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Jimbo Fisher tees off on tampering, NIL, and the need for a commissioner
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Jimbo Fisher would like to see a commissioner oversee college football, which he says is currently running rampant with “utterly ridiculous” instances of tampering that have been made worse by the introduction of NIL.
The former Texas A&M head coach sits down with Jacob Hester and EJ Manuel f0r College Sports on SiriusXM every Tuesday. This week, they discussed the big-picture changes that have come to college football in recent years.
“College football man, we need a commissioner,” Fisher said. “We need revenue sharing. We need a salary cap, for all schools. And the other part of this … the tampering that other schools do with players, is utterly ridiculous.
“I mean, the big schools are going and getting players constantly from other schools, and it’s being done illegally. Those guys are developing players, and all of a sudden their guys (are poached). That team shouldn’t have an advantage, financially, to be able to take care of a guy that another school doesn’t, and it’s wrong.”
“I complain about it, it’s still the greatest game.”
Jimbo Fisher tells @JacobHester18 & @EJManuel3 that the game he loves needs some serious help setting rules and regulations.
Coach Jimbo Fisher joins #OffCampus every Tuesday from 3-6p ET.https://t.co/LYQpiBFfOz pic.twitter.com/c7aZunpmYd
— College Sports on SiriusXM (@SXMCollege) October 4, 2024
And when he was asked if Power conference teams are attempting to poach players from other Power conference teams, Fisher said yes. And he said situations like the one that just unfolded at UNLV aren’t new. While he declined to give specifics, Fisher claimed there was a group of players at “a major university” in 2012 or 2013 who refused to practice because they were not paid.
“I’ve had multiple discussions with players I’ve had, teams calling them and offering money. ‘I’ve got NIL, I’ve got this offer here, I’ve got this,’ and you’ve got to sit down with them, their parents, and go through it all, ” Fisher said. “Power 4 to Power 4. Heck, within our own league.
“When NIL came in, we thought it would be good because there were teams that were doing NIL before NIL was popular, OK? … I thought NIL would at least make it fair, take the cheating out of ball. It’s made it worse.”
Upheaval seems to be the only constant in college football these days. Earlier this week, an advisory group called College Sports Tomorrow released a proposal that would reorganize the sport into a 2-conference “College Student Football League” It is the latest attempt at creating any sort of top-down governance structure for major college football, which is growing beyond the scope of the NCAA.
Calls for a commissioner aren’t new. SEC league commissioner Greg Sankey has frequently been mentioned as a suitable candidate for such a role. He said on The Triple Option podcast this week such a move would only serve to “dumb down” the SEC.
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
