Thinking about the theme at SEC Media Days: NIL and the future of college football

A year into the NIL era of college football and many say that what's happening isn't sustainable.

NIL was one of the main two themes during the first day of the 2022 SEC Media Days in Atlanta, GA this week. The other is a topic that isn't really impacting the SEC for the time being, conference realignment.

Players receiving money for their name, image, and likeness is something we all knew would change college football forever once it was made legal a year ago. Last SEC Media Days, Nick Saban made headlines when speaking at an event the day before it was Alabama's turn to speak at the offseason event sharing that quarterback Bryce Young had almost $1 million in NIL deals so far.

This year, the messaging from SEC leadership and coaches is that something needs to be done.

SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said handling the NIL situation is down to a group of people bigger than football, Congress.

"I wasn't looking necessarily to this Congress to be the solution just because of the timing," Sankey said. "We've had conversations with leaders from both sides of the aisles, and we'll continue to do so because regardless of what's happened recently or what happens with the election, we need a bipartisan solution for this national concept to move forward.
If we don't, then we're going to be left not simply creating conference rules, we're going to have to deal with state laws that vary in our region. That was actually part of our conversation in Destin as well. But the focus will remain on a national solution, and Congress is the venue for that option."

Asking for a uniform policy on NIL instead of state-to-state laws seems to make sense in creating an equal playing field if you believe that's the answer.

Another option that would create equality among schools is some sort of a salary cap type system. Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin shared that he's for a way to cap NIL.

"I think ideally, if we're going to be in an NIL world, somehow you're going to do it right, it's going to get capped so that there's some way of controlling it and keeping playing fields close to the same," Kiffin said. "Otherwise, you're just going to have these glaring differences within Division I football based off of what I've said before, their salary cap. I know it's not really the right word."

LSU head coach Brian Kelly said he wanted to educate players and families on NIL but didn't offer a strong stance on it one way or the other.

Day two of SEC Media Days will feature Saban and many will want his thoughts on NIL and the rest of the SEC coaches will more than likely follow suit leading up to an exciting final day on Thursday with Auburn, Tennessee, and Texas A&M all set to wrap up the week.

The most relatable angle on NIL was mentioned by Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz. He didn't field many questions about NIL but did point out that how NIL is handled will determine what college football looks like moving forward. The future of the game we all love will look the same on the field despite of whether a player is playing for a scholarship or a $2 million a year deal.

With all of the speculation flying around with NIL, one thing is more certain than ever,

We're all just ready for football season.

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