With college sports constantly changing, Kenny Brooks wants to stay ahead of the curve

Over the last few years, college sports have changed dramatically. Things that used to be frowned upon and even in violation of the rulebook are now legal and oftentimes encouraged thanks to NIL. That three-letter acronym has single-handedly changed the course of college sports forever, and it will continue to do so.

With new rules and regulations being introduced seemingly all the time, coaches have to be willing to adapt and change with the times. That has been no exception for Kenny Brooks.

“It’s just a different era,” Brooks said on What’s Next Podcast. “It’s a different time. When I took over at Virginia Tech eight, nine years ago, it was a different time. There was no transfer portal, NIL. Even the landscape of college athletics in general has changed tremendously.”

He added, “Now, there is NIL. On the horizon, there is revenue sharing. There are so many different things that will impact young people’s decisions on where they want to go, how they want to compete. You even look at the landscape of the Power 5. There’s no more Power 5.”

Brooks feels as if he and his staff have done a good job of being on top of things. Of course, that still doesn’t mean that there isn’t some anxiousness creeping in the back of his mind.

However, instead of taking the “woe is me” route, Brooks is ready to take this new era of college sports head-on.

“I talked with my assistants just yesterday, and we said we have to be ready to pivot,” Brooks mentioned. “We have to evolve because the landscape is changing, and you want to stay ahead of it because you want to be a major player in this industry. I think we’re well on our way of doing that. It’s very exciting times. It’s very uneasy times because you just don’t know the formula yet. We’re still trying to navigate through all of that.”