I still think Herbie while a tOSU guy is reasonably objective. during the Bama game he made a couple interesting comments re the portal and the impact of six year players.
he questioned whether the portal (and most importantly combined with instant eligibility) was going to be good for the game as a whole. he thought the rich may get richer. one of the points he made is the diamond in the rough kid who goes to the lower tier school and becomes a FR AA - that kid will then move UP to one of the elites. He sort of implied also he thought that the instant eligibility rule will be endless (i.e. not a one time benefit).
he also talked about how do you keep the elite kids happy in a competitive situation. if they do not see the field enough early, they want to move. most do not want to go DOWN to lower tier. I think he was talking Bama here. the easy transfer is making roster management a bigger deal now. sort of makes red shirt meaningless, baring injury.
The other interesting thing as he spoke about the RB room at BAMA being loaded, was the impact of NCAA granting the free year. What do you do with the kid who has been a starter maybe even for multiple years, but is getting passed by others coming in. If they are not good enough for the NFL, at BAMA they will be replaced even if they were a starter (i.e. QBs Tua replaces Jalen). with the free year, you now have players who could hang for 6 years. what do you do with a player who is not good enough for NFL but has been a starter and wants to stay? BAMA made the move, and Jalen moved to OU. Herbie pointed out that the players (meaning elite players) want an outcome and there is no loyalty to program. A 5* will come in and sit for a year behind a player who is going to the NFL next year as an early draftee, but will not sit behind a journeyman type player who is not going to NFL.
he questioned whether the portal (and most importantly combined with instant eligibility) was going to be good for the game as a whole. he thought the rich may get richer. one of the points he made is the diamond in the rough kid who goes to the lower tier school and becomes a FR AA - that kid will then move UP to one of the elites. He sort of implied also he thought that the instant eligibility rule will be endless (i.e. not a one time benefit).
he also talked about how do you keep the elite kids happy in a competitive situation. if they do not see the field enough early, they want to move. most do not want to go DOWN to lower tier. I think he was talking Bama here. the easy transfer is making roster management a bigger deal now. sort of makes red shirt meaningless, baring injury.
The other interesting thing as he spoke about the RB room at BAMA being loaded, was the impact of NCAA granting the free year. What do you do with the kid who has been a starter maybe even for multiple years, but is getting passed by others coming in. If they are not good enough for the NFL, at BAMA they will be replaced even if they were a starter (i.e. QBs Tua replaces Jalen). with the free year, you now have players who could hang for 6 years. what do you do with a player who is not good enough for NFL but has been a starter and wants to stay? BAMA made the move, and Jalen moved to OU. Herbie pointed out that the players (meaning elite players) want an outcome and there is no loyalty to program. A 5* will come in and sit for a year behind a player who is going to the NFL next year as an early draftee, but will not sit behind a journeyman type player who is not going to NFL.