Something has changed…

[HoptownVol]

 

[beachvol23]

How about just watch the games for what they are: entertainment. Stop getting attached to the kids and support the Vols. Whoever is here, is here. Whoever is not, then that’s their loss. Root for the team of the Tennessee Volunteers and whenever kids decide to leave you won’t feel some type of way about it.

That’s easier said than done because so many people, especially alumni have very strong emotional and life experiences attached to (any) school. Anyone more than 30 years old falls into this category of having such strong ties to schools success.
I believe there will be another huge seismic shift or two in major college sports. 1) NIL impact and USFL or other pro league, and 2) separation of top level programs from everything else, including NCAA. I believe the SEC will maintain/be the de facto premier AAA of football because it already has fanbases, infrastructure, and marketing baked it: no need to create from scratch. I think the schools will figure out a way to totally throw away the old model and make the major sports programs quasi independent organizations, much like what Tennessee already did with its AD at one point before is was nuanced back into the university hierarchy. Basically the schools will finally cède to the duality of “amateurism” and semi pro and go full paid pro athletes with a payroll. Don’t they almost have to get a commissioner, salary cap and financial structure for everything to be sustainable? Which is why the NCAA was originally created but needs to be scrapped as obsolete.

 

[vader]

I don’t even want to deal with the drama of HS varsity athletics anymore.

 

[GVol1966]

The portal has some good things to it. It needs some criteria. Quit trying to tell people what they need to worry about, this is a message board. It is changing the game and all of the effects of this are not yet known.

The USFL is partnering with Strategic Education, Inc., a leader in online education, to offer its players and league staff a tuition-free, debt-free college degree program.

USFL players and staff can enroll at Strategic Education's Strayer University and Capella University, both institutionally accredited universities that support busy working adults in achieving their academic goals. Staff and players will be able to undertake tuition-free coursework online through Capella University or online and in-person at Strayer University, giving them the flexibility to pursue associate, bachelor's, or master's degrees in business, healthcare, IT, and education, among others.

 

[turbovol]

I'll drop down a level and find a team to follow before I support the NFL in any capacity.

NFL is the best sports entertainment in America--and has been for a very long time.

Time will prove NIL to be a very bad thing for college football, IMO. I mean, major-college football has been quasi-professional for a long time. Now, NIL just pushes it another huge step in the professional direction. We're seeing a lot more instability in the college game. The portal really started it--and NIL is going to create even more.

I had no issue with transfers when it was a fairly minor thing and guys were sitting out a year before being eligible to play with their new team. Now, transferring has got somewhat out of hand---and I wonder if the rule requiring in-conference (or any transfer) a transfer student-athlete to sit out a year should be reinstated. I rather think it should. As someone rightly pointed out a few days ago, what we will see is the big dogs at the top of conferences raiding the smaller dogs for their best players. If some guy is a very good player for, say, Missouri or Mississippi State--or Tennessee--and word slips to you via channels that bama and georgia really like your game...that player might start thinking seriously about whether he wants to stick with Missouri or play for a national title contender--and the possible NIL $ that might come with that. Instability isn't really a good thing for college athletics--and there's more of it now than ever.

 

[BowlBrother85]

Something has fundamentally changed about college football when you have 2 and 3 year starters, and in some cases All-Conference players transferring to other programs. There is still a lot to like about college football, but it's no longer the game that I grew up watching in the 1980's.

 

[JohnWardForever]

The game doesn’t feel authentic to me anymore. I am becoming more of an NFL fan because of it.

I used to like college football so much more than I do now. I used to feel the game was more passionate and the players play harder because they are trying to get to the league. I have always loved the pageantry and traditions of each school. It makes it special.

That has changed now with the portal and NIL. There are still student athletes but they share the field with professionals now. Once you get money that is what you are. Not every school has the same access to capital. The haves and have nots are even further solidified. The spectacle that is signing day, the selfish entitled behaviors, no loyalty, skipping bowls, using the portal as leverage to get a payout, it sucks.

I know the coaches leave, position for money all the time. It is their profession and they are paid to do it. That’s why it is different in my eyes. I am talking about the players right now.
stop giving kids scholarships. They get money, let them pay for it. It isn’t that big of a deal anyway is what they claim.

Just stop calling it "College Football" and call it Semi Pro NFL Prep Football.

 

[IluvdoubleD's]

personally, I've gone high school...Until they sign with agents that is. I just want the game. College isn't a good game anymore, and my Browns are back in the basement. I get much more fun watching the college game implode rn.

 

[IluvdoubleD's]

I didn't watch the first time, and I won't watch this time.

 

[NEO]

NCAAF is in a serious transition period and going through a major growing pain.

I honestly have zero idea how it will look in a decade but so far the changes are destroying the amateur feel.

Think we are headed to a D league scenario with a risk payroll caps and contracts.

 

[onthehill71]

I'll drop down a level and find a team to follow before I support the NFL in any capacity.

Bye

 

[casual-observer]

The game doesn’t feel authentic to me anymore. I am becoming more of an NFL fan because of it.

I used to like college football so much more than I do now. I used to feel the game was more passionate and the players play harder because they are trying to get to the league. I have always loved the pageantry and traditions of each school. It makes it special.

That has changed now with the portal and NIL. There are still student athletes but they share the field with professionals now. Once you get money that is what you are. Not every school has the same access to capital. The haves and have nots are even further solidified. The spectacle that is signing day, the selfish entitled behaviors, no loyalty, skipping bowls, using the portal as leverage to get a payout, it sucks.

I know the coaches leave, position for money all the time. It is their profession and they are paid to do it. That’s why it is different in my eyes. I am talking about the players right now.
stop giving kids scholarships. They get money, let them pay for it. It isn’t that big of a deal anyway is what they claim.

D-rock, I'm with you. The only sport I follow is college football. I don't care about professional sports (don't have anything against them, it's just not as entertaining to me). I can remember as a young kid following players and knowing they would be there for life. But then something changed in the late 80's and 90's and it became so much more about money and I stopped watching long ago.

I've struggled with NIL because I see that the networks make millions on millions of dollars at the expense of these young athletes. But it's not like they (the athletes) are getting nothing. Where else can you get a world-class education opportunity, the best medical and nutrition care, the ability to travel and make connections, and - most importantly - the tools and training to progress and become an elite and well-paid athlete at the next level.

But something in the last few weeks just seems crummy. I was okay with the transfer portal but since the early signing period this year...it seems less about getting additional playing time or connecting with a program for a better fit, and more about getting big NIL deals. It's deflating. There is not loyalty to a school. It means the programs with the biggest pockets are going to bring in the biggest players. The rich are going to get richer and only every now and then we might catch an upset game from a Ted Lasso of a coach.

College football used to be my favorite thing in the whole wide world. Now - for the first time in decades - I will not be watching the National Championship. I just don't care. I can't stand either team and the results are only going to mean mo money and mo NIL for the winners.

Love you, Tennessee. Love what coach Heupel is doing. Wishing the best success in the future. But college football...peace, I'm out.

 

[VolsSportsFan]

Not pointing this directly at you but geez there's been a lot of these posts. The whining is getting nauseating . If a game made me this miserable I'd quit watching. No its not ending for the millionth time. Schools will adapt or get left behind.

This. My lord I never knew this fanbase had so many snowflakes. It's like people whining about how much they wish they were back in high school.

Things change. If you can't deal with it, find something else to do.

 

[VolsSportsFan]

I'll drop down a level and find a team to follow before I support the NFL in any capacity.

You're so cool.

 

[Jaingo]

This thread is ridiculous. We have enjoyed the skills of these young adults for free for far too long. If you don't realize that the majority of these players don't have two nickels to feed themselves, coupled with the modern age indentured servitude of the NCAA, then you just aren't paying attention. I agree to an extent, but the ONLY thing different now is that players don't have to sit a year.

 

[chattavol420]

I’m feeling a hit that way also op. Ta&m getting the no1 class this year amd knowing full well how they’d got it sucked. Before any information on million dollar plus nli deals came out we all knew what they’d done. Amd because of the mess Pruitt left amd our current status with the ncaa we’re just not going to be competitive for some time (for elite recruits) I’m afraid. Thank god we have the titans to root for

 

[GVol1966]

NFL is the best sports entertainment in America--and has been for a very long time.

Time will prove NIL to be a very bad thing for college football, IMO. I mean, major-college football has been quasi-professional for a long time. Now, NIL just pushes it another huge step in the professional direction. We're seeing a lot more instability in the college game. The portal really started it--and NIL is going to create even more.

I had no issue with transfers when it was a fairly minor thing and guys were sitting out a year before being eligible to play with their new team. Now, transferring has got somewhat out of hand---and I wonder if the rule requiring in-conference (or any transfer) a transfer student-athlete to sit out a year should be reinstated. I rather think it should. As someone rightly pointed out a few days ago, what we will see is the big dogs at the top of conferences raiding the smaller dogs for their best players. If some guy is a very good player for, say, Missouri or Mississippi State--or Tennessee--and word slips to you via channels that bama and georgia really like your game...that player might start thinking seriously about whether he wants to stick with Missouri or play for a national title contender--and the possible NIL $ that might come with that. Instability isn't really a good thing for college athletics--and there's more of it now than ever.

I disagree. Most games are boring. I hardly ever watch anymore

 

[Delmar]

How about just watch the games for what they are: entertainment. Stop getting attached to the kids and support the Vols. Whoever is here, is here. Whoever is not, then that’s their loss. Root for the team of the Tennessee Volunteers and whenever kids decide to leave you won’t feel some type of way about it.

I’m starting to not care about recruiting, signing day or any of the old stuff. I think I’m just going to pay attention to the roster that shows up on opening day. Any other day and you don’t know who’s going to be there and who isn’t. Just doesn’t matter anymore when players on your roster can leave at any time to go to the highest bidder. And recruits can change their mind at the drop of the hat for the highest bidder. It is what it is and we have to deal with it.

 

[TJSVOLS]

The game doesn’t feel authentic to me anymore. I am becoming more of an NFL fan because of it.

I used to like college football so much more than I do now. I used to feel the game was more passionate and the players play harder because they are trying to get to the league. I have always loved the pageantry and traditions of each school. It makes it special.

That has changed now with the portal and NIL. There are still student athletes but they share the field with professionals now. Once you get money that is what you are. Not every school has the same access to capital. The haves and have nots are even further solidified. The spectacle that is signing day, the selfish entitled behaviors, no loyalty, skipping bowls, using the portal as leverage to get a payout, it sucks.

I know the coaches leave, position for money all the time. It is their profession and they are paid to do it. That’s why it is different in my eyes. I am talking about the players right now.
stop giving kids scholarships. They get money, let them pay for it. It isn’t that big of a deal anyway is what they claim.

I really understand why you would say this, but I guess I’m out of luck because I don’t care if the nfl ever plays another game.

 

[jarnol32]

The game doesn’t feel authentic to me anymore. I am becoming more of an NFL fan because of it.

I used to like college football so much more than I do now. I used to feel the game was more passionate and the players play harder because they are trying to get to the league. I have always loved the pageantry and traditions of each school. It makes it special.

That has changed now with the portal and NIL. There are still student athletes but they share the field with professionals now. Once you get money that is what you are. Not every school has the same access to capital. The haves and have nots are even further solidified. The spectacle that is signing day, the selfish entitled behaviors, no loyalty, skipping bowls, using the portal as leverage to get a payout, it sucks.

I know the coaches leave, position for money all the time. It is their profession and they are paid to do it. That’s why it is different in my eyes. I am talking about the players right now.
stop giving kids scholarships. They get money, let them pay for it. It isn’t that big of a deal anyway is what they claim.

Pulling for Tennessee has taken the fun out of it for me. When your team goes from a top tier team nationally to an afterthought in their own conference for the better part of 15 years it’s taxing.

 

[wmcovol]

Now is not the time to quit on the Vols. We have an opportunity to see tremendous improvement next year. When that happens it will be thrilling again.

Vols are about all I care about with football. I still watch some games but it’s about comparing to the Vols. Once I’m done with that, I’m done with football & basketball

I’ve been a huge sports fan my entire life until recently. I’m done with MLB, NFL & NBA already.

 

[Woodlawn VOL]

For the ones that don’t enjoy it by all means go do something else. I suspect there will be many people that will still enjoy watching the Vols and all the traditions with it. Not everybody has to like it, but many folks are always going to love it. College football is always going to be popular whether some quit watching or not. Things with the NIL and the portal will settle down in time. I think a lot of these kids transferring left and right are going to find out the grass isn’t always greener. And time will tell if being the biggest money provider translates to wins and how many times investments pay off versus not paying off. Giving millions to a 18 year old comes with risk. I bet you will see different approaches as things evolve. As far as watching the game. I am a VFL no matter what!!!!

 

[JonGrudensAgent]

Meh.

I am more worried about the quality of the game itself slipping. Some of these bowl games were downright unwatchable this season.

Games trending on 5 hours long with incessant stopages, awful officiating, inept offense or inept defense, etc.

Moreso than getting bent out of shape if an 18 to 22 year kid changes his mind on where they want to play or whether he can make some money off of it.

At the end of the day it is their lives and their checkbooks being affected, not mine. I would like to see players show more of a sense of loyalty to their programs and honor commitments by playing out the season but I have seen a lot of players come and go during my time pulling for the Vols. And I'll continue to do so once this group is gone.

 

[im4num3]

The game doesn’t feel authentic to me anymore. I am becoming more of an NFL fan because of it.

I used to like college football so much more than I do now. I used to feel the game was more passionate and the players play harder because they are trying to get to the league. I have always loved the pageantry and traditions of each school. It makes it special.

That has changed now with the portal and NIL. There are still student athletes but they share the field with professionals now. Once you get money that is what you are. Not every school has the same access to capital. The haves and have nots are even further solidified. The spectacle that is signing day, the selfish entitled behaviors, no loyalty, skipping bowls, using the portal as leverage to get a payout, it sucks.

I know the coaches leave, position for money all the time. It is their profession and they are paid to do it. That’s why it is different in my eyes. I am talking about the players right now.
stop giving kids scholarships. They get money, let them pay for it. It isn’t that big of a deal anyway is what they claim.

Winning is the cure for what ails you.

 

[Voltopia]

I’m starting to not care about recruiting, signing day or any of the old stuff. I think I’m just going to pay attention to the roster that shows up on opening day. Any other day and you don’t know who’s going to be there and who isn’t. Just doesn’t matter anymore when players on your roster can leave at any time to go to the highest bidder. And recruits can change their mind at the drop of the hat for the highest bidder. It is what it is and we have to deal with it.

Almost none of it matters anymore. Kids can leave without any penalty now, so they do. Never mind that they were never prevented from doing so before, they just had to sit out a year to prevent the VERY mercenary situation we now have in college football from happening. So much for that great idea. Now it's a feeding frenzy. I've said this before but I have relatives who are lifelong Kentucky fans and they're miserable about their team - the kids come and go so fast it's not worth it to invest in most of them. They are happy they win but they don't really know much about the players. That's how it'll be for everyone. I know it is for me. We get these guys coming and going, and I mean, it's swell that UT can fill out its roster, but I don't care nearly as much about their success as I used to. Hell, I remember the start of this season, when I couldn't even recognize half the names on the field for us. It was bizarre. Understandable, because of what happened to us last off-season, but it was weird not having much continuity. That's how it's going to feel every year at this rate. And when they come and go so easily, well, I'm with you. I have lingering support for Tennessee, because I was born and raised with orange blood in me, but it's not what it used to be and I suspect it's just gonna get worse.

Or put differently, I view it like this - the difference for me is easy to explain if I phrase it as a scenario.

If a sophomore wide receiver who's studying electrical engineering misses a pass on a crucial 3rd and short, can't bring the ball in, and the team has to punt, hey, man, you did your best. Let's hope they can help you develop further.

If an employee who's doing their job misses a pass on a crucial 3rd and short, can't bring the ball in, and the team has to punt, dude, it's your freaking job, either catch the ball or pound sand. This isn't hard. Do your job or hit the road.

Now I'm not saying there aren't major expectations for student athletes, because there are. I am sure the pressure for major DI athletes is not that dissimilar. But the mentality of support for one is vastly dissimilar from the other.