Big 12 Media Days: TCU's Gary Patterson Warns College Football May Need More Oversight
ARLINGTON, TX — Many have coined today’s era of college football the “Wild Wild West” between loosening transfer rules and the new Name, Image and Likeness legislation.
TCU Horned Frogs head coach Gary Patterson is aware of both sides of the coin.
The Horned Frogs were one of the first Big 12 programs who got to benefit from the new in-conference transfer rules which allow athletes to become immediately eligible when transferring between two Big 12 schools.
Chandler Morris, former Oklahoma quarterback, was able to make the move to Ft. Worth and won't have to sit this year if he is needed in relief of starter Max Duggan.
But while it’s a great benefit to the players, Patterson cautioned how difficult it may be for programs to navigate the ever-changing college football landscape.
“Right now we’re in a situation where we have the NIL and transfers like in the NFL but they have a players’ union,” Patterson said during his Big 12 Media Days press conference. “There are no rules right now, it’s tied to state laws.”
As different situations come up, Patterson said the conference and college football as a whole must adjust to ensure the rules are followed, especially pertaining to the handling of NIL.
“Abuse leads to restrictions,” Patterson said. “Tampering, leverage as far as amount of money you’d have to go to one school or another, if any of us believe that that’s might not be a possibility it crazy.
“That’s why if you look at the NFL model, you can’t talk to other teams. You can’t do those kinds of things, there’s severe penalties. There’s going to have to be some things in place.”
Like everything in college football, Patterson said that coaches will have to be able to course-correct on the fly.
“You have to have solutions,” Patterson said. “I always say the difference between a good coach and a great coach is a coach that can fix things quickly.”
While Patterson acknowledged he’s not always been huge on taking a ton of transfers, he is excited about the prospects of NIL being able to help keep things as fair as possible across the board.
“I think it evened the playing field,” he said. “The really good players are going to have their own deals. People are going to find them.”
