Why am I seeing the “St. Jake Heaps” show when I see all these multiple transfers?
Obviously getting an education is not too damned important to these kids who keep jumping from school to school. I get they all have dreams of playing in the NFL; but shouldn’t they be figuring out that ball is going to be going flat sooner than later; and maybe having an education so they can transition to a future they want might be a good thing?
This free-for-all is going to kill the sport.
Kedon Slovis also entered the portal. Lot of mileage for former USC qb’s. Would be really funny if Dart did too, this year or next.
Yeah, a ton of ex-USC QBs can’t find their place. Wonder if they just can’t settle down and make the best of a situation.
YEP.
Nope.
We know how to fix this. We know what works. The problem is, uh…there is a lot of buzzwords that are needed to fix this and a lot of college football fans are completely against those buzzwords and fight tooth and nail to not have it work, even though it does work. The solution is what every pro league in the country has:
You get a tv deal done. You then let the players unionize. You set a salary cap (you could even do this for coaches), and you set what % goes to the players/universities/coaches. You set a minimum contract. You set roster limits, etc.
It works for the NFL, it works for the MLB, it works for the NBA, NHL, etc.
It’s such an easy fix, but 30% of the population won’t listen if it has those buzz words in it.
And the NFL would be ok with it. Take Cam Rising, for example. Is he a NFL QB? Probably. If you are a NFL team, do you want him to come out this year or next? Well, another year of development where he plays 12+ games is way more ideal than having him on your practice sqaud running scout team. NFL would love for him to stay another year and see if he develops or if this is as good as he gets.
Then look at Cam Rising. I’ve heard that he is making well over $100,000 a year at Utah, and I’ve heard as high as $300,000. If you could negotiate contracts and money and he could pull down $500,000, what would he rather do?
Stay at Utah another year, make $500,000, be a college kid another year and have a shot to get better and be drafted in the first three rounds or go to the NFL this year and be on the practice squad and make $11,500 a week with the risk of being cut at any time? And if he stays on the practice squad all year, he will make just over $200,000, which is less than he made at Utah this year.
It’s a win/win. Do revenue sharing. Have a salary cap. Have a minimum salary. Make this sport competitive and still local. It would be great.
Not that he would do this but my fear is Rising realizes he may not be drafted but some other Power 5 program in need of a QB offers him close to 7 figures so he transfers out for his last year.
If it makes you feel any better, Rising is being paid really, really well. There are only a couple teams that are paying more and those teams all have their “guys”. I’m not sure an Ohio State or Texas is looking for a one year hit man.
I’d bet money Rising is a Ute or in the NFL next fall…and I’m leaning towards a Ute. It seems like he’d be paid more playing for Utah than the NFL…and have a shot at a national title.
Rising is a good example of NIL money well spent. The leadership value added is pretty sizable.
For teams that are playing skill players over $1M… if they don’t bring the goods, you’ve got an instant locker room problem.
That’s good to know.
How is Utah’s NIL? Is it competitive?
I think there’s nothing we can do about NIL, the horse is out of the barn so to speak. Players are in a tough, harsh, dangerous game and they deserve some money for it. I think NIL is the fairest thing we can do, and if this year proves anything, big schools like Alabama and USC are not winning at that game.
So, what do the Utes need from the portal? A lot of this will depend on the guys like Kuithie, Rising and Bernard who can stay, but are at least exploring other options.
Assuming Rising leaves, I would like to see Barnes and Johnson battle it out, but it also matters what the coaches think of Brandon Rose.
I think we need another RB if Bernard leaves.
We should always look for Wideouts and probably a TE, especially if Yassman leaves.
I think we could use one of everything on defense except maybe LB. Although the announcement by Ethan Calvert that he is leaving may impact that.
I wonder if the NIL isn’t going to shift donations from scholarship funds, like the Crimson Club, to NIL funds.
I suspect that if we hooked Mark Harlan up to a polygraph, he wouldn’t pass the test. He can’t admit that Crimson Club donations will drop because that would almost give donors permission to cut back on their donations.
Going along with this, it sounds like Utah is really good and really bad with NIL. For players that have proved themselves on the field, like Cam, there is a lot of money.
But for recruits or transfers that haven’t proven anything? We are a long ways behind other schools.
So if you come to Utah and shine, the money will flow. But if you are all hype…Utah doesn’t give the money other schools do.
Ute Zone with breaking new. Levani Damuni.
BREAKING: Stanford LB transfer Levani Damuni has committed to Utah (247sports.com)
He sure made a lot of plays in this year’s game in SLC.
9 of 11 players returning on D next year along with an influx of new players. That D has all the makings of a monster next year.