And don't forget, Tennessee would still be recovering from the dumpster fire of Dooley->Jones->Pruitt. NIL allowed the Volunteers to go from 3-7 (2020) to 11-2 (2022) in two short years.
Parity comes for everyone. We are about to enter a new era. An era where high school kids have trouble getting recruited unless they are willing to sign on with a school for much less money. Schools now realize how stupid it is to offer big money to kids who likely won't play a down of football at their school before transferring. You want $1.2M to sign with us? No thanks. We'll pull a proven superstar from the college level at a smaller school. That's going to make everything spread out as far as the money will allow. No one can afford all the best. Even if they can, who sits on the bench? No one who wants to go pro.
This is what gets lost in all this. There is more parity. That is undeniable at this point. That’s what we all wanted right? For more teams to have a legitimate shot at a national championship? Does there need to be more rules in place with regard to money being exchanged between schools and players? Sure, absolutely. Does there need to be some sort of definitive agreement whether players are employees? Absolutely. The schools and the NCAA seem pretty adamant that they aren’t employees, but our legal system seems to not agree with that stance. The Athletic Directors know what needs to be done, but they don’t all agree on how to get there. We’re in a chaotic phase right now because of those two opposing stances.
