Steve Sarkisian Calls Out Lack of Regulation Surrounding Agents in CFB, Salary Cap

“I don't know if they are even licensed to be an agent.”

Steve Sarkisian called out a couple issues in college football. / Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

The Texans Longhorns are preparing for their Citrus Bowl matchup against Michigan on Wednesday, but they also need to be ready for the transfer portal, which opens up on Friday.

With the advent of the transfer portal and college athletes being able to capitalize on their name, image and likeness in recent years, the college football landscape has become a chaotic mess in many ways.

College football has worked to adapt and make tweaks as they adjust to a new era of the sport. Recently, they went from having two portal windows in the winter and spring to just one in the winter. As college football mulls their next changes, they might want to require players to have certified agents as they navigate the portal and negotiations.

“It's all so strategic. It’s one about need, it’s two about money and the cost. Where’s the market and which agent you’re dealing with,” Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian said during his media availability before the Citrus Bowl. “There are some agents that are rational, and there are some agents that this is the first time ever being an agent, I don't know if they are even licensed to be an agent, and all of a sudden they get to be agents because we have no certification process in college football.”

#Texas HC Steve Sarkisian didn't hold back when it comes to dealing with agents.

"There's some agents that are rational and there's some that this is their first time to ever be an agent. I don't even know if they're licensed... We can't even deal with this." pic.twitter.com/68LDpKet81

— OnTexasFootball (@ontexasfootball) December 30, 2025

“In the NFL, you have to be certified,” Sarkisian continued. “In college football, it may be their college roommate their freshman year who’s their agent right now. This guy is throwing out numbers and it's like, we can't even deal with this. You just move on.”

Sarkisian was also asked if he would be in favor of a salary cap in college football. He replied, "The funny thing about the salary cap in college football is we actually have one. Nobody knows that, because I don't know if anybody's adhering to it. There is a salary cap and there is caps placed on how you can pay your players, publicity rights and revenue sharing and things of that nature. As I’ve said before, there's no teeth in anything we put forth right now from guidelines in the NCAA.”

Sarkisian noted that he doesn’t blame teams for finding creative ways to pay players since there is so little regulation surrounding the rules and cap.

Between lack of agent certification, salary cap adherence and considering an expanded College Football Play, college football will once again have a lot of issues and changes to address this offseason as they aim to improve the sport.

---

More College Football on Sports Illustrated

SI BTN Newsletter. Start off your day with SI:CYMI. dark. FREE NEWSLETTER

feed