Kirby Smart predicts future UNLV QB situations without regulations in place
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Kirby Smart wasn’t trying to sound negative or predict doomsday for college football. The Georgia head coach was just trying to be truthful and realistic.
Smart said we’re absolutely going to see more situations like the current one at UNLV, where quarterback Matthew Sluka has opted out because of an NIL dispute. Until there are more guardrails to regulate everything, then there will be similar chaos, says Smart.
“I guess you’re asking me for a solution? I don’t have the answer,” Smart said during Wednesday’s SEC coaches teleconference. “I can tell you that I don’t think it will be the last, and the way we’re moving into this abyss of unknown, and I’m talking about fiscal responsibility, financial commitments, financial promises, people sometimes make promises, and I know I’ve come across it in our recruiting, that they can’t keep.
“Sometimes there’s no rebuttal for the athlete, sometimes there’s no rebuttal for the athletic department or the collective involved. It’s sad there’s not a way to police it better. Because it’s unfortunate.”
Sluka is entering the transfer portal amid the NIL dispute and announced late Monday night that he was foregoing the remainder of this season and utilizing a redshirt. This controversy comes as the Rebels are riding high with a 3-0 record to start 2024, something Sluka has been a huge part of.
The senior QB threw 6 touchdown passes and just 1 interception in helping UNLV to that undefeated start, and he rushed for 253 yards and another TD on the ground.
Now, Sluka is bolting Las Vegas for somewhere else amid the NIL dispute. Sluka’s father and agent have since shed some insight into the true nature of the dispute, claiming UNLV verbally promised funds that have not been paid.
Smart, who knows a little about success at the highest level in college football, fears that opt outs like Sluka’s are going to become the norm in college football and college sports in general.
2-time national champion Georgia coach Kirby Smart has thoughts on the UNLV #MatthewSluka situation & fears such opt-outs are on the verge of becoming much more frequent in college sports: https://t.co/RSwKjszkzB @FootballScoop
— John Brice (@JohnDBrice1) September 25, 2024
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
