Trebor Pena transferring to PSU

[Ragman2000]

Anyone in the know feel like there is a greater than zero% chance Treb comes crawling back? Or are bridges burned and Penn State a done deal.

 

[Scooch]

When did college sports become this and loyalty go to hell

In fairness, loyalty was predominantly a one-way street in college sports up until recently.

Players were mostly tethered to a school, with restrictive and burdensome penalties if they left. Meanwhile coaches and administrators could largely come and go as they wanted with no real consequences. e.g. Mark Coyle got the bag and hit the AD portal 8 months after signing with SU.

This is not to say that the current environment is good. It's not. It's awful. But now the greed and chaos is equally distributed across all parties.

 

[Cuse12]

Anyone in the know feel like there is a greater than zero% chance Treb comes crawling back? Or are bridges burned and Penn State a done deal.

No shot he is back after Fran’s comments

 

[OttoinGrotto]

In fairness, loyalty was predominantly a one-way street in college sports up until recently.

Players were mostly tethered to a school, with restrictive and burdensome penalties if they left. Meanwhile coaches and administrators could largely come and go as they wanted with no real consequences. e.g. Mark Coyle got the bag and hit the AD portal 8 months after signing with SU.

This is not to say that the current environment is good. It's not. It's awful. But now the greed and chaos is equally distributed across all parties.

Which is better. It really is.

 

[kirbivore]

All I have to say is next year when they play Ped St. go Nevada, FIU, Villanova, Oregon, UCLA, Northwestern, Iowa, Ohio St., Indiana, Michigan St., Nebraska, and Rutgers.

 

[Scooch]

Which is better. It really is.

Better for the players.

The totality of the current system is a net negative for the sport, writ large.

We'll see how the tension between those two things plays out. You know my prediction... an insular, two-conference league of ~40 schools with the left behinds forming a perpetually disadvantaged mid-major conference or downgrading to an entirely new level of play.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Better for the players.

The totality of the current system is a net negative for the sport, writ large.

How are we determining that net though?

 

[721Comstock]

Better for the players.

The totality of the current system is a net negative for the sport, writ large.

We'll see how the tension between those two things plays out. You know my prediction... an insular, two-conference league of ~40 schools with the left behinds forming a perpetually disadvantaged mid-major conference or downgrading to an entirely new level of play.

Yeah, but - that "insular, ~40s school" monstrosity is gonna find it interesting when half those schools that are used to being the 'haves' with solid, winning records,
end up being cannon fodder for the handful of truly Factory programs that churn out double-digit winning seasons on the regular.

Are teams like Texas, OU, Ped State, etc gonna be 'happy' that they're making $, but going 4-8?

And LOL to a Rutty - get used to 0-12 seasons, forever.

 

[qdawgg]

In fairness, loyalty was predominantly a one-way street in college sports up until recently.

Players were mostly tethered to a school, with restrictive and burdensome penalties if they left. Meanwhile coaches and administrators could largely come and go as they wanted with no real consequences. e.g. Mark Coyle got the bag and hit the AD portal 8 months after signing with SU.

This is not to say that the current environment is good. It's not. It's awful. But now the greed and chaos is equally distributed across all parties.

Exactly. We’re crapping on kids for partaking in a system the adults have benefitted from for a long time. How many coaches have recruited and lied to parents faces about committing to a program, only to leave for more $ after signing day.

 

[Scooch]

How are we determining that net though?

Ratings and revenue. When the universe of invested college football fans contracts that's bad for all three. It's fine for the B1G and SEC.

 

[Scooch]

Yeah, but - that "insular, ~40s school" monstrosity is gonna find it interesting when half those schools that are used to being the 'haves' with solid, winning records,
end up being cannon fodder for the handful of truly Factory programs that churn out double-digit winning seasons on the regular.

Are teams like Texas, OU, Ped State, etc gonna be 'happy' that they're making $, but going 4-8?

And LOL to a Rutty - get used to 0-12 seasons, forever.

They're all gonna make a ton of money. It's been shown time and time and time again that's really all that matters.

 

[Cheriehoop]

Exactly. We’re crapping on kids for partaking in a system the adults have benefitted from for a long time. How many coaches have recruited and lied to parents faces about committing to a program, only to leave for more $ after signing day.

True but many coaches are fired too under the same scenario.

 

[dasher]

No shot he is back after Fran’s comments

I don't believe he will come back. Having said that, people come back from things with a lot worse said than anything that has been said here.

 

[djcon57]

umm NIL

Jimbo Fisher left FSU for Texas A&M for 75 mil in 2017.

It wasn't NIL that did this.

 

[cayugacuse]

True but many coaches are fired too under the same scenario.

And players are sweet talked into committing and we stand and cheer for them until the coach finds someone more talented and the kid is told to seek other opportunities. Just works both ways imo.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Ratings and revenue. When the universe of invested college football fans contracts that's bad for all three. It's fine for the B1G and SEC.

Aren't ratings and revenue doing really well though?

Or are you saying you anticipate a decline?

 

[Pyle]

Which is better. It really is.

Oh no it's not. It's a mess. Form a player's union and setup up a CBA like the rest of the pro leagues. If we're done pretending they are just students then let's stop pretending they aren't just pro athletes. Make them sign legally binding contracts. Turn the portal into a two week boring draft with guaranteed money and UT, BAMA, Mich with the 125th overall picks. Min and capped salaries for every class. What he have now is awful with all the top talent immediately funneling to the top 25 schools. Poaching > Recruiting and literally nothing matters except money. This is a giant snake eating it's own tail and will ruin college athletics.

 

[upperdeck]

one thing that would make much of this go away would be smaller rosters. Pros figure it out with 60 or so.

Imagine if college rosters were even smaller. Teams would still be able buy the best but there would be much more depth to spread it around.

Even like 75 would make a huge difference in leveling the field.

 

[Pyle]

Aren't ratings and revenue doing really well though?

Or are you saying you anticipate a decline?

Are they? I know countless people who feel their passion for the game waning, including me. Let's see where we stand in 10 years.

 

[bnoro]

Are they? I know countless people who feel their passion for the game waning, including me. Let's see where we stand in 10 years.

Your passion might be waning but you're still watching, and attendance hasn't changed at all.

 

[dollarbill44]

They're all gonna make a ton of money. It's been shown time and time and time again that's really all that matters.

Making money may be all that matters to the teams and players, but the fans, who are being required to bankroll more and more of the programs' budgets care about Ws and Ls.

 

[Scooch]

Making money may be all that matters to the teams and players, but the fans, who are being required to bankroll more and more of the programs' budgets care about Ws and Ls.

I agree. But as we’ve seen from pro sports teams over the years, a fan desire to win isn’t always the top priority for a club.

The perpetual bankroll is the thing I’m most interested to see play out. It’s one thing to ask for a big time booster to throw a bunch of money at a one time facility build. It’s quite another to ask said booster for 7 figures a year in perpetuity.

 

[Scooch]

Aren't ratings and revenue doing really well though?

Or are you saying you anticipate a decline?

As always when it comes to TV ratings, it’s all how you look at them and what time horizon you’re looking at.

The playoff was a disappointment from a ratings perspective. Many early round games went up against the NFL and got clobbered. The final 4 and champ game were down considerably from the year prior. And that’s with some very attractive matchups occurring.

Regular season was a mixed bag and challenging to evaluate with all the coverage changes that happened. But it wasn’t slam dunk growth and there were some notable declines

I’m not predicting doom or anything. And football is an American obsession, so if the players change teams every week ratings will still be better than most things on TV.

But we can squint and see some cracks in the foundation forming.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

As always when it comes to TV ratings, it’s all how you look at them and what time horizon you’re looking at.

The playoff was a disappointment from a ratings perspective. Many early round games went up against the NFL and got clobbered. The final 4 and champ game were down considerably from the year prior. And that’s with some very attractive matchups occurring.

Regular season was a mixed bag and challenging to evaluate with all the coverage changes that happened. But it wasn’t slam dunk growth and there were some notable declines

I’m not predicting doom or anything. And football is an American obsession, so if the players change teams every week ratings will still be better than most things on TV.

But we can squint and see some cracks in the foundation forming.

Good to know.

 

[Finwad32]

Everyone I’ve talked to in major college football has the same belief… there will be a 50+ team super league In the very near future. Everyone else will exist in a league below without such large NIL constraints.

We’re fighting to be a mid-tier team from a financial support standpoint within that framework while shooting to be something greater.

This type of situation is going to continue to exist across all of college football until this framework is in place and governance is developed for it.

You can’t blame the player for doing what’s in their best interest. They’re cattle who can now choose their butcher. Some become show worthy and go to the next level. Most, will try to capitalize on what they can before hitting the deli counter.

The only thing we’re debating at this point is how they’re handling their departures. It’s not and won’t be our choice, the players are running their own businesses. They’re the CEO of themselves, which is exactly what so many fought for. Whelp, this is what it looks like.

20 year old’s, most of which have zero business experience or negotiating skills, being led by people with similar experience levels in most cases. Bad decisions will be made. Good decisions will be made. Some will learn from them, some won’t.

The vast majority of these kids don’t even realize they need to pay income taxes on this. It’s a clown show. Fran is an outlier trying to provide multiple outlets to his players teaching financial literacy. He mandates setting aside 40% of their pay. Not many schools are doing that.