Notre Dame Athletic Compensation

An Unhappy Steve Spurrier

South Carolina football coach Steve (I hate Notre Dame) Spurrier has for the second year in a row raised the issue of athletic compensation for revenue producing student-athletes at the annual spring SEC confab.  You can read the article HERE.  For the record, “revenue producing student-athletes” are defined as college football and in some cases, basketball players.  One sticking point is whether the basketball program is in the revenue Black, as in (basketball power ACC) Duke versus say Boston College and Virginia Tech who are not. 

How many of the 120+ Division I schools even have football programs in the revenue Black is a good question.  We don’t know and don’t really care.

SAS wrote a decent article on the compensation subject some time back and you can check it out HERE.

Now we pretty much at SAS respect Spurrier as a college football coach.  Although he has in the past made a number of veiled snide comments concerning Notre Dame and on a regular basis voted the Irish low on the USA Today Coaches Poll.  No big deal, we know he is a moron.  Career wise he has made three idiotic decisions that may have affected his feeble train of thought.

** Leaving a football program that he pretty much rebuilt into a powerhouse in the SEC to defect for the NFL.

** In a terrible disaster, he went to work for Little Danny Snyder and the Red Skins.  It did not take Steve long to figure out that he could not coach at the professional level.  Many cannot.  Look at Lou Holtz and Pete Carroll.

** After getting fired by Little Danny Snyder, he jumped immediately back into the SEC to the only coaching job then available, the Gamecocks.  This is a Team that Holtz did not leave in a very good state, although Holtz diehards will argue that point.  Why Spurrier did not wait a year or two until an SEC football dominant school’s coaching job became available is a question he probably stays up nights wondering.  The Gamecocks ain’t it; Lou figured that out as well.

Here are some issues with Spurrier’s proposal:

** It appears he is directing this at the SEC.  Well that’s stupid, why give a recruiting advantage to the SEC?  Heck all the big conferences will then have to provide a $3,500 - $4,000 stipend.  Then what if the MAC decides to provide compensation, will the Big East and Conference USA be forced to follow?

** Where do you draw the line on revenue producing student-athletes?   Actually how many college basketball programs are profitable?  A lot has to do with TV contracts and revenue sharing in the conferences.

** OK, so you are a scholarship athlete running track at Notre Dame.  You have the same financial issues and needs as your brothers playing football.  Is that really fair that you don’t receive a stipend?

** What about partial scholarships?  Should they then be expanded as in a stipend provided those athletes?

** Well how about scholastic scholarships?  Don’t they have similar issues and needs?  We smell lawsuits.

** Moffet McGraw and her Team has drawn a crowd in the JACC the past two years.  The Notre Dame’s women basketball team has reached the NCAA finals those past two years.  You thing the Team is NOT profitable?  Why shouldn’t they get a stipend?

** Somewhere lawsuits will be filed that every student-athlete whether male or female should be entitled to Steve’s stipend.

** Do you set a $$ amount say $4,000 or do you tie it to inflation or a COLA?  Pretty soon you have a compensation entitlement which no one can afford.

** Where will it end?  Salaries?  Bonuses for playtime?  Achievable NCAA leader statistics?  Extra compensation for making All- Conference, All-American?

What a Pandora’s Box!  A free education is not enough?  Way too many college football players ignore that aspect of their careers and future.  The average career of an NFL player is 4-5 years, something the NFL does not publicize. 

Look at the disgusting events and exodus surrounding the Kentucky men’s basketball program this year.  The school has turned into nothing more than a minor league for the NBA.

Football and basketball player college graduation rates basically suck.  It is worse for African Americans many are not looking toward a degree by rather the NFL or NBA.  A chance and a life lost to a short time professional career.

Steve Spurrier Unhappy with a Referee as well as with SAS for this post

Steve needs to stick to coaching the Gamecocks and leave college finances to the big boys.

Hey, add SAS to your favorites list: http://subwayalumnistation.blogspot.com