Mike Leach pitches unique plan to fix NIL and college football
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Talking to Mike Leach seems like a very interesting experience not only because he is so engaged when speaking to the media, but because you truly never know what is going to come out his mouth.
He has talked mascot combat, unique coaching philosophies, he's even given wedding advice, and most recently he has come up with a very bizarre solution to fix the current state of college football. In an interview with Sports Illustrated the former Washington State and now current Mississippi State coach explained that the college football's rules need to be changed to represent what the sport has become, which is a profession. Leach called for a player draft, salary caps, trades, and for player cuts.
He explained his reasoning saying:
“This should not be a masquerade party of professionals. Are you a professional or are you not?” says Leach during an interview in his office earlier this week. “Instead of sitting here and having 17-year-olds lecture everybody that they are professionals, well, let them be professionals. It’s one [amateur] or the other [professional]. Right now, we’ve got this whole mysterious stratosphere of people wiggling all over back and forth.”
While this may seem out of left field, Leach can easily be considered one of the most interesting minds in the sports world, as the college football coach with a law degree took up coaching because as he once said "I didn't want to look back on my life and regret never having tried coaching. So l went for it".
Football to him seems like a pastime that he just happens to be really knowledgeable about, and does as a side gig to everything else in life. As explained in the SI article he'd rather discuss current issues or politics, or even bike around Key West. Football will never be his favorite subject to discuss, but does believe that college football needs modification to combat the ongoing changes that have revolutionized the sport.
Leach's proposal is that players should have a choice when entering college which is to either join as an (1) amateur or you join as a (2) professional, which he elaborated on saying:
“With professionals comes responsibility,” he says. “Yeah, you will potentially make more money. But you are drafted and can be traded. That’s what professionals do. This college football group [of administrators], they are all shocked by that. Why are you shocked by it? Name one league of professionals who don’t do it that way.”
This passionate comment of course coming as a result of the new wave of recruiting, which has been heavily influenced by NIL donors influencing recruits to attend their school. See Texas A&M's No. 1 recruiting class for reference. Something leach wants to eliminate as he explained that he believes that the aforementioned amateurs should follow similar rules currently applied to college athletes, which is that they are unpaid and can freely transfer. However, he did add that the amateur athlete would receive a $100,000 bonus once they graduate from the school with which they originally signed. If you transfer, Leach believes you should give up the right to earn the bonus.
On the other hand, the athlete that choose to be professionals would be paid a salary from the school that drafts them, sign a binding contract, and could be traded and cut from the team. They still must attend school as a student, but can profit freely. Leach is also calling for the schools to have salary pools, which would be comparable too to the NFL, where franchises are limited on how much they are spending.
While I don't think that Leach's plan will come to fruition, as there would just be way too much going on within one roster, I do think that college sports are due for a change. Whether that is the athlete becoming some sort of employee, NIL deals being regulated, or they attempt to put rules in place to prevent what is essentially bribery and buying teams something will change.
The sport will not be able to sustain itself at the current rate, I don't think Leach's scenario is the one but it does continue to show that the coaches want a change.
