA ball.
There a ton of problems with NIL. One big one is that since football and men's basketball are the revenue drivers, previous to NIL, those sports basically subsidized all the other sports. Now all the resources are being poured back into football and men's basketball. If you don't, then your program will fall behind and if your program falls behind then you are not going to attract the resources to remain competitive. Non-revenue sports are being stressed and some schools are shutting down programs.

As much as I am a fan of football and basketball- I don't like that other sports are getting throttled. Now obviously, this isn't across the board for all schools (I think LSU is known for investing heavily in it's non-revenue sports among others). Sports that have apparently been hit the hardest are track & field/cross country, swim/diving, tennis, golf, and men's volleyball.
Tell that to my friend’s daughter who gets a ridiculous sum of NIL money to play volleyball for a top 20 program on a full ride. There’s NIl money across the programs.

Oh and she’s not there for the “education”.
 
I think a much bigger problem than NIL is the unlimited transfers. Need to figure out a CBA or Fed legislation that gives them ... one free transfer? And then after that, you have to sit a year. Or something like that.

Because right now, everyone is a free agent at all times. Kind of stinks for continuity.
Yep. The original intent of the rule was coaches could jump ship at any time but a student transfer had to sit out an entire season. I think the one free transfer is a good idea
This stuff has to all be collectively bargained or else you fall into issues with the courts. You can’t tell players they can’t leave when coaches are packing their **** all the time.
And then you also run into grad school issues (or ability to stash 5th/6th year “seniors” in them). Folks have to realize how the top programs run these things now. There is a reason a program like Duke can sort of be competitive in football these days and it isn’t because they are winning the recruiting rankings for freshman. They have a truly professionally run NIL staff across all their sports and can pay someone like Mensah 4 million a year.
 
I think a much bigger problem than NIL is the unlimited transfers. Need to figure out a CBA or Fed legislation that gives them ... one free transfer? And then after that, you have to sit a year. Or something like that.

Because right now, everyone is a free agent at all times. Kind of stinks for continuity.
Yep. The original intent of the rule was coaches could jump ship at any time but a student transfer had to sit out an entire season. I think the one free transfer is a good idea
This stuff has to all be collectively bargained or else you fall into issues with the courts. You can’t tell players they can’t leave when coaches are packing their **** all the time.
And then you also run into grad school issues (or ability to stash 5th/6th year “seniors” in them). Folks have to realize how the top programs run these things now. There is a reason a program like Duke can sort of be competitive in football these days and it isn’t because they are winning the recruiting rankings for freshman. They have a truly professionally run NIL staff across all their sports and can pay someone like Mensah 4 million a year.

Pretty sure that I watched a game recently when there was an 8th year player

Thinking it was good ol' IU

Oy
 
On the NIL topic, it’s fascinating to see how USC has completely leaned into how the NFL does it basically announcing kids are “re-signing” with them in front of a contract when they’re literally just coming back for another year.

Trojan Blade on YouTube does a great piece on this.

It’s definitely gone too far the other way in my eyes but doubt that ever gets put back in the bottle again.
 
Im pretty sure if one were to dig up past posts around when NIL was 1st being talked about, the posts would go something like:
"They're getting a free education"
"Just stop the bag men"
"My kids would kill for a free ride"
Etc etc etc.

No its flipped. "They should get a piece of the pie", "they've been exploited for years", "its about time they got paid".

Getting the grand prize "free ride" used to be the goal, the dream, its what players strived for. Now what? There's nothing to strive for. Give me what im owed is all I hear. At this point, blow it up and make a minor league system already. Turn college back into College, no outrageous salaries or NIL and let the dudes just go play AAA ball.
There a ton of problems with NIL. One big one is that since football and men's basketball are the revenue drivers, previous to NIL, those sports basically subsidized all the other sports. Now all the resources are being poured back into football and men's basketball. If you don't, then your program will fall behind and if your program falls behind then you are not going to attract the resources to remain competitive. Non-revenue sports are being stressed and some schools are shutting down programs.

As much as I am a fan of football and basketball- I don't like that other sports are getting throttled. Now obviously, this isn't across the board for all schools (I think LSU is known for investing heavily in it's non-revenue sports among others). Sports that have apparently been hit the hardest are track & field/cross country, swim/diving, tennis, golf, and men's volleyball.
Tell that to my friend’s daughter who gets a ridiculous sum of NIL money to play volleyball for a top 20 program on a full ride. There’s NIl money across the programs.

Oh and she’s not there for the “education”.
Which is crazy, because these programs lose money for the universities. Must be some big money donors who really love volleyball
 
I'm a Vanderbilt grad so I appreciate what Pavia did for us, but man his post-Heisman behavior is extremely douchey. He seems like an ***.

His entire family is a master class in how NOT to behave.

I’ve been offline today. Cliff notes?

Upon losing out to Mendoza, Pavia took to the socials and said "F*** all the Voters" and then went to an after party with a sign saying "F*** Indiana". Important to note he's apologized for both.

But man, between that and his brother getting arrested for public intoxication at the Tenn game where his family refused to vacate the first row railing at Tenn's stadium and some of the boorish behavior I've seen from the mom, it's a circus show over there. I would like to party with them, though.
 
I'm a Vanderbilt grad so I appreciate what Pavia did for us, but man his post-Heisman behavior is extremely douchey. He seems like an ***.

His entire family is a master class in how NOT to behave.

I’ve been offline today. Cliff notes?

Upon losing out to Mendoza, Pavia took to the socials and said "F*** all the Voters" and then went to an after party with a sign saying "F*** Indiana". Important to note he's apologized for both.

But man, between that and his brother getting arrested for public intoxication at the Tenn game where his family refused to vacate the first row railing at Tenn's stadium and some of the boorish behavior I've seen from the mom, it's a circus show over there. I would like to party with them, though.

Wow, seems like a classy guy.
 
I'm a Vanderbilt grad so I appreciate what Pavia did for us, but man his post-Heisman behavior is extremely douchey. He seems like an ***.

His entire family is a master class in how NOT to behave.

I’ve been offline today. Cliff notes?

Upon losing out to Mendoza, Pavia took to the socials and said "F*** all the Voters" and then went to an after party with a sign saying "F*** Indiana". Important to note he's apologized for both.

But man, between that and his brother getting arrested for public intoxication at the Tenn game where his family refused to vacate the first row railing at Tenn's stadium and some of the boorish behavior I've seen from the mom, it's a circus show over there. I would like to party with them, though.

Wow, seems like a classy guy.

Well, ordinarily I'd suggest he's a young college kid prone to doing dumb things, but he's like 37 years old.
 
I'm a Vanderbilt grad so I appreciate what Pavia did for us, but man his post-Heisman behavior is extremely douchey. He seems like an ***.

His entire family is a master class in how NOT to behave.

I’ve been offline today. Cliff notes?

Upon losing out to Mendoza, Pavia took to the socials and said "F*** all the Voters" and then went to an after party with a sign saying "F*** Indiana". Important to note he's apologized for both.

But man, between that and his brother getting arrested for public intoxication at the Tenn game where his family refused to vacate the first row railing at Tenn's stadium and some of the boorish behavior I've seen from the mom, it's a circus show over there. I would like to party with them, though.
WTF are you doing? HE'S A MADE GUY!!!
 
Big commit for the Irish. Along with Alston and Terry... it looks like ND will have a strong secondary class for 27:

Raleigh (NC) Cardinal Gibbons Rivals300 2027 cornerback Xavier Hasan has committed to Notre Dame.

The blue-chipper and Rivals No. 4 ranked cornerback and No. 27 prospect overall chose to play for head coach Marcus Freeman and the Irish over Florida State, Ohio State, North Carolina and Tennessee.
 
I'm a Vanderbilt grad so I appreciate what Pavia did for us, but man his post-Heisman behavior is extremely douchey. He seems like an ***.

His entire family is a master class in how NOT to behave.

I’ve been offline today. Cliff notes?

Upon losing out to Mendoza, Pavia took to the socials and said "F*** all the Voters" and then went to an after party with a sign saying "F*** Indiana". Important to note he's apologized for both.

But man, between that and his brother getting arrested for public intoxication at the Tenn game where his family refused to vacate the first row railing at Tenn's stadium and some of the boorish behavior I've seen from the mom, it's a circus show over there. I would like to party with them, though.

Sounds Manzielesque
 
I'm a Vanderbilt grad so I appreciate what Pavia did for us, but man his post-Heisman behavior is extremely douchey. He seems like an ***.

His entire family is a master class in how NOT to behave.

I’ve been offline today. Cliff notes?

Upon losing out to Mendoza, Pavia took to the socials and said "F*** all the Voters" and then went to an after party with a sign saying "F*** Indiana". Important to note he's apologized for both.

But man, between that and his brother getting arrested for public intoxication at the Tenn game where his family refused to vacate the first row railing at Tenn's stadium and some of the boorish behavior I've seen from the mom, it's a circus show over there. I would like to party with them, though.

All this crap, plus i think he's too short
 
Before we get too late into the week, let's hear the playoff picks for the whole bracket. We can naturally go game by game afterwards, but fun to see how people think it'll play out before the games begin...
 
Round 1:

James Madison @ Oregon - Oregon wins in a laugher
Alabama @ Oklahoma - I hate both offenses and the SEC loves Bama, so disputed ref call sends Bama through. Would rather see OU will and will lol if Bama gets rolled again
Tulane @ Ole Miss - Another stinker no one will watch
Miami @ Texas A&M - Hardest game to pick of the week, but I like Miami's defense against Reed's inaccuracy as the difference

Round 2

Oregon over Texas Tech - I think this game resembles the Texas/AZ State game from last year and is a lot closer than folks realize. I will take Oregon, but not by much and won't be surprised if I'm totally wrong
Indiana over Bama - The revenge of the refs puts the Big Ten team over the top in the Rose Bowl. Indiana continues miracle season on Mendoza end-of-game drive to win
Georgia over Ole Miss - Weis Jr without a decided schematic advantage minus Kiffin finally makes moving arrangements to Baton Rouge
Ohio State over Miami - Might be the best game of the round, but I think this is the game Beck turns back into a pumpkin

Round 3

Indiana over Oregon - This will be a good rematch and I think Indiana keeps its hopes alive provided it has gotten past Bama in the previous round
Georgia over Ohio State - Feels like this could be the heavyweight fight to watch of the entire tournament with Georgia riding its hot streak to a close win

Championship

Georgia over Indiana - This is the round where talent catches up to Indiana. Great season, but I think the Dawgs overwhelm them and take it
 

College football's arms race: Resetting the QB transfer portal market amid busy day of high-profile departures​


In a flurry of movement Monday morning, five different high-level quarterbacks announced their intention to go in the college football transfer portal.

Former five-stars Dylan Raiola and DJ Lagway left Nebraska and Florida, respectively, after two seasons. Aidan Chiles, a former top 60 recruit, opted to depart Michigan State. East Carolina QB Katin Houser decided to make a run back to the Power Four following a breakout season. Meanwhile, the portal's new No. 1 player -- Brendan Sorsby -- hopped back into the portal ahead of his final season of college football.

Dizzying movement during a dizzying period of portal machinations across the sport.

The portal doesn't open for another three weeks, and there are still many high-profile moves expected to occur both within in the quarterback market and apart from it. With that in mind, let's reset the quarterback landscape, highlighting some of the big names, schools to watch and names we still have on the radar ahead of Jan. 2.

The names atop the QB market​

No. 1 Brendan Sorsby, Cincinnati: Sorsby finished the year ranked 10th in ESPN's QBR metric, emerging as one of the truly elite passers in the sport. The two early schools to watch with Sorsby are Indiana and Texas Tech. The Hoosiers are a bit ironic given that's where Sorsby started his career, exiting Bloomington shortly after Curt Cignetti arrived. The Red Raiders are the local school to have on the radar -- if you consider 300 miles of West Texas driving local -- and seem to be a strong on-paper fit for the junior passer. Of note with Sorsby: Sources have indicated he still plans to consider the NFL Draft. But those are two schools to know if he does opt to stay in school.

No. 2 Dylan Raiola, Nebraska: It probably is unsurprising to see Raiola's name listed here given the lead up the last few weeks. His brother decommitted from Nebraska. The school fired his uncle Donovan, the offensive line coach. CBS Sports reported the split was likely. But the end of the Raiola and Nebraska partnership is still interesting given how much the two sides had invested in each other, including a $3.5 million rev share/NIL package for Raiola. As for what's next, an early school to keep an eye on is Oregon. The Raiola camp has interest in the Ducks, per sources, and there is a growing industry thought that Oregon QB Dante Moore will end up testing the NFL Draft waters.

No. 3 DJ Lagway, Florida: Unlike the above two situations that had been trending toward a breakup for weeks, the divorce between Lagway and Florida came as somewhat of a surprise Monday. Lagway only decided in recent days he'd move on after his initial meetings with the new Florida staff went poorly, per sources. As for what's next for the former No. 1 QB prospect in the 2024 class, schools like Baylor, Florida State and Duke (depending on what happens with Darian Mensah) have been brought up per sources along with those like Clemson, LSU and Miami. Of note, Lagway's dad played at Baylor.

Others we're watching​

Sam Leavitt, QB, Arizona State: Industry sources have pointed at Leavitt for months as someone who could enter the transfer portal. That seems like a formality at this point after he didn't attend Arizona State's year-end banquet and head coach Kenny Dillingham wished him well "in whatever his future may hold," per 247Sports' Chris Karpman.

CJ Bailey, QB, NC State: A star sophomore with the Wolfpack, Bailey is a popular rumor for other teams in terms of potential portal candidates. Dave Doeren coming back aids NC State's chances of keeping Bailey around, but he remains a very hot name in terms of other programs looking at the quarterback market.

Byrum Brown, QB, South Florida: It raised some eyebrows in the industry when Brown opted out of the Cure Bowl. Brown is a senior, but he's pursing a waiver that is expected to go through. If it does … several schools in the industry are watching Brown and his status. There would be a natural fit at Auburn, where his former South Florida head coach Alex Golseh resides.

Drew Mestemaker, QB, North Texas: A breakout star as a redshirt freshman this season, Mestemaker led the FBS with 4,129 passing yards to go along with 31 touchdowns on 70.2% passing. He's been a name other schools have eyed for months. It's natural to assume that he'll follow Eric Morris to Oklahoma State. But Mestemaker is expected to have robust options.

There are several other QBs worth watching over the coming month. Some notable backups like Ohio State's Lincoln Kienholz and Oregon's Austin Novasad have decisions to make. There are other very productive Group of Five QBs like Arkansas State's Jaylen Raynor or Parker Navarro from Ohio worth keeping track of. There are also a few more established starters who could shake if things become further unsettled at their current situations.

The news keeps coming with three weeks to go. Don't expect it to stop anytime soon.

Teams in need​

Miami: The Hurricanes are likely to dip into the portal for a third straight offseason in pursuit of a quarterback with Carson Beck's impending graduation. Though, there is some internal optimism about the development of Emory Williams.

Texas Tech: The Red Raiders love backup quarterback Will Hammond, but he tore his ACL in late October. Given that there's no guarantee of him being ready for next season, Texas Tech is expected to go after a starter-quality passer in the portal. Money tends to be no object in Lubbock.

Indiana: Indiana's made the playoff in back-to-back years with a transfer quarterback, and it will try to do so a third time in 2026. Expect Indiana to go and get a guy to replace Fernando Mendoza.

LSU: Could it just end up being Trinidad Chambliss? That's certainly possible if he can secure a waiver. Either way, the Tigers are expected to be in the portal market for a high-level starter, and Lane Kiffin makes the Tigers a super attractive option.

Florida State: There had been some thought that Tommy Castellanos could qualify for an additional season of college football via a waiver. It could still happen, but there's a good chance of Florida State hopping into the high-end portal quarterback market either way.

That top of the market could grow, too, depending on a few big quarterback decisions. Oregon quarterback Dante Moore could end up going to the draft which would mean Oregon jumping into the fray. The tenor around his situation has shifted in recent weeks with industry sources now considering the NFL a more likely option for Moore.

Auburn will have a decision to make about its 2026 signal-caller. Deuce Knight is a potential superstar and seems to be an ideal on-paper fit for Golesh's system. Knight has also started just one game. I would expect the Tigers to pursue an experienced option.

Clemson, believe it or not, is also a team to watch in the quarterback market. The Tigers have indicated to agents that quarterback is a potential need this cycle as they replace Cade Klubnik. Whether that's a high-end starter or someone to compete with Christopher Vizzina remains to be seen.

There are also a lot of other teams expected to go get a guy. Illinois, Virginia Tech, Louisville and Baylor will all likely need starting arms, and that's just the tip of the iceberg.
 

College football's arms race: Resetting the QB transfer portal market amid busy day of high-profile departures​

I was assuming that Nico Imaleaveya would be looking for a new home after the way this year worked out. He doesn’t seem to be part of the discussion though.
It would not be surprising for him to do so but I think he burned a lot of bridges with his actions at Tennessee and then the less than ideal season at UCLA likely will not urge HC's to give him a second chance. I think he will stay at UCLA and hope the new regime can turn things around and give life to his career as well.
 
And the one big miss in that article is Minchey. It was a tight race between him and CJ all the way to the end. The kid is talented and will perform very well moving on from ND.
 

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