Where recently there stood a true legendary powerhouse in college football, there now resides the tattered shell of a competitive program left in complete ruin, but not entirely by their own hand.
The athletic program at Florida State University, specifically football, has now become the standard-bearer for everything that destroyed what was once college football, and turned the game into nothing more than the NFL minor league many always knew it was.
There are those who will crow there’s “nothing to see here and all is well!” because the game continues to garner record ratings and churns out cash hand over fist. That's because fans and followers don’t give one damn about whether it’s about the Alma mater or about the almighty dollar. Just shut up, go back to caring for your lawn, give us the game and all the gambling odds that go with it.
What hasn’t changed, as in the case of the woeful FSU Seminoles this season, is that with every loss and misstep, Head Coach Mike Norvell’s head nuzzles a little deeper into the employment guillotine rest, despite the fact that much of what has failed around him is not entirely his fault, and he, like so many other bosses, are struggling in coming to grips with what the personnel side of the game has become.
Young men charting their own course for the almighty dollar, the school and tradition be damned.
Change a few assistant coaches here and there, as Norvell did following the Seminoles most recent defeat? Dance chairs on the Titanic. He's either going to catch on, and fast, or be another massive payout for the University. At this time, there are 63 million reasons why FSU hasn't bagged him yet. Norvell's a smart guy, and knows he's on a rope that stretches from Tallahassee to the branch of every bank the Seminoles have an account.
Florida State University’s football team illustrates a disappointing reality for college football today, a sport increasingly marred by financial motivations and player turnover. Last season, FSU was a powerhouse, boasting some of the nation’s top talent and securing their place among the college football elite. But that team’s dominance didn’t last. Star players, lured by the NFL draft or lucrative NIL deals at other schools, left the program, exposing how hard it has become for teams to maintain a competitive roster.
The NCAA’s adoption of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) rights, combined with the transfer portal, has completely changed the landscape of college football. While NIL rights empower players to capitalize on their talents, the money available to high-profile athletes now often outshines any sense of loyalty to a single program.
But don't be concerned. The NFL and their money-printing machine could not have been happier to watch the signing fur fly and college continue to help weed out the ill-talented halflings.
Today, players have scholarships far down the line as attractive reasons to wear certain colors. "Getting an education"? HAHAHAHAHAHA. Please, enough with the levity.
More to their decision is how deep the pockets of boosters and sponsors are, and how effective the program does in media marketing to raise their possibility of a higher end NIL endorsement deal. As a result, top recruits are more mercenary than ever, switching programs on a whim in search of better exposure and financial opportunities.
For coaches like FSU’s Norvell, who had once solely relied on carefully curated recruiting classes, this newfound flexibility among players makes roster management nearly impossible. Deciding they could relay on the now "Instant Magic" of the mighty "TRANSFER PORTAL", (put in caps to showcase it's importance), was a bigger bust than when Mayim Bialik was named a co-host on "Jeopardy".
In past years, a strong recruiting class could set a team up for years of dominance, but those days are gone. With players able to jump ship almost instantly, recruiting rankings offer no assurance of stability. Even the most promising teams can be dismantled as players leave for higher-paying opportunities, often resulting in mid-season chaos. At this rate, college football teams without substantial NIL funds for attracting and keeping top players are destined to remain “also-rans,” annually falling behind in the national championship race.
Just as NFL teams fight to sign high-profile free agents, college teams are now bidding for talent through NIL deals. Programs that can offer big deals will get top players, leaving smaller programs to rely on athletes who are willing to forego financial rewards for the love of the game, an increasingly rare mentality. Schools that don’t spend on NIL will, inevitably, be left out of serious title contention.
For coaches, this upheaval is especially daunting. No longer can they rely solely on recruitment strategies, coaching prowess, and building team camaraderie over time. The college transfer portal and NIL money have put the power squarely in players' hands, diminishing the role of traditional coaching influence. A coach can build a great team, but if another school offers a higher NIL package, top players will jump at the chance. Even the better coaches, like Norvell at FSU, are essentially powerless in a market where players can opt out whenever a better financial opportunity appears.
In contrast to FSU, what has happened at Colorado is another con job all for cash. Deion Sanders took the Head Coaching gig for the Buffaloes not to make the downtrodden program better or bring a sense of unity to Front Range fans, He did it to bolster his resume for an eventual move to more lucrative pastures, and to hand his quarterback son the reins to an offense that would be built entirely around him for the purpose of cashing into the NFL. Buffs fans are being used as suckers, but so l one as they have a shot at a bowl game somewhere, they will keep allowing themselves to be used because “it feels so damn good to win for a change!” When Sanders son Shedeur is cashing NFL paychecks, IF he cashes them, watch Deion shed his cowboy hat and phony boots in beating feet to more lucrative climes.
We’ll dive deeper into that Rocky Mountain morass another day and time.
What was once a platform to develop athletes over years has become an immediate “win or bust” situation, dependent on which program offers the most appealing NIL deals. This system favors programs with wealthy boosters, alumni, and regional brands capable of funneling money into NIL deals, further reinforcing disparities among programs. Schools like Alabama, Ohio State, and Georgia are thriving in this era because they can offer substantial deals to players. Meanwhile, traditional programs that don’t have as deep pockets may no longer be competitive, regardless of history or fan support.
Sure, they may be able to win every now and then, but consistently they will always be cannon fodder for the truly wealthy programs. That might help keep them playing, because the bigger schools always pay a nice dollar to have a designated whipping post set up in their home stadium on Homecoming weekend.
The transfer portal and NIL rules have mostly erased the lines between college and professional football. While college football fans once prided themselves on the game’s purity and its contrast to the business-driven nature of the NFL, these days it feels nearly identical. Players now have the agency to follow the money and the visibility, much like NFL free agents. This system will likely lead to even greater disparities as the wealthy programs get wealthier and dominate the competition, while other programs are left picking up the pieces.
The saddest part is that college football was once about pride in one’s school, the building of traditions, and the notion that teams were fighting for something beyond personal gain. To be sure, we still have the hype of great rivalries such as Michigan-Ohio State, Florida-Georgia, Oregon-Oregon State and Army-Navy, but save for the service academies where jumping ship (no pun intended) isn’t an option, the higher end players don’t give a rah-rah damn about winning one for the Gipper unless there’s a fat paycheck attached to it.
Today, loyalty to a college program has become practically obsolete as players chase NIL dollars from one team to the next, robbing fans of a sense of continuity or attachment to specific players. In this new world, Florida State’s recent struggles illustrate the challenges faced by programs that fail to keep up in the NIL game.
The NIL era and transfer portal have undoubtedly given players well-deserved control over their careers, but the consequence is a fractured, inconsistent college football landscape. Florida State’s fall from grace should serve as a warning to programs hoping to build teams with staying power in this new age. If a program wants to remain competitive, it has to adapt to a reality where financial incentives—not school spirit or athletic development—are the primary drivers of player commitment.
College football has entered a new age, one that looks less and less like the storied, tradition-rich game it once was, and more like a business. Frankly, college football has never been more tedious and more lackluster. Sure, what little color and passion remains is nice eye-candy, but the blowouts are more frequent, and the gap in talent between two schools at any given time makes another holiday repeat on "The Hallmark Channel" seem like thrill-a-minute action.
Without a betting interest, college football is just boring.
Now, you can get off my lawn.
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