Paul Finebaum Reveals the One Thing That Can Fix College Football

ESPN's Paul Finebaum. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

College athletics is entering a new era, and people either have to get on board or they will just be left behind.

That reality is no longer up for debate. The only question now is whether the people in charge can create enough structure to keep the sport from spiraling further into chaos.

The transfer portal and NIL are here to stay, and they’ve added a new layer of responsibility that goes far beyond traditional coaching. That’s why several programs across the country are expanding support staffs and even adopting an NFL-style model by hiring general managers to oversee roster management.

The goal is simple: allow coaches to focus on coaching while others handle the chaos. But with that evolution comes something the sport has struggled to manage, a growing and constant sense of uncertainty.

That uncertainty is starting to define modern college football. There are ongoing questions about player eligibility, with some athletes now reaching six or even seven years due to varying circumstances.

NCAA president Charlie Baker speaks during a press conference. | Michelle Pemberton/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

At some point, that kind of flexibility stops being an advantage and starts becoming a competitive imbalance, where roster building is less about development and more about manipulation of the system.

At the same time, there is no clear long-term structure for how the sport will operate moving forward. The NCAA, led by president Charlie Baker, has tried to introduce things it believes could fix the sport. The issue is that a lot of that legislation gets dismissed within the court system.

That has been the NCAA’s biggest problem. It can propose rules, but it cannot enforce them in a way that consistently holds up legally. That leaves the sport in a constant state of reaction instead of control.

ESPN's Paul Finebaum revealed on his show, "The Paul Finebaum Show," that there is only one thing that can fix college athletics.

"If you are a leader of the NCAA like Charlie Baker is, or someone else, and you have done such an inefficient job, and you know there's only one fix for college football, and that is to lean on Washington to solve the problems that you were unable to solve yourself," Finebaum said.

Finebaum’s argument is blunt, but it reflects a growing sentiment across the sport. The NCAA has lost the ability to govern on its own, and without federal backing, any rule it creates is vulnerable to being overturned.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order earlier this month to help fix some of the issues. It was designed to limit how long athletes can play college sports and how often they can transfer between schools.

The order directs the NCAA to create rules that mandate college athletes can play for "no more than a five-year period" and allows them to transfer schools only once before they graduate without having to sit out a season. The rule changes are scheduled to go into effect Aug. 1. A school that plays an athlete who doesn't meet these new limits could risk losing its federal funding.

On paper, those changes would bring much-needed structure. A five-year clock and transfer limitations would immediately reduce roster volatility and restore some level of predictability.

The order also states that the NCAA should update its rules to create a national registry for player agents and create policies that prevent schools from cutting scholarships or other opportunities for women's and Olympic sports in order to pay their athletes.

Baker acknowledged the NCAA needs help from the federal government.

"On some of these issues, it's hard for us to do this without at least some support from the feds," Baker said. "The courts are one way to settle the debate, but it takes a really long time, and it creates a lot of uncertainty."

That uncertainty is exactly what has turned many fans away. The lack of consistency in rules, eligibility, and roster movement has made it harder to follow and trust the structure of the sport.

While he signed the executive order, it hasn't gone into law just yet. It still has to go through the legal process, which means it could also be dismissed eventually. And that is the biggest issue of all. Even the proposed solution comes with uncertainty.

Until college football finds a system that is both enforceable and legally protected, the chaos will continue. The sport may be evolving, but without structure, that evolution risks pushing it further away from what made it popular in the first place.