2025 College Football Thread

[JWags85]

A less generous read on Kiffin here  - and he doesn't strike me a someone who's earned the benefit of the doubt - is that he's a guy who complains about the chaos of the NIL/portal era while actively worsening the chaos of the NIL/portal era.
The proverbial arsonist complaining about why it's so hot around here.
 

I mean, is that any worse than any coach and their handling of the current dynamics of the sport?  You can complain or disagree about any number of things, but at the end of the day your job and your livelihood and your reputation depends on winning games, so why would you not actively participate in all aspects of the sport as it exists.  I know there is the "stick to your morals" stance, but if its the "legal" realm of the sport, I think its a bit Pollyana to expect a coach to have some sort of high and mighty stance that undoubtedly leads to a disadvantage compared to their peers and rivals. 

Kiffin is far from an angel or moral sage, but I don't think he's even a flagrant standout in the realm of what's wrong with NIL and the NIL landscape.

[Pakuni]

I mean, is that any worse than any coach and their handling of the current dynamics of the sport?  You can complain or disagree about any number of things, but at the end of the day your job and your livelihood and your reputation depends on winning games, so why would you not actively participate in all aspects of the sport as it exists.  I know there is the "stick to your morals" stance, but if its the "legal" realm of the sport, I think its a bit Pollyana to expect a coach to have some sort of high and mighty stance that undoubtedly leads to a disadvantage compared to their peers and rivals. 

Kiffin is far from an angel or moral sage, but I don't think he's even a flagrant standout in the realm of what's wrong with NIL and the NIL landscape.

I guess the Demond Williams details will all come out eventually, but right now it appears Lane recruited a player who wasn't in the portal and after he signed a contract to remain with his current program. A contract his current program insists is legally binding.
While I'm not naive enough to think players not in the portal don't get recruited, this appears to be the first (publicized, at least) instance of a coach encouraging a player to breach a contract.
That seems a bridge that other coaches haven't yet crossed and about as flagrant as it gets, but maybe there's more to the story.
If Lane had the personality of Dabo Swinney, no one would give him the benefit of the doubt on any of this stuff.