Jimbo Fisher should have leaned into it.
Instead of going off about rumors that a multimillion-dollar, booster-funded NIL program is behind Texas A&M’s monster recruiting class, the Aggies’ coach could have injected some sanity into the current panic sweeping college football.
Throughout the history of college sports paying players equaled cheating.
Not anymore.
College athletes can now be compensated for use of their names, images and likenesses. The NCAA surrendered in this fight last year, bringing down the barriers between two groups that always seem to connect through capitalism: People with talent and people with money.
Everyone involved needs to come to grips with this new reality for college football to transition into its next iteration.
Until then, we’ll get what we had this week in the Southeastern Conference, which was wildly entertaining, though not terribly productive.
Fisher went flame on at his signing day media availability, taking aim at those who have perpetuated unfounded rumors that he and his staff were recruiting with a $30 million NIL war chest behind them. He defended his program and took to task those perpetuating internet misinformation, without calling out Mississippi coach Lane Kiffin by name.
Totally understandable. No one wants to be called a cheater, even when it’s not clear that what you have been accused of is against the rules.
One particular part of Fisher’s diatribe stood out.
“To me, it’s insulting to the players that we recruited that that’s why they would come here,” he said. “You ever been to a game here? You ever come to school here and see the education? You ever talk about the 12th Man and the Aggie network when you’re done? There ain’t a better university in this country.”
This is the outdated culture of college sports. Even as schools race to publicly embrace NIL, it is still somehow “insulting” to accuse an elite football player of considering how much money he could make when he decides where to ply his trade.
This attitude is oddly pervasive throughout sports, both college and professional. When was the last time a free agent said: “I’d like to win and I’d like to live close to home, but ultimately I took the biggest payout.” As if there is something wrong with that.
Fisher and his fellow coaches have been playing this tune a lot lately.
He was lured to Texas A&M from Florida State five …….
Source: https://www.startribune.com/column-get-comfortable-with-college-players-being-paid/600142744/
