USF AD says the school will be as "aggressive as we can be" in paying athletes

American Athletic Conference Commissioner Tim Pernetti, who recently took over the post, has an idea he said he is “throwing out there.” It would involve revenue sharing throughout the league and what he called “an agreed-upon conference cap” on how much schools can spend on athletes.

However, in a clear rebuttal, USF Athletic Director Michael Kelly expressed his disagreement with Pernetti's proposal, essentially stating that Pernetti can throw it back.

“I understand where the new commissioner is coming from, but we would not be supportive of any (conference) cap,” Kelly told Green, Gold and Bold in an exclusive interview.

“In this era of change and permissiveness in college athletics, USF has found ways to meet the new standards. We are going to be as aggressive as we can  be.”

The Commercial Appeal newspaper in Memphis first reported Pernetti’s thoughts about creating balance in the largely uncharted world of allowing schools to pay athletes directly. While details are still being worked out, it would basically allow schools to direct up to 22% of athletic-related revenues to the players in all sports.

If Pernetti’s trial balloon comes to a vote and is adopted, it could put USF at a disadvantage in trying to attract top recruits away from Power 4 programs.

“I think some institutions in our conference are resourced in different ways than others. What we want to try to avoid is creating competition and gaps in our own league. For instance, and I'm just throwing it out there, the idea of us discussing as a membership, which I think we will, the prospect of revenue sharing within our conference,” Pernetti told the Commercial Appeal.

“And should we have an agreed-upon conference cap for revenue sharing to try to create as much of a level playing field as we possibly can? Nothing's off the table on that front.”

In late May, the NCAA and the then-called Power 5 conferences reached an agreement that could end the rule that prohibited athletes from receiving payments beyond tuition, books, room, and board from their schools. Many larger programs over the years have regarded that more as a suggestion than a rule requiring strict amateurism.

The compromise, which must be approved by a federal judge, grew out of the House v. NCAA lawsuit that resulted in $2.8 billion in damages against the NCAA.

Kelly said USF is waiting for more details before deciding how to proceed, but he added that it could lead to a major expansion of opportunities for Bulls’ athletes.

For instance, he said, the NCAA limits USF’s baseball team to 11.7 scholarships that must be divided among the entire team. Other sports are similarly limited, and while USF awards 85 full scholarships to football, the Bulls also have multiple walk-on players.

Also, USF has not disguised its interest in eventually joining a power conference if realignment occurs again, which seems likely. Until that happens, he said, USF will continue to provide athletes with facilities and benefits that meet or exceed many current power conference programs.

“My biggest focus now is to understand what the Division I landscape will look like,” he said. “There is no reason for us to hold anything back.”

And if/when realignment occurs?

“Don’t leave a place like USF out,” he said. “Do you want to look back 20 years in making that decision, or look ahead 20 years at what we’re going to be?”