There has been a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth throughout college football about the current free-for-all in the Transfer Portal and in high school recruiting., but here's the hard truth for all programs: Either embrace it or surrender.
I mention this because of recent comments by UCF head coach Scott Frost about the current state of affairs.
"It's broken," he said. "College football is broken." FYI: After bombing at Nebraska, Frost returned to UCF with a five-year, $22.1 million contract.
Compare that to what USF's Rob Higgins said on the day he was introduced as the Bulls CEO of Athletics.
"Now you look at the evolution of college athletics, and you see people getting out, that's when we want in," he said. "A lot of that ties to revenue sharing, NIL, and a lot of the diversification of revenue generation that can happen, I think we're at the point in time where it has gotten to be such a monstrous business opportunity."
Programs like USF and UCF don't have the luxury to live in the past. USF has adapted early to this and has realized it requires a big-business mentality. Hence: Higgins "CEO" title.
"While others right now are focusing on years they don't get with student-athletes, we're going to concentrate on maximizing every chance and every moment and every minute we get to help them grow and achieve their dreams," Higgins said.
Is the current landscape the modern-day equivalent of the gunfight at the OK corral? Of course it is. Florida State is in a financial pinch thanks to outrageous buyout clause it gave head coach Mike Norvell. The Atlantic Coast Conference has teams on the Pacific coast. The Big Ten expanded to Southern Cal and UCLA.
UCF was thrilled to join the Big 12, but now the Knights are on an island with no natural rival.
All oll of these situations were created by school leaders and conference executives.
But somehow, it gets twisted around to being the players' fault for wanting a slice of the pie that they baked.
You hear about stories of wealthy boosters at schools like LSU promising to "supplement" the $20.5 million "cap" that programs are allowed to play players. That's supposed to be against the rules, but, you know....
Is that the players' fault?
This kind of junk has gone on in college football forever. There used to be a slogan in the SEC that if you wereh't cheating, you weren't trying. Former Florida coach, the late Charley Pell, had a cheating machine so well organized that it earned the Gators 107 NCAA violations and a crippling multi-year probation.
However, Pell would have thrived in this era, and that's the point.
For decades, coaches and NCAA execs got rich on the labor of the student-athletes, who couldn't even take a t-shirt without risking a suspension. So, the rules have changed.
Programs have a choice: Wallow in regret that players have more control over their futures than ever, or embrace the present.
Scott Frost seems stuck in the mud.
Rob Higgns?
To use his words, all gas and no brakes.