Ryan Day on future after NIL: 'I think eventually... this is some sort of collective bargaining'
INDIANAPOLIS – Moments after Ohio State football coach Ryan Day said the Buckeyes are the only program in the country to qualify for the College Football Playoff in three of the last four seasons, the man in charge of one of the most successful programs in the sport said collective bargaining could be on the horizon in the NIL Era.
On3 asked several coaches Wednesday at Big Ten Football Media Days about their perspective on what the NIL Era morphs into next. None were as forthcoming or seemingly as clear-eyed as Day in terms of where they project the sport to be headed.
“I mean you could probably list about four different ways it could look,” Day said. “Collective bargaining. There are just so many different ways that you can look at it. I think the tricky thing is there’s really no benchmark for this. You know like, ‘Well, why don’t we do it like this.’ You know it’s hard to do when it comes to the compensation and everything with the players. You have to make them employees if you’re going to do that, and that comes with a whole other set of issues.
“So, I don’t really know exactly how it’s going to shake out. I think eventually you’re going to get to something where this is some sort of collective bargaining agreement, some sort of a players’ union and that will get us down the road of at least having something in place that we feel like we can grab onto. Because right now, we don’t have much to grab onto.”
Tony Petitti: ‘It’s tough to predict’ future model beyond NIL
Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti was asked Wednesday how close major college athletics is to paying athletes directly, rather than relying on NIL deals.
“It’s tough to predict,” Petitti said. “What I will say about that is I think there’s a commitment to understand that student-athletes can be entitled to additional benefits. But what that format takes, how that’s tied to academics, all that needs a lot more discussion.
“And I don’t want to predict when that could happen in terms of timeframe. There’s a lot of discussion about what future models can be. I think the understanding among, at least my colleagues, is that we’ve got to consider lots of different changes in the system, while at the same time encouraging the true NIL to keep happening.”
Big Ten coaches: Figuring out new model is complex
Like Petitti, and even Day to an extent, numerous Big Ten coaches often couched their responses in regard to the complexity of the issues at hand.
Rutgers coach Greg Schiano said he doesn’t know all of the facts at hand. Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said he’s not smart enough to determine the future model of the sport. And Michigan State coach Mel Tucker said he doesn’t know and that he hasn’t focused on it.
“I have my opinions,” Schiano said. “I’m cautious to just throw them out there because I don’t know all the facts about all of it. I’d love to see it brought back in-house more. I think that’s the way it should be. If the entity that is getting the income from the football performances, that’s part of their NIL – name, image and likeness. And then look, we’ll raise money for that as well as a university. I just think that might be better. But again, I’m not an expert on that. I know the world we’re in today and that’s the one I’m trying to be the best at that we can be.”
Ferentz said more structure and transparency are the two areas he’d identify as areas of improvement as the current athlete compensation model potentially changes in the near future.
“I’m not smart enough to know what the right model is,” Ferentz said. “I do know this from being in the NFL for six years. I think we lack most two things. First two things on my list, there’s no structure to what we do. Zero. And that’s a dangerous thing. Then there’s no transparency. Honesty. Transparency. NFL has both of those. Whole different arena. Those guys are pros. They’re under contract. They’re not going to school.
“There’s a lot of little things that factor into this thing, not to mention we are in college. Like we have departments of programs. But if I had two suggestions or areas to focus on, those would be the two.”
Tucker said he’s not spent much time thinking about the future model – largely because it’s such a complicated issue.
“I don’t know. I really don’t,” Tucker said. “That’s so complicated and I haven’t really focused on that. Again, this is a new landscape for a lot of people and everybody’s trying to figure it out. I don’t know if anybody has the answer. I certainly don’t. We’re just trying to navigate the best we can within the structure we have right now.”
James Franklin: ‘The model needs to evolve’
Penn State coach James Franklin said the sport has changed, likely permanently. Yet, that may be a positive development in many ways, he said.
“The college football that maybe we grew up with is gone and never coming back,” Franklin said. “And to be honest with you, I think in a lot of ways, that is good. But what I also think NIL has done, in my mind, has shown how complex these issues [are] that the NCAA has been dealing with for a long time and gets a lot of criticism based on the rules and enforcement. And sometimes it’s fair – the criticism that they’ve gotten.”
Franklin said the ability of the NCAA to enforce its own rules is important. He asked aloud how much state or federal legislators need to get involved.
“I’m still a big believer in the NCAA,” Franklin said. “I’m still a big believer in our model. But the model needs to change and the model needs to evolve. And the reality is you need to get all these people in the room at the same time because I think you’re seeing a bunch of bills. You’re seeing a bunch of good ideas and I think all of them warrant consideration. There may be a good idea in them. But the reality is we need to merge all the good ideas into something that it’s not going to be perfect for everybody.
“But it shouldn’t be. It should be what’s in the best interest of the student-athletes. What’s in the best interest of colleges and college athletics, and find something that everybody can be comfortable with and agree on.”