If you missed the press conference that Mark Emmert held regarding the future plans of NCAA basketball, college football, and all other college sports, don’t worry.
I missed it too — because there wasn’t one.
This is just a piece of pie for NCAA athletics, but for the sake of this article, we will focus on College Football.
If you were to google profits for the NCAA, you’d find around 1.1 billion during 2017 (didn’t find the 2018 or 2019 profits). And if you’ve been watching congress you know that there will be bailouts for various institutions — and Mark Emmert will be crying with his hand out shouting “show me the money”.
Mark Emmert needs to get proactive pronto where college football is concerned (as well as other sports, of course).
The average stipend for scholarshipped football players is between 1500 and 2000 a month (as allowed by the NCAA), and even that can get choppy during the summer months.
As a small business owner who’s been covering Husky sports for over 20 years now, I’ve interviewed thousands of players and recruits — they have to pay rent, utilities, pay for their trips home to visit family, make car payments, and there’s a small percentile of D1 athletes who even send some of their stipend home for their families.
In other words, these stipends barely get any single person by in this day and age, whether they’re on a college scholarship or not.
Right now most athletes aren’t even on campus anymore; they’re home and the “stipend” is “choppy”.
Many of these athletes have single parents and younger siblings — and working people are losing money. I am, you are. We all are being effected.
What about that 300 pound offensive lineman who has a single mother already having to keep food on the table for five kids? Usually, that lineman is on campus being fed, receiving a stipend, working out, staying in shape, etc…You get the point.
So let’s talk about what Mark Emmert should be doing right now.
The Draft and College Football
Emmert should be in communication with the NFL commissioner to address several worst-case scenarios.
The first draft day is April 23rd — and what happens if there’s no college football season?
If, by late July it doesn’t appear that there will be any NCAA football this fall, then Emmert needs to be in meetings with the NFL to make plans for a second NFL draft day during that period (late July, early August).
There would have to be another combine by the last week of July for all of those seniors who decided to forego the draft and stay another year at the college level.
There’s hundreds of top-tier seniors around the country who could have declared but didn’t — and also some of the best juniors in the country who could also miss a year of their football career in this scenario.
No one gets better or gets their draft higher by not playing.
Now I realize there may be readers saying “Well that’s unprecedented! It’s never been done before!”
Well we’ve never seen a virus shut down the world before, either.
Twitter thugs and naysayers will also say “If they don’t have college football then they won’t have the NFL!”, but I don’t see that happening, even if it’s just a shortened season.
These are billionaires with privately-owned businesses — if the NCAA can rake in 1.1 billion in one year, how much do you think the NFL can bring in?
So in the supplemental draft period, there should be a waiver where a player can decide to return to college — provided they haven’t taken money from an agent yet. Also, the guys who don’t get drafted here can automatically return to fulfill their eligibility in college.
Also…
If there’s no football in 2020 and you’re a senior, you should be granted an additional year of college football. That eligibility should be granted regardless of your draft stock or anything else. In other words: The clock stops ticking on your eligibility.
Now, about spring practices
In the past month or so many D1 programs were able to conduct spring practices, but many were not able to. At Washington there’s a quarter system and so the Huskies never were able to take the field for spring practice.
Washington isn’t alone in this; it’s usually unique to quarter-system schools.
Mark Emmert should be assuring Larry Scott and Larry Scott should be assuring Jen Cohen that Washington will be allowed their 15 days of practice at some point.
It’s vital to the success of the football program to get those practices in.
The Huskies have a new head coach and a new offensive coordinator. Afterall, the rallying cry of the NCAA is that no one gets an unfair advantage over anyone else.
So what say you now, Mr. Emmert?
These are just a few things right off the top of my head regarding this nightmare that’s come upon NCAA sports. Right now is the time for ideas, and anything can be done if the right people in the right places know how to do it.
Mark Emmert should be coming out and addressing everyone involved in NCAA athletics on a weekly basis regarding these issues.
Even Paul Finebaum, who’s an SEC guy went on the attack at Emmert for being an “egomaniacal, self-centered dictator who has very little control.”
Finebaum blasted Emmert for making decisions about NCAA basketball before he’d even consulted with conference leadership, “For Mark Emmert, not to have more consultation with the people that feed the system was inexcusable”, Finebaum also said.
But this has been the ongoing theme throughout this ordeal: Emmert makes an across-the-board decision without revealing any additional insight.
He’s been silent — and if he’s just waiting on the government to “bail out” the NCAA before he makes any further decisions, then at least come out and say so.
As it is, everyone is losing money right now, while college athletes and everyone involved are facing an uncertain future.
Say something Mark.
As the president of the NCAA you would think that Emmert is taking proactive steps to ensure that all the T’s are crossed and I’s are dotted.
If there is a worst-case scenario, address it.
As it is, Emmert is doing a terrific job at “social distancing”, at least until that bailout money becomes available.
