LSU AD Scott Woodward has 'grave concern' on future of college sports

LSU athletic director Scott Woodward has grave concerns regarding the future of college athletics. Not just football or basketball, but athletics as a whole in the era of NIL and the transfer portal.

“I do have grave concerns about where this is going & what’s going to happen even within our conference & even within the Power 4,” Woodward said, via Brett McMurphy. “Where & how does this thing (evolve) & what do we turn into?”

It’s a general statement, but Woodward raises a point. Most point towards football at this rate, considering the realignment of conferences, the expansion of the playoff and elimination of college football normalcy.

The sport has drastically changed over the last few years with the transfer portal being open season. Not only that, there’s no standard set of rules for NIL. Woodward’s questions are valid, but there’s still no answer from him or others. At least, any answers to point toward a logical path to fix any of these perceived issues.

Scott Woodward has ‘grave concern’ for college athletics

The month of May, before Woodward’s comments, was highlighted by Nick Saban and President Donald Trump, when the latter wanted to create a commission on college sports. Saban was formally tabbed to be help solve all that’s ailing college athletics.  But it appears the former Alabama coach isn’t exactly sold on need for the presidentially-mandated working group.

“First of all, I don’t know a lot about the commission. Secondly, I’m not sure we really need a commission,” Saban said on The Paul Finebaum Show. “I think that a lot of people know exactly what  the issues are in college football and exactly what we need to do to fix them. The key to the drill is getting people together so we can move it forward.

“I’m not opposed to players making money, I don’t want anybody to think that. I just think the system that we (are using), the way it’s going right now is not sustainable, and probably not in the best interest of the student-athletes across the board or the game itself,” Saban continued. “I think we need to protect the brand, and the competitive advantages and disadvantages that are being created right now, and I think we can fix all that. But I think we know how to do it, and not just me but a lot of people, we just have to get everybody together to do it.”