MIRAMAR BEACH, Fla. – The good news for college football coaches, athletics directors and university presidents, among others? The topic of scheduling — whether we play eight or nine conference games a year — has finally taken a backseat to the SEC spring meetings.
The bad news? A new and perhaps even more polarizing issue has emerged.
O NCAAThe SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, ACC and Pac-12 recently voted in favor of an agreement on House v. NCAA. In short terms, the settlement is expected to see the NCAA pay former athletes about $2.8 billion in back damages, according to the USA TODAY Network. It also lays the groundwork for schools to pay athletes directly in the future, as a term of the agreement stipulates that schools will share revenue with them.
“I think that’s what we’re here for, right? To try to figure it out,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said Tuesday on the first day of the 2024 SEC spring meetings. “There’s a lot of speculation and a lot of narratives out there that are out there, that might not be true. We’re here to figure that out.”
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Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer added, “I think it’s just getting all the information. We hear things, you read things. I know it’s still in process right now, so trying to understand where it really is and having that communication where we’re all together.” in a room and really listening to the facts, trying to separate what’s real and what’s not real, I think that’s where it all starts.”
With athletes poised to receive a cut of the revenue — at least $20 million to start, according to the USA TODAY Network — athletic departments are expected to take cost-cutting measures to cover the new expenses. One idea put forward by some is to cut non-revenue sports. If applied, how is Title IX taken into account?
Texas A&M athletics director Trev Alberts, when asked if he could comfortably tell an athlete from his school that their program will not be cut, said it would not be “wise” for someone to make that promise with the way things currently stand, although he added that he is not understanding from his colleagues that cutting sports is what they want to do.
“It’s not fun,” Alberts added. “It’s a last resort.”
As part of the agreement, roster limits are expected to take precedence over scholarship limits. Are visitation opportunities completely eliminated? A limited lineup can impact team training. With fewer players available, a common type of football practice called “two-spotting,” which features a pair of offensive and defensive units working simultaneously, would not be possible, according to DeBoer.
“You figure things out when the time comes, but obviously there is a model that is in this area. This is the NFL,” DeBoer said. “You would probably have to do some professional development in that area, a little more than we have done over the years in terms of how they practice and how they do things.”
And what happens to NIL collectives now that schools can pay athletes directly?
“I’ve said it 100 times and I’ll say it again: We don’t have a revenue problem in college athletics, we have an expense problem,” Alberts said. “Does it reshape our thinking? Does it create some discipline? So far, it hasn’t. … The fundamental business of college athletics has been altered and changed forever, and I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing.”
“It’s going to be different and our ability to adjust and adapt will be critical. It’s true that, historically, we haven’t been very good at this. Now, we will be in a position to change our past behavior.”
Conversations surrounding the issue, among a range of other topics such as future scheduling, began on Tuesday. Auburn coach Hugh Freeze said the coaches were presented with the facts and were asked to come back with some potential recommendations: “Maybe the SEC can take the next steps,” Freeze said.
Negotiations are expected to continue on Wednesday and Thursday.
“It’s always easy to find a solution and then the details happen,” Alberts said. “Let’s be honest with ourselves: there will be unintended benefits from this and unintended consequences that we haven’t even thought about today.
“But I think you have to take the first step. You take the first step, you start working to see how the execution goes and we will learn things along the way and we will have to do difficult things. It will look different. But in the end, everything will be fine.
Richard Silva is a sports reporter for the Montgomery Advertiser, part of the USA TODAY Network. He can be reached by email at rsilva@gannett.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @rich_silva18.
This article originally appeared in the Montgomery Advertiser: House v. Settlement NCAA: Looking for answers at SEC spring meetings
