Urban Meyer Fires Back at Deion Sanders' Recent NCAA Change Proposal

Urban Meyer isn't buying what Coach Prime is selling for the future of college athletics.

Former Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer broadcasts for the Big Ten Network prior to the College Football Playoff National Championship against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Jan. 20, 2025. | Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

College football has long been about the haves and have-nots. The programs carrying the most prestige come from their history of success and the deep pockets of alumni and donors. If any program is a shining example of this reality, it’s the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Still, in the age of NIL and now revenue sharing, college football’s parity has balanced a bit, but the top programs still hold a serious advantage. Naturally, the schools punching up one or two tiers for a spot in the College Football Playoffs are hoping to balance the scales too, leading to talks of salary caps fronted by Colorado head coach Deion Sanders.

Former Buckeye coach Urban Meyer explained exactly why Sanders’ vision for the future of college football is simply not an option.

Meyer Says Salary Cap Will ‘Never Happen’ in College Football

"I could care less," Meyer said in a recent appearance on The Triple Option podcast. "This is, I think, the 780th time we've talked about this. It will never happen. It will never happen because Colorado is not the same as Ohio State and Alabama and big market cities that have alumni that are willing to do that, but in the perfect world, you'd like it to be like the NFL, but it's not. It's like Major League Baseball. And we said this over and over again. You've got the starting left fielder of the Dodgers, uh, left side of the infield making more than most major league teams. That's going to happen."

There’s no doubt that the sport still has some kinks to work out in the coming years concerning player compensation. After all, much of the change we have seen has come from the decisions of the federal government, not the NCAA, leaving the organization with little room to game plan its approach, though that is ultimately the NCAA’s own fault.

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Nonetheless, Meyer is right. Last year, Ohio State spent around $20 million on its football roster, and that number rose to $35 million in 2025. As for Colorado, total numbers aren’t available, but On3 reports that the Buffs' 2024 roster had $3.4 million in NIL deals and $4.5 million this year, which is not reflective of their players’ total compensation.

Of course, the Buckeyes have won three national championships this side of the millennium, while Colorado has been one of the worst power conference programs for most of the past 25 years until Sanders’ arrival. To Meyer’s point, the money is naturally going to follow the successful program at the more prestigious university, both athletically and academically.