Change is sweeping the college football landscape. While every university in the nation awaits the House settlement, which should give clarity to how players are paid, coaches around the country are considering the ramifications.
UCLA head coach DeShaun Foster is no different. In a press conference last week, he discussed multi-year deals, just days after the team signed former Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava from the transfer portal.
UCLA’s DeShaun Foster Weighs In on the Future of Multi-Year Deals in College Football
Foster seems to think multi-year deals are just the next step in the evolution of the portal and NIL.
“I think, yeah, it’s eventually going to get to that,” Foster said. “We’ll see once the settlement comes down. We can get some rules and really figure out what’s going to happen. But I can see a future of that for sure.”
And while Iamaleava got all the headlines for the massive money he expected in the portal after three years with the Volunteers, his brother, Madden Iamaleava, may have an even bigger impact on the transfer portal landscape.
Madden, who was initially committed to Arkansas out of high school, decommitted and joined his brother at UCLA. Now, the team is asking for their money back in the form of a buyout.
“I have spoken with the leadership team at Arkansas Edge and expressed my support in their pursuit to enforce their rights under any agreement violated by our student-athletes moving forward,” Arkansas AD Hunter Yurachek said in a statement. “We appreciate Edge’s investment in our student-athletes and acknowledge the enforcement of these agreements is vital in our new world of college athletics. We look forward to continued dialogue with all parties in resolving these.”
Now, with the spring portal closed, both the Bruins and Razorbacks will be looking to improve on disappointing 2024 seasons. UCLA finished 5-7 in their first season in the Big Ten, failing to make a bowl game for the first time since the COVID-shortened 2020 season. The Razorbacks finished 7-6, winning the Liberty Bowl against Texas Tech.
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