Newfound swagger has awoken a side of Sacramento State never seen before. A cool, cowboy-hatted head football coach named Brennan Marion started the conversation. Then walked in former Sacramento Kings point guard Mike Bibby, who held the door open for the man they call Shaq.
NIL
Inside the rise of Sacramento State sports
Sacramento State football head coach Brennan Marion is among those at the school with big dreams for the program.
Football recruiting visits accessorized by Mercedes-Benz GT photo shoots became commonplace, as if several years earlier the same program hadn’t proposed a fundraising project to subsidize player meals in summer school. A third-party name, image and likeness collective called the Sac-12 raised $50 million in conditional funds to prepare for a potential future in the rebuilt Pac-12 Conference.
The NCAA thought the Hornets bit off more than they could chew with a bid to join the FBS as an independent. Their application was promptly rejected earlier this summer for lack of a conference invitation. The notion that a long-standing FCS school could book a seat at the adult table so easily?
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Ambitious at best, exclaimed the FBS fraternity.
President J. Luke Wood, the youngest person to ever be appointed the role of university president at Sacramento State, swiftly appealed the decision. Wood, an Oakland native, told the Chronicle his FBS dream for a once innocuous alma mater was neither a matter of if nor when. He insisted his Hornets will play at that level in 2026.
At a time when mid-major programs helplessly watch the haves pocket their best players, Wood has launched an audacious pursuit to remove Sacramento State from among the have-nots. Three other programs within 100 miles of San Francisco compete at the FBS level: Stanford, Cal and San Jose State. With a $4 million football roster, Sacramento State already has more NIL money than San Jose State, per Marion, more national headlines than Stanford and Cal this year, and more nerve. The school’s athletic director, Mark Orr, a Cal football alumnus, hopes to see each of the Northern California schools on the schedule ASAP.
At last, the sleeping giant with more than 31,000 students wants all the smoke.
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“Our success, of course, is going to be determined upon when and how we become FBS,” Wood said. “But no matter what, in terms of what this was all about, we have been successful. Because the whole point of this was to raise the visibility of the institution. And there’s no question that we’ve succeeded in doing that.”
Ready or not
As a 19-year-old college freshman, Wood called his shot.
He told anyone who would listen that he was going to be president of Sacramento State. One pillar of his platform as a student leader then mirrored what he has set into motion over the past two-plus years on the banks of the American River: Athletics heals all wounds.
Such foresight came into full focus when Wood was the vice president for student affairs at San Diego State, where he had a front-row seat to the ripple effects of a thrilling March Madness run. Aztecs men’s basketball in 2023 notched its first Final Four and national championship appearance in program history. The profile of the university leveled up overnight.
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“I got to see what that did for applications, for students accepting admittance into the campus, for the increase of out-of-state students, and, of course, the additional revenue that comes to the university through that,” Wood said.
Wood at age 41 followed in the footsteps of former President Robert S. Nelsen, whom Wood credited for helping birth the FBS plan.
Sacramento State President J. Luke Wood, an Oakland native, is determined to elevate the Hornets football team to the FBS level by 2026.
Several months before he retired, Nelsen conducted a feasibility study (which Wood repeated a year later) that entailed a landscape analysis of FBS institutions to determine the internal improvements needed across facilities, staffing, physical therapy, sports psychology and overall athletics operations. A new stadium project had also already been drawn up. The problem, which Wood pointed out early on, was the stadium as originally imagined would not meet FBS requirements.
Wood called an audible, which led to Sacramento State’s announced plans to replace the 21,000-capacity Hornet Stadium with a 25,000-seat, multi-use football stadium, a vision that most recently went under renovation.
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Cal Expo, home to the annual California State Fair about 2 miles from Sacramento State’s campus, held a Thursday board meeting with an agenda that included a new business item titled, “Review for Approval-Agreement to memorialize activities for the Sac State Football Stadium.”
Wood reportedly proposed plans at the meeting to adapt Cal Expo’s horse racing grandstand into a college football facility by the fall of 2026, his FBS deadline.
A move to the FBS would open doors for “a football program that is revenue-generating to the point where it helps to support the academic side of the house,” said Wood. Being in the country’s No. 20 media market, according to Nielsen, certainly helps. A significant $23.5 million budget shortfall, in accordance with proposed $143.8 million in California State University funding cuts? Not so much.
Sacramento State’s initial projected shortfall was $31.2 million until the state reduced its initially proposed $375 million budget cut to the CSU system, which resulted in a number of course cuts and layoffs. The steps taken by the university to prioritize athletics amid a restrictive budget environment offers a striking contrast to Sonoma State, which eliminated its entire athletic department for the 2025-26 school year due to a $24 million budget deficit.
It isn’t exactly an apples-to-apples comparison. Sacramento State has an enrollment of 31,000, versus Sonoma State’s 5,700, a number expected to drop closer to 4,000, according to former longtime Seawolves golf coach Val Verhunce. Still, both schools represent compelling case studies on the perceived importance of athletics to the overall health of a university.
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“Obviously they’re investing in the future of athletics, where we’ve done just the opposite,” Verhunce said.
“When we see what’s happening at Sacramento State … I know great things can happen with great leadership. And that’s not a pun on anyone that’s ever been a leader (at Sonoma State). It’s just that there’s no stability there.”
One of Wood’s first orders of business: 92 “listening sessions” that lasted an hour and 15 minutes each and involved 1,500 students, faculty, staff, alumni and community members over the course of his first semester as president in the fall of 2023. Many outlined the need for Sacramento State to reduce the number of athletic conferences its sports compete in from five to one … two, maximum. Wood will have resolved as much by the fall of 2026, when the school’s 20 non-football sports join the Big West.
Marion recalled only one other university president he encountered in his career who was as invested as Wood in athletics: Jay Hartzell, former president of Texas, a school with “more money than God,” according to Marion.
“He told the players they didn’t have to go to class on the first day of school,” Marion said of Hartzell, who led Texas from 2020 to 2025.
The bigger and better thing
The direction of Sacramento State sports did not change overnight. Orr, hired as athletic director by Nelsen in 2017, retraced his steps to the first domino: the hiring of head football coach Troy Taylor.
The program had become accustomed to losing, marked by a measly 20-35 record and a .364 winning percentage under Jody Sears. His predecessors did not fare much better. Of the nine Hornets head coaches who came before Sears, Bob Mattos stood as the only one who finished with a winning record.
Together as Sacramento natives, Orr and Taylor raised the standard. Taylor in his 2019 debut season led the team to its first FCS playoff appearance, snapping a 31-year postseason drought, with a share of the program’s first-ever Big Sky Championship. The Hornets won three conference titles under Taylor’s direction, including two outright in 2021 and 2022.
At the peak of his hometown heroism, Taylor left. Stanford came calling.
His star running back, Cam Skattebo, a local Rio Linda product, followed suit. After two years at Arizona State, Skattebo found himself in the national spotlight. He became known as the workhorse who carried the Sun Devils to the College Football Playoff as a Cinderella, and Sacramento State was reduced to a passing mention in his player bio.
Wood was appointed Sacramento State’s president the summer of 2023, in the wake of such telling departures. He rooted for Skattebo as any alum would (Wood earned multiple degrees at Sacramento State and ASU). But mostly, he bemoaned the painful reality revealed by Skattebo’s journey, that Sacramento State was no more than a rest stop en route to the FBS.
“We had a lot of people who wanted to be able to be hometown heroes that felt like they couldn’t, or they would have to sacrifice, or they would take the path that Cam Skattebo did; they play here for a little bit, and then we would celebrate them as they went off to bigger and better things,” Wood said.
“But why can’t we be the bigger and better thing, too?”
Sacramento State has since checked some serious boxes in its efforts to transition from the Football Championship Subdivision to the Football Bowl Subdivision, despite being barred from entry the first go. ESPN reported in June that the university had hired prominent antitrust and sports attorney Jeffrey Kessler, who was “exploring legal avenues” in light of the NCAA’s decision.
“The perception of the NCAA was you’re not FBS unless a conference says you are,” said Wood, who had released a statement post-denial that Sacramento State had “met every meaningful benchmark for FBS membership.”
Table for two
At the spry age of 38, Marion had already been a college coach for the better part of a decade. He knew the drill. Interviews with Power Four and Group of Five schools taught Marion to expect the casual Zoom or phone call. The process often lacked creativity. Fortunately for him, an FCS athletic director didn’t know better.
Less than 48 hours after Orr got in contact with the UNLV offensive coordinator, the two sat down for lunch in Las Vegas. Marion had just helped lead the Rebels to their first 10-win season in Division I and first national ranking in program history. Orr was in search of a new head football coach. One meal with Marion made apparent the job was his to lose. The next night’s dinner with Wood only confirmed as much. Marion asked the right questions.
His first major coaching gigs came right around the time players could begin to profit from NIL. Marion was the wide receivers coach at Pittsburgh in 2021. Then the passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach at Texas in 2022. Both places taught Marion the outsized role that “real” boosters would play in college football for the foreseeable future.
When Marion gave Sacramento State brass the skinny, they effectively smiled and nodded.
“I was telling them, ‘This is what we need if we’re going to be a top-tier program,’ and they just kept saying yes,” Marion said.
With Wood and Orr on the same page, the money was there. From a $4 million player budget (NIL and revenue sharing) to Marion’s $750,000 base salary to a $2.7 million staff pool, Sacramento State leads the FCS in all three categories.
Cool, said Wood: “We don’t see ourselves as an FCS institution anymore. You don’t have an FCS mindset and apply for FBS. You have an FBS mindset you apply because you think that’s where you belong.”
Sacramento State quarterback Jaden Rashada prepares to throw a pass during practice in Sacramento on Monday.
Marion pulled together a recruiting class for the 2025 season that ranked No. 1 in the FCS, No. 3 among Group of Five schools, and No. 73 compared to 136 FBS programs, according to Hero Sports (FCS) and 247Sports (FBS). The team signed seven former four-star high school recruits, including quarterback Jaden Rashada, the Bay Area native who followed up his infamous NIL mishap at Florida with a season apiece at Arizona State and Georgia before returning to his home state.
Then you get to the 2026 class, currently ranked No. 54 nationally on 247Sports and headlined by Xavier McDonald, a four-star wide receiver who chose Sacramento State over SEC schools Alabama, LSU, Ole Miss, Arkansas and Auburn.
Marion said he and his staff can get three-star and junior college recruits “all day long without any compensation,” but it’s the four- and five-star guys who require the financial incentive. Even considering the appeal of Marion’s signature “Go-Go” offense, an up-tempo, triple-option scheme that averaged 35.4 points per game (15th nationally) at UNLV last season, money talks when it comes to top-tier talent.
Cutting checks
Sacramento State has committed to a floor of $2.5 million to $3 million in revenue-shared funds to be distributed to athletes directly, per Orr, who added that figure remains fluid and could grow in accordance with increased ticket sales, corporate sponsorships and the like.
Hiring Marion, Bibby and Shaquille O’Neal — forgoing a salary as basketball general manager — stirred a level of financial support unlike anything the university has ever witnessed. Orr said corporate partnerships have quadrupled since they were brought aboard.
The Sac-12 has collected more than $50 million of donations spanning the next decade to support a Pac-12 future for Sacramento State athletics. A majority of that money won’t be accessible unless the school actually joins the Pac-12, though Wood said a number of donors have sent gifts directly to the university in the meantime.
Hornets fans are also buying in. According to Orr, football ticket sales were up 65% from last season — in July.
“It’s a tough ticket to get,” Orr said.
Almost a full month before basketball season tickets officially went on sale, senior associate athletic director Andy Fiske said about 600 fans were on the waiting list. Is that supposed to be good?
Compared to the year before, “Yeah, we didn’t have one,” Fiske said. “How about that?”
Sacramento State basketball coach Mike Bibby and forward Shaqir O’Neal during practice in Sacramento on Monday.
Sacramento State basketball is set to retire the Nest, a 1,012-seat arena that has been around for nearly seven decades, and begin playing home games this season at the Well, a fitness and healthy facility on campus being adapted into an events center that will seat more than 3,000. Still not the endgame, but a better place to start for a men’s team that has never made the NCAA Tournament. (Women’s basketball made its March Madness debut in 2023.)
Former four-star high school recruits in USC transfer forward Brandon Gardner and Central Florida transfer guard Mikey Williams headlined the splashy signings that followed Bibby’s first commitment: Florida A&M transfer forward Shaqir O’Neal, Shaq’s son.
“We’re just not blending in anymore,” said Bibby, a first-time college coach. “Hiring a guy like me with no experience, but a big-time person in Sacramento, is going to open up a lot of eyes. And I’m able to get kids, a lot of these kids that are here would not probably be here if I wasn’t here.”
Marion mentioned a Bibby autograph is a common ask at his son’s flag football games. That and an unofficial visit, for 8-year-olds.
“The sports thing really does something to people in America,” Marion said, “when it comes to football especially.”
The school’s spring football game drew a record crowd of more than 7,000 fans, which dwarfed the turnout of 300 from the previous year. Now that people are paying attention, results will be expected, if not demanded. Football went 3-9 last season; men’s basketball was 7-25.
Time to see what Sacramento State’s big bucks can buy.
“We got to win,” Wood said.
“You can bring in an amazing coach, you can bring in amazing players, you can raise money, but nobody cares about it unless you win.”
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A prominent college quarterback faced a difficult reality check during a lopsided College Football Playoff semifinal defeat on Friday night.
The signal-caller struggled with turnovers and the pace of play throughout the contest while his team fell well short of reaching the national championship stage. The performance raised immediate questions about whether the young passer is truly prepared to make the jump to the professional ranks.
The Ringer’s Todd McShay offered a blunt assessment of the prospect’s readiness following the game. The analyst argued that the quarterback lacks the requisite experience to succeed immediately in the NFL and pointed to the low number of career starts as a major red flag. McShay emphasized that rushing the development process often leads to failure for talented but raw players.
McShay suggested that history provides a clear warning for quarterbacks who enter the draft without enough collegiate repetitions. He believes the player would benefit significantly from returning to school to accumulate more game action. The analyst relied on data and trends to support his claim that the passer is not yet equipped to handle the complexities of the next level.
Historical trends suggest Dante Moore needs more time at Oregon
Todd McShay specifically identified Oregon Ducks quarterback Dante Moore as the player who needs to return to school during his The McShay Report podcast. McShay used a long list of successful quarterbacks to illustrate the value of collegiate experience. He noted that players like Bo Nix and Jayden Daniels benefited immensely from staying in school longer.
“Bo Nix: 60+ starts. 50+starts are: Cam Ward, Jayden Daniels. 40+: Baker, Purdy, Penix, Herbert, Hurts, Dart,” McShay stated. “30+: Cousins, Geno, Goff, Daniel Jones, Trevor, Stafford, Lamar, Dak, Caleb, Love.”
McShay contrasted this list with Moore, who has made only 20 starts. He argued that the few quarterbacks who succeeded with fewer starts are rare outliers.
“The two guys that are sub-30 but still had 25 or 29, in Mahomes and Josh Allen respectively, are superhuman,” McShay explained. “And Mahomes sat a year with Alex Smith, teaching him in the quarterback room, and Andy Reid, one of the great developers. Everyone seems to forget Josh Allen really struggled as a rookie.”
The analyst pointed to specific struggles Moore had during the 56-22 loss to Indiana. He highlighted how the speed of the game seemed to affect the sophomore’s processing.
“I’m looking at Dante Moore in his 20th start, and he looks like a guy, and yeah, the running back on the RPO shouldn’t have hit his elbow to throw,” McShay observed. “But the strip sack and several other plays. I’m watching the quarterback. Yes, there were, your receivers are covered up, but we got to speed up that clock, man. I don’t think Dante Moore’s ready.”
McShay warned that ignoring historical trends often results in drafting busts. He listed several quarterbacks who struggled after entering the league with questions about their readiness.
“Knowing the history, and knowing all the problems, and knowing the Trubiskys and the Haskins and the Mark Sanchezes and the Anthony Richardsons,” McShay said. “Hearing that list I just gave you, and watching him then tonight, are you comfortable taking him at one overall?”
The analyst concluded that one more season would put Moore in a much safer category for NFL evaluators.
“He can come back next year, play 12, 13, 15 more games. And now he’s in the range we’re talking about with Stafford, Lamar, Dak, Caleb, Love,” McShay said. “I feel a lot more comfortable then.”
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Fernando Mendoza rejected Miami’s NIL payday — now he’s one win from a national title originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Fernando Mendoza bet on himself last winter by turning down a richer NIL payday at Miami in favor of a chance he believed would better define his future. One win from a national championship, the wager is nearly complete at Indiana
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Fernando Mendoza has led one of the most remarkable seasons in college football history. The Indiana Hoosiers won their first Big Ten title since 1967 and Mendoza earned the school’s first Heisman Trophy.
The California transfer has thrown for 3,349 yards, 41 touchdowns and six interceptions, transforming Indiana into the No. 1 team entering the College Football Playoff. They haven’t let up off the gas since.
The decision almost never happened. According to former agent Ben Dogra, Mendoza turned down a more lucrative NIL offer from the Miami Hurricanes, his hometown school. He said Indiana’s deal paid roughly $2.3 million, while Miami’s offer exceeded $3 million, a difference that led the Hurricanes to pursue Carson Beck instead.
Mendoza prioritized development over a homecoming or money. At Indiana, he joined coach Curt Cignetti’s system to play alongside his brother, Alberto, and believed he had a clearer path to becoming an NFL quarterback.
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“That’s coaching,” Dogra said. “He thought he’d have a better chance to grow and get ready for the next level.”
Mendoza’s plan worked. He has surged up draft boards and is now viewed as the No. 1 overall pick. One more win would turn a calculated gamble into a championship legacy as the Hoosiers chase history.
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Alabama officially has a quarterback competition for 2026.
Austin Mack and Keelon Russell have both re-signed for another season with the Crimson Tide, Alabama’s NIL collective announced Friday.
Mack is heading into his fourth season of college football and fourth working under coach Kalen DeBoer. Meanwhile, Russell is set to enter his second season with Alabama.
The two will compete to replace Ty Simpson as Alabama’s starting quarterback. Simpson announced Wednesday he will enter the NFL Draft.
The re-signings are noteworthy because teams across college football are searching for quarterbacks, and it’s no secret quarterback-needy teams find ways to make known to quarterbacks through third parties what their opportunities might be if they enter the transfer portal.
But Alabama managed to secure both Mack and Russell, indicating both are willing to compete for the starting job.
What was a given not even half a decade ago is no longer a foregone conclusion. Roster retention is just as important, if not more important, than roster additions in this era of revenue sharing, NIL and paying players directly.
Mack is the lone quarterback of the two who has played significant snaps so far. When Simpson left the Rose Bowl early in the second half with a cracked rib, Mack replaced him and finished out the game. He completed 11 of 16 passes for 103 yards.
Over four games of action in 2025, primarily as Simpson’s backup, Mack completed 24 of 32 passes for 228 yards, two touchdowns and one rushing touchdown.
Russell was the third quarterback on the depth chart during his freshman season, completing 11 of 15 passes for 143 yards and two touchdowns. Russell is a former five-star quarterback, ranked as the No. 2 quarterback and No. 2 prospect in the 2025 recruiting class, per 247Sports.
The transfer portal is scheduled to remain open through Jan. 16.
FARGO — There is one week left in the NCAA transfer portal and then the national FCS head coach nightmare will be over. Or at least let’s hope so.
It’s been eight days since the last North Dakota State player announced he was going into the portal, perhaps a sign that the bleeding has stopped. Bison players who receive funds from the Green and Gold Fund, the collective that pays players directly from the athletic department, sign contracts that in theory commit them to the school.
But in NCAA football, what’s a contract these days?
Maybe there’s hope on the horizon.
ESPN earlier this week reported quarterback Demond Williams Jr. signed an NIL deal to remain at the University of Washington, but then announced he was leaving to pursue another school. Imagine that happening in the NFL. It doesn’t, at least it’s not that simple.
But back to the college game and Williams Jr., the university didn’t take too kindly to that, as it shouldn’t, and there were reports Washington was prepared to fight back. This is not a $10,000 check maybe a Bison football player would receive.
This is about millions of dollars.
Guess what? Williams Jr. on Thursday put on Instagram that he was “fully committed” and is returning to Washington. Imagine that. Perhaps somebody got to him with the following logic: Demond, do you want to hire a lawyer for a lot of money with no guarantee you’ll win just to transfer to, say, LSU? It’s a reminder of the famous “Seinfeld” line when Jerry was at an airport car rental desk. His vehicle wasn’t immediately available and that didn’t sit well with him. “You can take the reservation but you can’t hold the reservation.”
The point being holding, honoring a contract, is the most important part.
Maybe, just maybe, the players finally met their match. On that note, the NCAA denied a waiver request for another year of eligibility of Ole’ Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss. I never thought I would see the NCAA deny any sort of waiver again.
NIL contracts? Before Williams Jr. reversed course, they held about as much water as Death Valley in California. The agent who represented Williams Jr., who is also the agent for Washington head coach Jedd Fisch, put on social media he ended his representation with the quarterback because of “philosophical differences.”
NDSU players signing NIL contracts with the Green and Gold Fund are important, with both parties. With the school, the hope is the players honor the deal. For the player, it’s a guarantee they’ll get paid.
There are stories that Bison players who transferred to a bigger school in the past didn’t receive what they were promised. A contract is a security blanket, because it’s doubtful a school would want a reputation of reneging on NIL deals.
It’s all part of the mishmash of the modern world of college football that is screwed up on so many levels, including the calendar of events of the transfer portal and coaches leaving for other schools.
Nick Saban has a point, when on an ESPN “College GameDay” pregame show, the former Alabama head coach suggested taking on more of an NFL model with the calendar. He advocated to move signing day to summer, start the season earlier, move the portal to the end of the school year and then change spring football from March or April to after the portal dates to summer, like the NFL teams do with their Organized Team Activity (OTAs) after the draft.
It would avoid coaches leaving their current school for another during a playoff run, like the Lane Kiffin fiasco from Mississippi to LSU. NDSU went through it to a degree, but Craig Bohl stayed through the 2013 national title game before leaving for Wyoming and Chris Klieman stayed through the ‘18 championship game before heading to Kansas State.
That’s laughable now. But there is this: Maybe the pendulum has reached its peak and will swing the other way.
Let’s hope so.
Jeff Kolpack, the son of a reporter and an English teacher, and the brother of a reporter, worked at the Jamestown Sun, Bismarck Tribune and since 1990 The Forum, where he’s covered North Dakota State athletics since 1995. He has covered all 10 of NDSU’s Division I FCS national football titles and has written four books: “Horns Up,” “North Dakota Tough,” “Covid Kids” and “They Caught Them Sleeping: How Dot Reinvented the Pretzel.” He is also the radio host of “The Golf Show with Jeff Kolpack” April through August.
By ANDREW DESTIN and TERESA WALKER
Associated Press
A quarterback reportedly reneging on a lucrative deal to hit the transfer portal, only to return to his original school. Another starting QB, this one in the College Football Playoff, awaiting approval from the NCAA to play next season, an expensive NIL deal apparently hanging in the balance. A defensive star, sued by his former school after transferring, filing a lawsuit of his own.
It is easy to see why many observers say things are a mess in college football even amid a highly compelling postseason.
“It gets crazier and crazier. It really, really does,” said Sam Ehrlich, a Boise State legal studies professor who tracks litigation against the NCAA. He said he might have to add a new section for litigation against the NCAA stemming just from transfer portal issues.
“I think a guy signing a contract and then immediately deciding he wants to go to another school, that’s a kind of a new thing,” he said. “Not new kind of historically when you think about all the contract jumping that was going on in the ’60s and ’70s with the NBA. But it’s a new thing for college sports, that’s for sure.”
Washington quarterback Demond Williams Jr. said late Thursday he will return to school for the 2026 season rather than enter the transfer portal, avoiding a potentially messy dispute amid reports the Huskers were prepared to pursue legal options to enforce Williams’ name, image and likeness contract.
Edge rusher Damon Wilson is looking to transfer after one season at Missouri, having been sued for damages by Georgia over his decision to leave the Bulldogs. He has countersued.
Then there is Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss, who reportedly has a new NIL deal signed but is awaiting an NCAA waiver allowing him to play another season as he and the Rebels played Thursday night’s Collge Football Playoff semifinal against Miami. On the Hurricanes roster: Defensive back Xavier Lucas, whose transfer from Wisconsin led to a lawsuit against the Hurricanes last year with the Badgers claiming he was improperly lured by NIL money. Lucas has played all season for Miami. The case is pending.
What to do?
Court rulings have favored athletes of late, winning them not just millions in compensation but the ability to play immediately after transferring rather than have to sit out a year as once was the case. They can also discuss specific NIL compensation with schools and boosters before enrolling and current court battles include players seeking to play longer without lower-college seasons counting against their eligibility and ability to land NIL money while doing it.
Ehrlich compared the situation to the labor upheaval professional leagues went through before finally settling on collective bargaining, which has been looked at as a potential solution by some in college sports over the past year. Athletes.org, a players association for college athletes, recently offered a 38-page proposal of what a labor deal could look like.
“I think NCAA is concerned, and rightfully so, that anything they try to do to tamp down this on their end is going to get shut down,” Ehrlich said. “Which is why really the only two solutions at this point are an act of Congress, which feels like an act of God at this point, or potentially collective bargaining, which has its own major, major challenges and roadblocks.”
The NCAA has been lobbying for years for limited antitrust protection to keep some kind of control over the new landscape – and to avoid more crippling lawsuits – but bills have gone nowhere in Congress.
Collective bargaining is complicated and universities have long balked at the idea that their athletes are employees in some way. Schools would become responsible for paying wages, benefits, and workers’ compensation. And while private institutions fall under the National Labor Relations Board, public universities must follow labor laws that vary from state to state; virtually every state in the South has “right to work” laws that present challenges for unions.
Ehrlich noted the short careers for college athletes and wondered whether a union for collective bargaining is even possible.
A harder look at contracts
To sports attorney Mit Winter, employment contracts may be the simplest solution.
“This isn’t something that’s novel to college sports,” said Winter, a former college basketball player who is now a sports attorney with Kennyhertz Perry. “Employment contracts are a huge part of college sports, it’s just novel for the athletes.”
Employment contracts for players could be written like those for coaches, he suggested, which would offer buyouts and prevent players from using the portal as a revolving door.
“The contracts that schools are entering into with athletes now, they can be enforced, but they cannot keep an athlete out of school because they’re not signing employment contracts where the school is getting the right to have the athlete play football for their school or basketball or whatever sport it is,” Winter said. “They’re just acquiring the right to be able to use the athlete’s NIL rights in various ways. So, a NIL agreement is not going to stop an athlete from transferring or going to play whatever sport it is that he or she plays at another school.”
There are challenges here, too, of course: Should all college athletes be treated as employees or just those in revenue-producing sports? Can all injured athletes seek workers’ compensation and insurance protection? Could states start taxing athlete NIL earnings?
Winter noted a pending federal case against the NCAA could allow for athletes to be treated as employees more than they currently are.
“What’s going on in college athletics now is trying to create this new novel system where the athletes are basically treated like employees, look like employees, but we don’t want to call them employees,” Winter said. “We want to call them something else and say they’re not being paid for athletic services. They’re being paid for use of their NIL. So, then it creates new legal issues that have to be hashed out and addressed, which results in a bumpy and chaotic system when you’re trying to kind of create it from scratch.”
He said employment contracts would allow for uniform rules, including how many schools an athlete can go to or if the athlete can go to another school when the deal is up. That could also lead to the need for collective bargaining.
“If the goal is to keep someone at a school for a certain defined period of time, it’s got to be employment contracts,” Winter said.
In November, Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss filed a waiver petition to receive a sixth year of eligibility. He transferred to Ole Miss ahead of the 2025 season after spending four years at Division II program Ferris State.
Following the Rebels’ stellar 13-2 season and appearance in the College Football Playoff Semifinals, the ruling on Chambliss’ eligibility has finally been handed down from the NCAA.
The Grand Rapids native’s waiver has officially been denied, dealing a massive blow to Pete Golding and the Ole Miss Rebels. Chambliss will now head to the NFL Draft, where he sits at No. 4 on Mel Kiper Jr.’s quarterback rankings. He is slotted behind Oregon‘s Dante Moore, Indiana‘s Fernando Mendoza, and Alabama‘s Ty Simpson.
Chambliss opened the season as Austin Simmons‘ backup, but assumed starting duties once Simmons suffered an injury in the Rebels’ 30-23 victory over Kentucky on Sept. 6. Not only did Chambliss serviceably fill in for Simmons, but he evolved into one of the best quarterbacks in the sport. He passed for 3,937 yards and 22 touchdowns with just three interceptions this season, along with rushing for 527 yards and eight more scores.
Ole Miss‘ starting quarterback passed for at least 300 yards in eight games and finished eighth in Heisman Trophy voting. He cemented himself as a program legend thanks to his performance in the Rebels’ 39-34 win over No. 3 Georgia in the Sugar Bowl, where he pulled off multiple spectacular plays to clinch the historic victory.
NCAA’s Full Statement on Trinidad Chambliss:
“In November, Ole Miss filed a waiver request for football student-athlete Trinidad Chambliss, seeking to extend his five-year Division I eligibility clock, citing an incapacitating illness or injury. Approval requires schools to submit medical documentation provided by a treating physician at the time of a student’s incapacitating injury or illness, which was not provided. The documents provided by Ole Miss and the student’s prior school include a physician’s note from a December 2022 visit, which stated the student-athlete was “doing very well” since he was seen in August 2022.”
“Additionally, the student-athlete’s prior school indicated it had no documentation on medical treatment, injury reports or medical conditions involving the student-athlete during that time frame and cited “developmental needs and our team’s competitive circumstances” as its reason the student-athlete did not play in the 2022-23 season. The waiver request was denied. This decision aligns with consistent application of NCAA rules. So far this academic year, the NCAA has received 784 clock extension requests (438 in football). Of those, 25 cases cited an incapacitating injury (nine in football). The NCAA approved 15 of those (six in football), and all 15 provided medical documentation from the time of the injury. Conversely, all 10 that were denied (three in football) did not provide the required medical documentation.”
“To receive a clock extension, a student-athlete must have been denied two seasons of competition for reasons beyond the student’s or school’s control, and a “redshirt” year can be used only once. One of the rules being cited publicly (Bylaw 12.6.4.2.2) is not the correct rule for the type of waiver requested by the school. Ole Miss applied for the waiver in November, and the NCAA first provided a verbal denial Dec. 8.”
Chambliss will now head off to the NFL, while Pete Golding and Ole Miss scramble to find a replacement at the position. Austin Simmons, who Chambliss replaced, announced his transfer to Missouri on Jan. 6.
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