Steve Sarkisian, the head coach of the Texas Longhorns, was one of three college athletic coaches (Bruce Pearl and Shea Ralph) who went to Capitol Hill to lobby for more rules and regulations in the new NIL world that college sports are entering.
There’s no question that NIL is still in its Wild West phase, with players leaving schools to transfer to another school for a bigger paycheck. Sarkisian explained to the Texas media why he was there and is calling for more guardrails to be put into place.
Steve Sarkisian Calls for NIL Regulation
In a recent press conference with the Texas media, Sarkisian explained why he cares so deeply about the issue and believes that more regulations are needed to protect college football.
Sark wants his players to be compensated, but in a way that is fair for both the university and the player, saying, “Believe me, I want our players to be compensated in a way that’s right, that’s fair, but I also think we’re in a space right now where we don’t have a lot of guardrails.”
Steve Sarkisian speaks on going to Capitol Hill last week to speak on the House Settlement. pic.twitter.com/J92EyzPzBP
— CJ Vogel (@CJVogel_OTF) April 14, 2025
Sark also said that he fears college athletics is moving away from the idea that it is working with student-athletes and towards an employment relationship with its players. “We’re going to lose this idea of a student-athlete, and we’re going to start gravitating closer and closer to an employment status.”
I believe Sark is completely right about his stance on this issue and that NIL hasn’t ruined college football and athletics yet. However, the game we love will be destroyed if changes aren’t made.
KEEP READING: ‘That’s Dangerous’ — Former All-Time Texas Great Details Why Steve Sarkisian’s Texas Team Is Special
Without rules and regulations, we will continue things like what happened in Tennessee with quarterback Nico Iamaleava. The young signal-caller left the Vols over a contract dispute. Those sorts of things should never happen in college football, and putting rules and regulations in place will fix many of the issues with NIL.
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