Clemson football: Is this what we want college football to be?

Clemson football attempts to navigate a new world of transfers and NIL.

Change is difficult for most people, no matter the circumstances, especially when you’ve been successful under previous rules and regulations, as is the case with Clemson football.

As Clemson attempts to adjust to this new world that college athletics has become, the administration and supporters seem to be taking a measured approach, with a couple of collectives and various NIL opportunities for Tiger athletes.

They have not, however, gone the way of the other top football schools, either with the transfer portal or the NIL arena.   Some see this as lagging behind, losing ground and recruits while other schools chase every transfer and embrace the free for all that is NIL.

A lot of Clemson fans want to be All In with the portal and NIL, others want nothing to do with it.

Wherever you sit on the NIL spectrum, just know that it’s apparently going to be very expensive.

Ohio State head coach Ryan Day believes it’ll take $13 million to keep the Buckeyes roster intact in the NIL era.

It’s important to understand who Day said this to, in order to provide context”

"When speaking to 100 members of the Columbus business community on Thursday morning, Day said that he believes it will take $13 million from the local business community to keep the Buckeyes roster intact."

Day was speaking to those that will likely donate the funds and therefore he needs to convey the urgency and need.

"The event on Thursday, which was hosted by the university at the Covelli Center on campus, was to unveil the school’s NIL Corporate Ambassador Program, which is designed to encourage the Columbus community to hire players through the school athletic department."

Whatever the true number is, whether it’s $13 million or more or less, is really irrelevant to me, but whatever it is, it’s significant if the numbers thrown around are to be believed.

"Through discussions with recruits and their families, Day believes that top quarterbacks require $2 million in NIL money, while offensive tackles and edge rushers require around $1 million."

$13 million to keep a roster intact.  Is this what we want college football to be?

There are those that think this is how college sports will go forever now that the money is out of the bag, while others believe there’s no way the current model is sustainable.

As for me, I’m not sure.  It seems reasonable players should be able to transfer whenever they want, like any other college student.  It seems reasonable that they should profit from their name, image and likeness.  It seems reasonable they should receive market value.

I don’t have the answers, I’m not smart enough to figure it out.  I know change has arrived and for some of us more “seasoned” college football fans it’s more difficult to accept, but I’m somewhere in the middle.

Would I feel different if Clemson had a billionaire buying players?  I’m not sure, but I am sure that if I were said billionaire there are things other than a quarterback that I would spend my disposable income on.

I keep coming back to one question that I’m not sure anyone has bothered to ask in the frenzy of money and recruits:

Is this what we want college football to be?