Steve Sarkisian Rips College Football Teams Over Spending Habits

In series of rants that Steve Sarkisian went on Thursday afternoon, one involved the state of finance in the college football world.

Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian looks on prior to a game against the Georgia Bulldogs at Sanford Stadium. | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Today's college football world is changing rapidly, and with the rise of name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals this decade, it's given collegiate athletes a chance to get a taste of what the professional sports world is like, especially in terms of sponsorships and pay.

With the new opportunities come guidelines and a series of rules to keep everything fair and make sure that everyone is using the opportunity in a lawful sense.

According to Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian, however, the enforcements surrounding the way teams pay their players has become quite lax lately, and he was going to make it known.

"There's No Fear"

Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian waits to lead his team onto the field prior to the game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field. | Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

During his press conference on Thursday, Sarkisian did not mince any words on his opinion of where the state of college football was in terms of finance and how said finance was spent.

"We have rules in place that people are not adhering to because there are no consequences, there's no fear, and so that number continues to go up," Sarkisian said. "The agents know that the numbers are going to continue to go up. There is no cap."

Sarkisian continued his small rant by pressing the issue of loopholes that teams were finding to pay their players more and how creative they were getting.

"Everybody is getting more and more creative of finding ways to try to pay their players, some a little more legitimare than others, and that is okay," said the head coach. "I'm a bit irrelevant to that right now, but the point is that, 'hey, they're the only three schools that are paying players,' that is not true. Everybody is doing it, and everybody is trying to win.

Of course, we all know you can't buy a national championship in college football, as the Indiana Hoosiers and head coach Curt Cignetti showed that last year with their squad of three-star starters who went undefeated on their way to a national championship win over the Miami Hurricanes that you really don't even need to.

Sarkisian and the Longhorns are no stranger to NIL and player payments, as quarterback Arch Manning is currently atop the boards in terms of NIL earnings, with $5.4 million coming his way from deals alone.

In fact, Sarkisian even said last month that he believed Manning was the "most underpaid" quarterback in college football based on what the University of Texas was giving him, so this statement that comes from the coach just a month later is very interesting, so it sounds like the head coach thinks Texas isn't spending enough, while the rest of the nation is spending too much.

Then again, Sarkisian isn't exactly known as one that wants to make everyone happy.

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