"The Money Does Not Exist"

[NewsCopy]

The placard attached to the podium read “Protecting the most vulnerable,’’ but on this particular Wednesday Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry took aim at a very specific apex predator: Big-time football.

The governor, who was supposed to be talking about food stamps that are nearing a crisis point due to the government shutdown, instead launched a verbal grenade directed squarely at the Louisiana State University Athletics Administration Building – aimed more specifically at the desk of athletic director Scott Woodward

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[MarlinMan3]

Why are coaches in ncaa the only one's on earth that have this without cause criteria attached, why is poor on the job performance not deemed "a cause" in the first place.

Honestly cant think of any other job like that, one could argur POTUS but even then they could be impeached or could only have poor performance for four years. When a company goes bankrupt they let people go without cause, if a football coach worked there they would be bankrupt but still have to pay the football coach over all other creditors?

[SlickRick]

The Position: Money Isn't Evil, But Its Excess in College Football—Starting with Mega-Million HC Contracts—Has Unleashed Corrosive Chaos via NIL

Money itself powers progress, but when it floods college football unchecked, it erodes the soul of the sport—loyalty, development, competition, and tradition. The mega-million-dollar head coach (HC) contracts (often $10M+ annually with massive buyouts) created a culture of excess among boosters and admins, normalizing the idea that "if we can pay coaches this much, why not players?" This directly fueled the NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) explosion, turning recruiting into a billionaire bidding war, the transfer portal into free agency, and college football into a pay-to-play minor league.

[SlickRick]

1. The HC Salary Bubble: Ground Zero for Corruption
College admins handed out obscene, guaranteed contracts long before NIL (which started in 2021). This set the precedent: boosters and schools proved they could and would spend wildly on football.
Top 2025 Salaries (per USA Today/CBS Sports):
Rank
Coach
School
Annual Salary
1
Kirby Smart
Georgia
$13.3M
2
Ryan Day
Ohio State
$12.6M
3
Lincoln Riley
USC
$11.5M
4
Dabo Swinney
Clemson
$11.5M
...
9 coaches ≥ $10M
Various
$100M+ total

[SlickRick]

Buyout Madness: In 2025 alone, schools owe $168M+ in "dead money" to fired coaches (e.g., buyouts for underperformers). This is severance on steroids—coaches cash out regardless of results, forcing schools to print more money for replacements.

Why corrosive? These deals (often 8-10 years, front-loaded) shield coaches from accountability while admins chase "the next Saban." Boosters see $13M/year as normal, so when NIL hits, they pivot: "Pay the players too!"

[SlickRick]

2. How HC Excess Caused the NIL Monster
Pre-NIL Precedent: Coaches got rich first (salaries doubled since 2010s). Boosters formed collectives (donor pools) to fund them—same playbook for NIL.

2025 NIL Spending: $20M+ per top program (e.g., Georgia: $20.9M; FSU: $12M). Guaranteed deals for recruits (e.g., $50M "frontloaded rosters," buyouts baked in).

Direct Link: Big-12 coaches admit cap circumvention via fake NIL promises. "People are lying & promising fake things"—echoing HC contract games.

Result? NIL flipped from "local endorsements" to shadow payroll (collectives = teams 2.0). House v. NCAA (2024 settlement) legalized revenue sharing (~$20M/school), but collectives already blew past it.

[SlickRick]

3.NIL's Destruction: Symptoms of the Money Cancer
Combined with the portal (unrestricted transfers), it's killed the sport's essence:

Free Agency Chaos
25+ portal exits gutted Marshall (bowl opt-out). Flips like 4-star DL Jaylen Williams (MI to WI)


No loyalty—players bounce for $$. Coaches can't build.



Buy Recruiting
$10M+ deals (e.g., Travis Hunter). 3-stars chase cash over academics.

"God's Plan" = biggest bag; parity? No—rich get richer.

Saban/Prime/Holtz/Kiffin: "Ruining the soul."
Lou Holtz: "BIG mistake!"

Even winners complain—tampering, no development.

Fan Polls
>50% say "ruining" (SB Nation); Reddit/Forums

Tradition dying—CFB ≠ NFL farm system.

Small schools? Obliterated. Blue-bloods hoard via cash.

[SlickRick]

4. The Corrosive Endgame (And Fixes)
Vicious Cycle: Fire HC ($20M buyout) → Spend on NIL ($20M) → Repeat. Admins botch (e.g., broke NIL = no retention).
Not Sustainable: Private equity buying conferences? $169M dead money? Bowls irrelevant?

Fixes:
Salary Cap (all: coaches/players).
Portal Lock (2-year min; coach leaves = opt-out).
Revenue Share w/ Rules (enforce caps; penalize tampering).
Buyout Reform (performance-tied).
Bottom line: HC contracts opened Pandora's box—money's fine, but greed without guardrails corrodes everything. CFB was about hometown heroes, not hirelings. Time to reclaim it. What do you think—cap first, or bust?

[Duckster]

Maybe not the best analogy, but college athletics/NIL/runaway spending needs stricter rules and regulations much like the game of golf or migratory waterfowl hunting offers. A little over one hundred years ago unbridled hunting was collapsing migratory waterfowl species. Rules set forth saved a variety of species and the sport from destroying itself. Rules of golf protect the integrity of the beautiful game. I use these two past times only because they stand out as expensive sports where the participants are willing to shell out major bucks to legally gain an edge or advantage. But these sports industries thrive under strict rules out of reverence for the sport by its participants. The guardrails are firmly in place. I've been a college football fan since childhood later introducing my own children to college football games at Cajun Field years later. Over the last 15 years corrosive forces (mainly TV money/NIL) threaten to price out families from continuing the tradition. I see it with my grown children starting their families. Maybe they attend two games instead of 5 or 6. Prices will always rise, but when it far exceeds normal inflation the folks will cut back. One makes choices, playing golf or duck hunting or whatever pursuits you may have instead of ponying up more dollars for RCAF, parking passes, NIL, 40 yd line seats, and so forth. I know, these are first world problems but something has to give. To answer Slick Rick's question, CFB needs a cap, needs strict rules and regulations governing spending. Unfortunately Congress will need to be involved so no guarantees for a better outcome. But the industry needs to try harder for the greater good of the game and its fans/taxpayers.

[HoustonCajun]

4. The Corrosive Endgame (And Fixes)
Vicious Cycle: Fire HC ($20M buyout) → Spend on NIL ($20M) → Repeat. Admins botch (e.g., broke NIL = no retention).
Not Sustainable: Private equity buying conferences? $169M dead money? Bowls irrelevant?

Fixes:
Salary Cap (all: coaches/players).
Portal Lock (2-year min; coach leaves = opt-out).
Revenue Share w/ Rules (enforce caps; penalize tampering).
Buyout Reform (performance-tied).
Bottom line: HC contracts opened Pandora's box—money's fine, but greed without guardrails corrodes everything. CFB was about hometown heroes, not hirelings. Time to reclaim it. What do you think—cap first, or bust?

Did you see where VA Tech gets $14.5M from student fees? All of this is getting out of hand. Need better and better facilities to outdo competition. Have to pay higher, guaranteed 10 year contracts to coaches that lead to these huge buy-outs when they don't meet expectations after 4 years. And the ADs make these deals under ridiculous circumstances. A coach like the Michigan State coach beats Michigan, has an All American running back and Top 10 ranking and based on the one year of real success, gets a 10 year contract that was cancelled just a couple of years later as State couldn't continue that success. That started this whole mess of paying huge, guaranteed salaries to coaches. And then, schools up the contract and extend the years so they don't get raided by another school looking to do the same thing only to face having to fire coaches because they made a hiring decision based on immediate success that couldn't be sustained. In today's world of NIL and transfer portal, it will be difficult for any school to sustain continued success. Even the Blue Bloods are struggling. College football is being ruined with all of this and schools can only pay so much to maintain their elite status.

When does the money run out for these donors? Landry is right to look into the state's obligations in these contracts. LSU is not a private school. LSU is in a mess right now, no President, Head Coach and Athletic Director with the governor now involved. Who would want to enter this chaos? Maybe that is somehow a blessing for UL, although UL has fiscal problems of its own.