Easter Michigan offers Caleb Williams $1 Million per year

[ProudUte]

This is an example of the NIL running amuck.  See link below.  This whole thing is getting crazy.  Will USC match the million to get him to follow his former coach?

1 Million per year

[Tony (admin)]

College football is doomed I guess.  They didn’t see this coming? 

[Utesbyfive]

This is just bad.

[UteBacker]

Wow.  A lot of us saw this coming.  It’s so disheartening to those of us that are passionate about the sport.  By the way, I’d feel the same way if the Utes landed this guy by finding $1m to pay him.  Selling t-shirts with your number or likeness is one thing.  Getting a check for $1m is a totally different thing and basically has/will turn college football into a professional sport.  I think the only thing that can save it at this point is for the NFL to wave the 2 years out of high school requirement for players to join (and even that might not do it).  The NCAA is way too weak and pitiful to police these payments.  They’re worthless.  So, damn it… why do I feel like it’s only a matter of time before I have to find another interest?  This sucks.  Rant over.

[younglurch]

Unless something goes completely haywire, he’s going to get more money than this. I would guess something more like $2-$4 million.

William’s father has been adamant that they’re focusing on pro development and not NIL deals with the transfer. But it’s apparent all he’s doing is establishing a credible defense for when people complain after William’s gets handed 7 figures to go play somewhere for 2 years. 

Personally, I think this NIL stuff really started spiraling when Quinn Ewers reclassified and went to OSU with a $1 million plus NIL deal. The kid never threw a pass in a Buckeye uniform and then dipped to UT. Now you have Williams setting a precedent for “free agency,” Texas A&M paying recruits hundreds of thousands to commit, etc. Don’t get me wrong, players deserve some type of compensation, but this is getting real messy, real quick. 

[SkinyUte]

I don’t think anyone begrudges Williams for exploring these offers (I know I don’t).  He’s using the system exactly as it has been set up and getting compensated for his skills.  I think any of us would jump on a similar opportunity.

It just sucks that it’s going to effectively destroy college sports.

[Duhwayne]

That saddest part of this is that a lot of these kids are going to get screwed by coaches and other hangers-on who will take agent fees from both sides. Desperate people are always the easiest marks.

At some point if I’m the NFL I would look into starting a club system for development like the Premier League and cut colleges out. I would also start playing Saturday games. If college ball is going pro then they need to be dealt with like a competitor.

[younglurch]

The problem is that the NFL doesn’t have an infrastructure for this in place already (like the NBA with the G-League). It would be extremely expensive to start and too adjacent to their mainstream product to really work. The XFL always winds up failing in part because of this. 

In my opinion, we are drawing closer to a college football super league. The biggest 20-30 schools coming together and forming their own conference with massive media contracts and payouts. Ideally this conference could split from the NCAA and form their own rules about player pay, transfers, etc. 

I think universities should just cut the “student-athlete” bs and just make the players employees of the university. Stop forcing them to follow mundane rules and go class. Make the football team associated with the university, but its players are no longer students. The employee-employer relationship is always the one that has existed with student athletes playing major sports like football. 

[Italy88]

This would suck and would ruin college athletics for me. I don’t want employee athletes representing the school with no true affiliation. I played college sports on scholarship. I’m grateful for the education I received and the life it helped me build. 1% of college athletes are worth or will be able to garner the money that is being passed around right now. The other 99% rely on the athletics to get their degree.

[PlainsUte]

Crazy, the NIL deals were supposed to be market rate to avoid bribes by boosters like this, but who is to say the value of Caleb Williams’ name as he is well known nationally?   Hopefully the Williams Team (and make no mistake there is a team of people working with him, has been since high school) will focus on the real money in the NFL where he can make 10x that in salary in one year.   Going to EMU would drop his draft status and cost him much more in NFL rookie salary.    That said, as long as he plays for a “blueblood helmet logo” school (say any team with a national championship in the past 20-25 years, or multiple national championships in the past 50 years) he can probably go to the highest bidder as far as NIL deal.

[juan know well]

The human body can only take so many hits. Good for these guys for getting paid as early as they can.

[kazute]

I am SHOCKED to learn that NIL has turned into pay-to-play.

I think players should get paid their market value, but it will change college football.  

[PlainsUte]

[CincyUte]

I’m not sure how I’d feel about one of our own players making that much.

[Utesbyfive]

Well, they’re not being paid directly by the school. So that makes it all okay.