UCLA Needs to Prepare for FCS Player Buyouts

If the UCLA football program is looking to add FCS talent in the future, it may need to cough up a pretty penny to make that happen. We are not even talking about NIL money for players, this is about the coming reality that will be buyouts of player contracts.

After reports have come out with some supporting the idea, UCLA Bruins On SI went digging to see if this was just talk or if we are on the verge of player contracts and buyouts.

We are. Grambling State head coach Mickey Joseph had made comments recently about the matter.

"We understand, we understand, I think the kids understand if they're here and if they sophomores, and they have a big, a big, a big year, and a group of five or Power Five approach them and they have the finances to pull them out of there, and I can't match the finances, then you know what they're going to go that's that's part of it," Joseph said.

"Coaches have been doing it for years, so we shouldn't get mad as coaches when these kids make decisions to take care of their family.

"Because, like I said, I'm gonna say it again. Coach has been doing it for years. But I also think they need to be a buyout. If they move up, if they move up to me and go to group of five and Power Five, I should get kind of a compensation for that, you know. So NCAA be listening to me. I need a buyout."

So, I spoke with FCS Football Central On SI's Zach McKinnell, a leading FCS expert, and this is what he told me.

" As college football continues to shift towards a pro model with revenue sharing, it only makes sense to make this adjustment to level the playing field. Contracts are going to be the next step for college football. Professional soccer has implemented buyouts, while the NFL awards compensatory picks.

"Tampering continues to run rampant among college football, especially FBS programs trying to take the best FCS talent each season. This new rule would ensure that programs, who are already at a massive resource disadvantage, do not fall further behind in this new age of college athletics.

"It would also be fair compensation for FCS programs, who are spending time and resources developing players, who these same FBS programs missed in the high school scouting process. The playing field will never be fully equal, but it would be a step in the right direction in helping the lower-resourced institutions compete in this new age of college football."

For UCLA, it needs to have honest conversations with its athletic department and its NIL collective because if the FCS gets to demand payouts, everyone will follow suit, potentially creating a financial crash in college football.

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