Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1492675
M A R C H 2 0 2 3 6 9 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M E D I T O R I A L MATT HERB MATT.HERB@ON3.COM W hen the NCAA was forced nearly two years ago to abandon the longstanding restrictions that prevented college athletes from mak- ing money off their names, images and likenesses, the consensus around the Power Five conferences seemed to be that schools would soon find themselves barreling down a treacher- ous stretch of road at full speed with brakes that had just failed inspection. Coaches and administrators couldn't help but wonder: What would their world look like when the smoke cleared and everything stopped spinning? Well, we've now been through a full football recruiting cycle under the new rules, and the world looks … pretty much the way it did before, at least outwardly. At the conclusion of the traditional February signing day, the On3 Consen- sus rankings for the class of 2023 fea- tured three SEC teams in the top five (Alabama, Georgia, LSU) and two more soon-to-be SEC teams in the top seven (Texas and Oklahoma). Also appearing in the top 10 were Ohio State, Miami, Oregon, Notre Dame and Clemson. Of those 10 teams, only two — Texas and Miami — have failed to make at least one appearance in the College Football Playoff. Five of the other eight teams — Georgia, Alabama, LSU, Ohio State and Clemson — have claimed at least one national championship since the start of the playoff era in 2014. And now they've hoovered up the best prospects in the 2023 class. College football may have a new economic model when it comes to player acqui- sition, but it's still a rich-get-richer world. None of this should surprise anyone. The programs that are thriving at the start of the NIL era are the same ones that have always been able to marshal whatever support is necessary to suc- ceed on the field. They just had to channel their considerable resources in a new direction, and in some cases let go of their preconceptions about how recruiting is supposed to work. Less than a year after Nick Saban griped that Texas A&M "bought every player" in its top-ranked 2022 recruit- ing class, Alabama announced that it was building something called The Ad- vantage Center as a way to "showcase successful local and national NIL re- lationships." Was there ever any doubt that the Tide would adapt to the new normal? As one of the programs that aspires to compete with the likes of Alabama and Ohio State, Penn State has priori- tized its own NIL efforts. In January alone, the university announced two new initiatives: the Nittany Lion Ex- change, which is aimed at connecting student-athletes and businesses, and Accelerate Sports Ventures, an educa- tional program. Coach James Franklin, whose class was ranked 14th in the On3 Consensus after the February signing day, recently noted that he's been happy with the direction of Penn State's NIL moves. That hasn't always been the case, but he said in December that the univer- sity's new president, Neeli Bendapudi, and new athletics director, Patrick Kraft, have worked to help ensure that Penn State's offerings are sufficient to attract the kind of elite prospects the Nittany Lions need. "They have really come in here and hit the ground running," Franklin said. "I think we've made up a lot of ground, but we still have a lot of work to do if we say we want to [compete] at the highest level." If there's anxiety at places like Penn State, it's because no matter what you're doing to enhance your NIL portfolio, someone else is probably doing more. The new collegiate model has been likened to free agency in pro football, but even the NFL has a salary cap. There are no such limits in college football right now. It's an anything- goes environment. Franklin said the absence of NIL reg- ulations made for some unusual dis- cussions during the recently concluded recruiting cycle. "Some of the conversations that are happening, they're crazy, to be honest with you," he said. "I got down to the 11th hour of this, and it got as crazy as I've seen in my 26 years of doing it. "We're going to have to come up with a solution for college athletics as a whole. We're going to have to come up with a solution specifically for foot- ball." The college game may not need to be as egalitarian as the NFL, but with the playoff set to expand in 2024, it would be nice to see the pool of poten- tial winners expand, too. Or at least stay the same. If it means deviating from the road that the sport has been traveling lately, Franklin sounds OK with that. "I think there are major concerns with what's going on in college football right now," he said. "There are really no guardrails. There's not a whole lot of guidance and governance. It's con- cerning." ■ James Franklin recently decried the lack of governance around NIL issues. "I think there are major concerns with what's going on in college football right now," he said. PHOTO BY DANIEL ALTHOUSE College Football's New Normal Calls For Some New Rules VARSITY VIEWS