Russell Report: Coaching icons leave behind big shoes to fill
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (WCJB) - I had to take a deep breath...Did you? Last week in sports was one of the most topsy-turvy, game changing and mesmerizing weeks in history. Three coaching icons, Alabama’s Nick Saban, New England Patriots Coach Bill Belichick and Seattle Seahawks Coach Pete Carroll are all gone from their long-time teams. Some on their own, while some were gently shown the exit door. Count the number of championships in college and pro football they won as a group, and it is a staggering number. Good luck to those who will try to replace them.
We already know Washington Coach Kellen DeBoer will replace Nick Saban and it seems to be the right choice. He’s won everywhere he’s coached but now he’ll be faced with following a legend in Saban but still with the same expectation to win that Saban had. The challenge now will be to keep a talented recruiting class and other talented players from entering the transfer portal. And the search for Saban’s successor also netted new deals for Steve Sarkisian at Texas and for Mike Norvell at FSU. Got to strike while the iron is hot, and their agents did just that.
Speaking of Norvell, Florida State was back in the news and not for the best of reasons. The NCAA came down hard on the Seminoles for using name, image and likeness offers as a recruiting inducement, an absolute no-no. They will pay with scholarship reductions, and with a disassociation from one its NIL collectives for one year. We will see if this will affect recruiting or the transfer portal for the Seminoles. Unlike not making the College Football Playoff, they have no one to blame but themselves for this.
And there’s more NIL news. A proposal by the new NCAA President Charlie Baker is set to be discussed that would, among other things, allow schools to offer unlimited educational benefits and to enter into NIL licensing deals with their athletes on campus. This proposal will now go to the NCAA Division 1 Council for discussion and/or action. Recommendations for action could be made by as early as April of this year. Congress is also scheduled to have a hearing this week on college athletics and NIL, the 11th such hearing since 2020. And yet another proposal being floated is one where universities would become directly involved that would allow them to put together NIL deals between businesses and companies and athletes. As of now, universities cannot be directly involved in making NIL deals with their athletes.
All of these actions suggest we are getting closer and closer to just outright paying athletes in college. Unions will be formed. The college game will look more and more like the pro game. You decide if that’s good or bad for the sport. I’m Steve Russell, that’s the Russell Report!
RELATED: Russell Report: With the transfer portal closed, college football teams are recruiting new talent
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