Boston College head coach Bill O’Brien blasted college football’s unregulated NIL and revenue-sharing model at ACC Media Days on Friday.
O’Brien has seen both the pre-NIL and post-NIL college football world, as he coached at Penn State from 2012-2013 before returning to the sport in 2024 at Boston College. O’Brien, who spent seven seasons coaching the NFL’s Houston Texans from 2014-2020, is not a fan of players and agents now being in nearly full control of the sport.
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“I’m not gonna be careful about how I say this. It is a terrible system,” O’Brien said, via College Sports on SiriusXM. “Look, the players, to some level, should be compensated. But, there has to be some type of salary cap, and eventually a CBA. Anti-trust laws because you get too much disparity right. The Transfer Portal has to be regulated. You’ve got guys transferring every year… three or four time transfers. That’s not a sustainable model. This is not a sustainable model for college football.”
Bill O’Brien: ‘It’s a little bit crazy to where there’s no rules’
According to On3’s latest NIL Valuations, 90 collegiate athletes boast valuations of $2 million-plus. Miami star quarterback Darian Mensah leads the way with a whopping $6.5 million valuation, which O’Brien alluded to being ‘little bit crazy’.
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“When you think back to NIL, NIL was meant for the Doug Flutie‘s, the Matt Ryan‘s, the Bo Jackson‘s. Those were the faces of the program that brought the money with jersey sales,” O’Brien continued. “That doesn’t mean that kids shouldn’t be compensated. I’m not saying that. They should. But like, it’s a little bit crazy to where there’s no rules. You have no idea what to believe. Every guy’s got an agent. Some guys are very reputable, while some of them are not. They’ll charge kids 10-15% of what they’re making.
“Other agents, who are reputable, are doing a great job with their clients. Every high school kid that you’re recruiting has an agent. Is that what it was meant to be? I don’t know. I don’t think so. I’m old school and I love college football. I love my job at Boston College, but how in the world is this a sustainable model? The more you hear from coaches will help us hopefully get a hold of it, but the toothpaste is out of the tube.”
As more money pours into the sport, whether it be through NIL, sponsorships, or partnerships, these valuations are just going to continue to rise. Until regulation comes through, as O’Brien alluded to, this will continue to be the status quo across the sport.
