ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith is the man of a million opinions. But the events of the past week of college football had Smith digging deep to share his disdain. Not many years ago, bowl games were regarded as major prizes to be sought and enjoyed by fan bases. But in the era of an expanding College Football Playoff, the non-Playoff bowls are certainly taking a prestige hit.

No less than 10 teams turned down bowl berths in the events of last weekend. Yes, the majority of those teams declining spots were 5-7 teams that had already begun offseason preparations without consideration of a bowl appearance. But across the sport, bowl appearances were devalued by teams– whatever the reason– turning down bowls.

Stephen A. Drags Notre Dame

Notre Dame, after being knocked out of the CFP by a single slot, was by far the most significant team to decline bowl offerings. The Irish clearly felt they had earned a CFP spot and the program’s own social media release made clear that Notre Dame wasn’t interested in anything less. Stephen A. Smith was not impressed by that stance, and he shared his thoughts for the Irish on ESPN’s First Take.

Put on your big boy pants. Grow up and accept accountability for the role you played… here you are with your selfish asses, out there being an Independent… the one thing you can’t control, you want to whine and moan about it because your team lost head-up to Miami to open the season.

Stephen A. Smith

Independent Issues

The lack of a conference alignment certainly didn’t do Notre Dame any favors in the CFP donnybrook. While the school is a member of the ACC for most sports, Notre Dame has chosen to avoid conference alignment, presumably in regard to their own television deal with NBC Sports. Not having a conference left the Irish without the chance to improve their stock in the first weekend of December, as many other teams did.

Notre Dame’s Competition

That said, the Miami team that jumped Notre Dame in the CFP rankings also didn’t play over the weekend. Miami fell out of the ACC title picture and watched 8-5 Duke claim the league’s honors. Alabama did play, but with a 28-7 loss to Georgia, probably wished to have been anywhere else. Still, Alabama and Miami are in the CFP and Notre Dame remains out.

Many have agreed with Smith’s sentiments, claiming that Notre Dame’s stance in turning down a bowl bid was somewhere between silly and genuinely unfair to its own players. While others have been vociferous in their objection to Notre Dame’s CFP treatment, a large number have agreed with Smith’s sentiment about the need for some blue and gold “big boy pants.”

On Monday’s episode of the Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch, Hall of Famer Troy Aikman explained why he’s “done with NIL.”

Aikman transferred from Oklahoma to UCLA for the 1987 and 1988 seasons, where he led the Bruins to back-to-back 10-win campaigns and set passing records before being selected No. 1 overall in the 1989 NFL Draft.

He went on to spend 12 seasons with the Dallas Cowboys, winning three Super Bowls (XXVII, XXVIII, XXX) and throwing for 32,942 yards and 165 touchdowns, before becoming a longtime TV analyst with FOX and later ESPN’s Monday Night Football.

Yet as one of UCLA’s most recognizable alumni, his involvement with the program may now be in question.

“I gave money to a kid, I won’t mention who. I’ve done it one time at UCLA, never met the young man. He was there a year, he left after the year. I wrote a sizable check, and he went to another school. I didn’t even get so much as a thank-you note. So, it’s one of those deals, to where I’m done with NIL. I want to see UCLA be successful, but I’m done with it,” Aikman said.

While Aikman did not name the player, many have already speculated that he’s referring to Dante Moore, who transferred from UCLA to Oregon in late 2023.

Read More: Texas A&M QB Marcel Reed Sends Clear Message Amid Transfer Portal Rumors

A generational high-school prospect, Moore arrived at UCLA as a 2023 freshman.

He completed 114-of-213 passes (53.5%) for 1,610 yards, 11 TDs, and nine INTs at UCLA before entering the transfer portal and landing at Oregon in December 2023.

After moving to Eugene, he emerged as Oregon’s starter and completed 227-of-313 passes for 2,733 yards, 24 TDs, and six INTs in the 2025 college football season.

Those numbers have made Moore a top NFL prospect and a marquee NIL asset.

Read More: Ole Miss Hires Former Lane Kiffin Assistant After LSU Fallout

Moore’s market value rose quickly after the transfer and playing uptick.

Industry trackers list Moore among the higher NIL valuations for quarterbacks in 2025, with a reported value of $2.3 million, which ranks 13th among all college athletes.

This situation highlights the tension between modern donor influence, transfer portal mobility, and NIL commercialization, all of which are reshaping alumni expectations and making donor relationships more transactional.

Troy Aikman will never give another dollar to UCLA for NIL. He gave money to a college football player who left the program after one season.

The Hall of Fame quarterback never met the player. The player never said thank you.

This is the reality of college football in 2025. A severe lack of regulation allows players to come and go as they please without any legitimate ties to one specific program or the financial compensation they received from that program.

Aikman, a three-time Super Bowl champion, played two years of college football at Oklahoma and two years of college football at UCLA. He himself is a former transfer. He is not against transfers.

However, the current system is very different from the 1980s.

Troy Aikman was forced to sit out the entire 1986 season because of the transfer rules from that era. Nowadays players can transfer willy nilly through the portal whenever they so choose, as many times as they want. They are (in most circumstances) immediately eligible to play that next season at their new school. And they are often getting paid along the way.

It was the correct decision to allow college athletes to profit from their Names, Images and Likenesses. Unfortunately, the decision to allow NIL opened the floodgates for unchecked financial inducements.

Recruiting used to be (more) about culture fit, facilities, playing time, coaching staff, etc. Now it’s (even more) about money.

Ed Orgeron recently said it best. The bag men walk through the front door instead of the back.

UCLA will pay its new football coach Bob Chesney $6.75 million per year, with his contract spanning five years.

Chesney could enhance his pay through incentives and escalators. 

The 49-year-old was hired by UCLA from James Madison after its generational season in which it qualified for the College Football Playoff. 

Chesney arrived in Los Angeles Monday afternoon and will spend two days on UCLA’s campus before having to return to James Madison to prepare to play No. 5 seed Oregon in the first round of the CFP Saturday, Dec. 20th at 4:30 p.m. PT. 

UCLA announced the signing of Chesney as its coach Saturday morning (GO HERE). It followed a two-month search process. 

Bruin Report Online has been your go-to place for everything Bob Chesney related. Here’s the BRO recent archive:

— UCLA Coach Bob Chesney and Family Land in L.A.

— The Timing of Bob Chesney Coming to UCLA and His Immediate To-Do List

— BROCast: More Bob Chesney Talk, Basketball Updates for Men and Women

— What could Bob Chesney accomplish in his first year?

— James Madison Makes CFP; Chesney’s UCLA Arrival Delayed

— What does new UCLA football coach Bob Chesney’s resume tell us about him?

— One of Chesney’s First Great Moves as UCLA’s Coach – Not Flipping to Penn State

— 10 most important players for Bob Chesney to retain at UCLA

— BROCast: James Madison’s Bob Chesney to UCLA

— Quick analysis of UCLA hiring Bob Chesney

For the past couple of decades, former NFL star quarterback and Pro Football Hall of Famer Troy Aikman has shared his thoughts on what he’s seen during whichever game he and his longtime broadcast partner are calling.

The three-time Super Bowl winner is part of the “Monday Night Football” broadcast crew. Aikman has routinely given his take on a variety of football-related topics, from the state of NFL officiating to college football.

Some of Aikman’s latest thoughts about the college game centered on the growing number of players who have taken advantage of the transfer portal in today’s polarizing NIL landscape.

The former Dallas Cowboys quarterback and many others have referred to the state of today’s sport at the collegiate level as the “Wild West.”

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Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman before a game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and New York Giants at Acrisure Stadium.  (Barry Reeger/Imagn Images)

“College football has become the Wild West, as everybody knows. Forget about Lane Kiffin for a minute, but starting with NIL, there just has been no guardrails. I’m on the National Football Foundation Board, so I hear firsthand from a lot of the commissioners and athletic directors and the people involved in all of that. It’s gotta get cleaned up, first and foremost,” Aikman told The Athletic.

When asked about student-athletes’ mobility in today’s world, Aikman reflected on his personal choices during his time competing at the NCAA level.

NFL GREAT TROY AIKMAN FIRES BACK AT JERRY JONES’ TRADE PLAN AMID LOSING EFFORT: ‘HE MAY WANT TO CANCEL’

“I was a transfer. I went from Oklahoma to UCLA, and I’ve always felt that if a coach is able to pick up and leave, that a player should have the same opportunity if a coach leaves,” he continued.

UCLA quarterback Troy Aikman runs the ball against Arizona Oct. 2, 1988, at Arizona Stadium in Tucson, Ariz. (Mike Powell/Allsport/Getty Images)

“What’s happened obviously over the years since I got out of college football is that, in recent years with NIL, there’s been no accountability on the players,” Aikman continued. “So, the players pick up, and now they’re leaving all the time whereas before it was typically the coach. The player used to have to sit out a year. Now, the players can up and go regardless of whether or not they’ve been paid. It’s every man for himself.”

Aikman then dived into another college football hot topic — Lane Kiffin’s decision to leave Ole Miss in favor of LSU. The NFL analyst gave his best guess on what fueled Kiffin to make the leap.

“Lane Kiffin’s motivation? Is it his thoughts that it’s a better opportunity for him at LSU? Possibly. Is it money? Possibly. Is it lifestyle? Possibly. I can’t answer any of those questions.

Ole Miss Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin throws a football before a game against the Oklahoma Sooners at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Oct. 25, 2025. (Kevin Jairaj/Imagn Images)

“But whatever his motivation is, he feels like LSU is the right place for him. So, I don’t fault him for that at all. I know there’s always hard feelings. Ole Miss did not want to lose Lane Kiffin,” he said. “Once he made the decision to leave, now he’s a pariah. Let’s get this guy just as far away from us as we can. I understand that as well. Everybody gets a little bit jaded.”

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Aikman concluded that those in positions of power should ultimately take charge and focus on getting things in order. 

“Where I’m at is I think there’s gotta be some leadership at the very top that kind of cleans all of this up. Starting with players that accept money, there’s gotta be some accountability and responsibility on their behalf to have to stick with a program,” Aikman said.

“I gave money to a kid. I won’t mention who. I’ve done it one time at UCLA. Never met the young man. He was there a year. He left after the year. I wrote a sizable check, and he went to another school. I didn’t even get so much as a thank-you note.”

Aikman is scheduled to be on the call for a Week 15 matchup between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Miami Dolphins Dec. 15.

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The Notre Dame Fighting Irish closed the regular season at 10-2, riding a 10-game winning streak and a dominant late surge that many felt would secure a playoff slot.

Instead, the College Football Playoff committee left Notre Dame out of the 12-team field, and the Irish finished No. 11. The program immediately announced it would decline further bowl consideration amid widespread frustration.

In the fallout, athletic director Pete Bevacqua publicly praised head coach Marcus Freeman and signaled that Notre Dame will move to keep him firmly in the sport’s financial elite. 

Bevacqua reportedly told Notre Dame beat writer Pete Sampson that he wants Freeman “at the top, top, top tier” of college-coach compensation, a line that amounts to a clear warning shot to NFL teams and other suitors monitoring Freeman’s rapid ascent.

Elevated to the head job in December 2021, Freeman guided Notre Dame to the 2025 national title game following a 2024 campaign that produced the program’s highest win total in modern history.

In five seasons, he has compiled an overall record of 43-12 through the 2025 regular season, a .782 winning percentage that ranks him among the top active coaches nationally. 

That success explains why NFL outlets and front offices have repeatedly listed his name when vacancies appear.

Freeman’s scheduled 2025 pay is roughly $7.4 million, with the Irish coach set to earn up to $54 million by 2030.

By contrast, elite head coaches at some Power-5 programs are reporting compensation packages in the $10-$13 million annual range.

To truly land Freeman in “top-tier” territory, Notre Dame would need to craft a contract that meaningfully closes that gap. Higher base pay, performance bonuses, strong buyout protections, and NIL/incentive tie-ins could all be part of the offer.

For Freeman, the choice becomes remaining at a historic program promising increased resources and visibility, or testing the NFL pipeline that has been knocking for months. 

Read More at College Football HQ

• All-conference OT enters college football transfer portal after head coaching change

• $2.3 million quarterback predicted to return to college football powerhouse

• Lane Kiffin sends clear message after Nick Saban’s comments on career move

• Jon Gruden rips College Football Playoff committee following controversial decisions