ATLANTA (AP) — Sam Pittman says a $2.8 billion antitrust settlement that went into effect this month levels the college football playing field in a good way for his Arkansas team.

Pittman said Arkansas now has a chance to compete on more even terms with other Southeastern Conference powers like Georgia, Alabama and Texas. Pittman said Thursday at SEC media days his program previously dealt with a financial disadvantage against the schools with more established name, image and likeness collectives since NIL payments began in 2022.

According to the terms of the House settlement, each school now can share up to about $20.5 million with their athletes.

“Financially with revenue sharing I think we are finally back on even keel with everybody, which we weren’t,” said Pittman, whose team finished 7-6 in 2024. “If I was going to make an excuse, it would be financially is why we haven’t done quite as well. … But I think now with it being even, look out, the Razorbacks are coming.”

Pittman and most other coaches brought seniors and graduate players to represent their teams at SEC media days, which concluded on Thursday. Pittman brought two 2021 recruits and a transfer, but Arkansas could have difficulty finding seniors next year from his original 2022 signing class because many members of that class have transferred.

Pittman, whose Razorbacks have earned bowl bids in four of his five seasons, said players have different reasons for transferring but many were lured away from Arkansas by more attractive NIL packages at other schools. When asked about the 2022 class, Pittman said, “Here’s what it’s not because of: the way they’re treated, because of the way they’re developed, because of the way they’re taught.”

“That’s not the reason. It could be playing time. It could be finances. Probably the majority of it is finances.”

The House settlement era began on July 1.

The enforcement of the House settlement is still being worked out as the new College Sports Commission has informed athletic directors in letters last week it was rejecting payments to players from collectives created only to pay players instead of as payment for name, likeness and image.

Some seniors at SEC media days said NIL payments and the transfer portal have contributed to their decisions to complete their eligibility instead of leaving school early to pursue opportunities in the NFL.

“I would most definitely say so,” Missouri offensive lineman Connor Tollison said. “Obviously, you know, you have a chance to make some money these days. … With the transfer portal, if you don’t have a necessarily a good opportunity at this place you’re at, you have the chance to go somewhere else and get a fresh start. It wasn’t necessarily something I experienced to my college career, but I’ve seen it. You know, it works for plenty of players. So yeah, I think it’s good for the players.”

When asked if NIL makes it easier for players to complete their eligibility, Kentucky coach Mark Stoops, coming off a 4-8 season, said, “Listen, we all love our players, whether they’re one year in our program, six months, or four years.”

Linebacker Alex Afari, defensive back Jordan Lovett and tight end Josh Kattus were the seniors who accompanied Stoops to Atlanta.

“Of course I love making money from name, image and likeness,” Lovett said. “But I love football first. You know, football was my first love. So I play for the game, not for money.”

Lovett added his primary motivation for returning was to earn his first win over Georgia.

“It’s the big part of college football now because some dudes just make decisions off, you know, the financial stuff,” Lovett said. “I love football. … I still haven’t, you know, beat Georgia yet. You know, Georgia’s one of my goals.”

AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football

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What up TOC Nation? We are just a couple of weeks from August and the beginning of our 2025 Football Preview Series. In the meantime, we are still doing our best to drum up articles. We have noticed the recent uptick in comments and I want to say we appreciate it, even if some of those comments are just to comment that there has been an uptick in comments.

Anyway, I am going to stir the pot a bit more on a topic that I am already tired of, but yet it is still in need of discussions. There was a quote from Tom Izzo a couple years ago with his criticisms of the transfer portal. His concerns were about the unintended effects that it would have for the student-athletes. Izzo worried that graduation rates would be diminished, that some players would not find new homes in the portal and then be left without a school, and, perhaps most importantly, that it simply is teaching the wrong lessons to these kids as they are getting ready for the adult world. He worried that the transfer portal was giving the player an easy way out, rather than having them work harder to earn playing time, if they are not getting the minutes they desire.

Let me tell you something: This transfer portal is not going to be the best thing for the kids…

You know what, what’s wrong with being unhappy? I’m unhappy most of my life. Unhappy drives you. Unhappy pushes you. Unhappy makes people realize, ‘You know what? I’m not good enough. I’ve got to get better.’

That quote was from back in 2023, but now there is another coach who is taking it even a step further and issuing college athletes a warning about why they should not transfer. Detroit Lions Head Coach Dan Campbell was recently the guest on a podcast and had this to say about how the Lions scouting department functions. [Editor’s note: you have to try hearing this in Dan Campbell’s voice and patterns of speech.]

This doesn’t look like it’s going my way. And I don’t think I’m gonna start. I’m just leaving, and then you go to the next place, and it just looks like it may not be going where you want to Okay, well then I’m going to leave that school too, or I’m leaving this spring to go somewhere else. Well, we don’t want those guys. I mean, you’re looking at guys that transfer two or three times. Like, to me, you’re scared of competition. So we just, I don’t want to say with every one of them, but we just get them off the board. It’s not worth it.

Coach Campbell did say that this is not a 100% rule and there are times when they do find it acceptable for a college athlete to transfer. He also did say that it gives their scouting team more work to do, so that could also be some of the motivation behind this quote. Regardless, this should come as a warning to college players that their decisions to switch schools when they are 20 years old could have an impact on their professional prospects a couple years later.

As for me, I am 100% behind this quote from Dan Campbell and I wish that more professional coaches, and executives, would come out and say this. What about you? If you were a professional coach or general manager, would you avoid players who had transferred back in college? What if you were a college coach? Would you feel apprehension toward taking a potential transferee because they did not want to try to fight for playing time at their first school? Comments section, go!

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Donald Trump is jumping into the college sports NIL debate with both feet, planning to sign an executive order that would create nationwide standards for how athletes can profit from their name, image, and likeness. The move caught many college sports insiders off guard — even those who’ve been talking with Trump about these very issues.

Texas Tech booster Cody Campbell, who’s been having regular conversations with Trump this summer about stabilizing college athletics, admitted to USA Today he “hadn’t heard anything” about the executive order specifically. But he wasn’t totally surprised by Trump’s decision to take action.

This push comes while members of Congress are working on their own solution. The SCORE Act (Student Compensation and Opportunity through Rights and Endorsements) was recently introduced in the House, aiming to create federal standards that would replace the current messy patchwork of state laws governing player compensation.

Trump’s administration had previously considered creating a college sports commission, but they’ve put those plans on hold for now.

The timing is interesting.

SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey, who recently met with Trump at his Bedminster golf club alongside Notre Dame Athletic Director Pete Bevacqua, shared his thoughts on the situation during an ESPN interview this week.

“It’s not a secret, I had a chance to visit with the President,” Sankey told ESPN Wednesday. “We met and played golf at Bedminster, and his interest is real. My takeaway: he wants to be supportive of college athletics, make sure that it’s sustainable, the Olympic program and the Olympic development.”

Sankey added that Trump seemed particularly concerned about women’s athletics and establishing “real boundaries” for NIL. Despite their conversations, Sankey admitted he didn’t have “inside reports” about what prompted Trump’s sudden executive order announcement.

The commissioner emphasized that congressional action remains “a real priority” for college sports leaders, noting he’d spoken with lawmakers just yesterday about the House bill that recently cleared a subcommittee.

This isn’t the first time college football figures have gotten involved in the political process. Earlier this year, South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer testified before a House subcommittee on these very issues. Former Alabama coaching legend Nick Saban has also repeatedly called for regulatory changes to the current NIL system.

With both Congress and now the executive branch looking to tackle NIL rules, college sports could be heading for its biggest regulatory shakeup in decades.

5 Rookies Already Turning Heads in NFL Preseason Camps

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