There is a new enforcement body in college athletics that promises to regulate NIL transactions, potentially solving one of the critical issues that coaches, administrators and fans alike have bemoaned over the last handful of years. But Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy is not convinced that the College Sports Commission is the right answer to the troubles facing college football.
Constructed with the finalization of the NCAA v. House settlement, the CSC will determine the validity of NIL deals and oversee the revenue-sharing model that took effect July 1. The CSC has already faced pushback from NIL collectives, though, and this week walked back its previous guidance suggesting that collectives could no longer directly pay athletes.
“The CSC is scared right now, right?” Gundy said in his Saturday media availability. “I mean, what power do they have? They’re already being sued.”
The CSC was not formally sued, as Gundy claimed, but instead it faced opposition from attorneys who claimed its guidelines violated the House settlement terms. In response, it clarified the permissible scope of payments to include those from NIL collectives, so long as they satisfy the “valid business purpose” requirements outlined in the settlement.
Gundy took exception to the new oversight structure in general. Rather than to have two enforcement bodies (the NCAA and CSC), Gundy said college sports needs one individual leader to call the shots.
“You gotta get one person in charge, and then they gotta get the four power people in room, and they all gotta start talking about equality and how can we revenue-share across the country, Gundy said. “We follow the NFL pattern. If you’re not going to make them employees and collective bargain, I get it. But how are we going to fix it? That’s just the way I see it.”
Gundy is not the only coach to call for a de facto commissioner. Penn State’s James Franklin was among the most prominent coaches to do so this offseason and pointed to Alabama legend Nick Saban as what he called an obvious choice for the job.
NIL concerns are just a fraction of the myriad issues plaguing college sports, and while the CSC could alleviate some of the stress in that realm, there is much more to the equation. Untenable demands on coaches and poaching through the transfer portal were just two of the many talking points throughout the college football offseason, and those issues go beyond just football and into other sports.
“We could talk about it for three hours, but there’s a solution to it, and there’s gotta be a give-and-take,” Gundy said. “But until one person’s in charge, there won’t be a lot of give and take.”
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