The bold, unprecedented move this week by UNLV starting quarterback Matthew Sluka to leave an unbeaten team before using up his redshirt year — citing through his agent that an assistant coach verbally promised him at least $100,000 to sign with the Rebels and never got paid — is another sign of how college football is choking on its own greed.
Whether it’s FSU and Clemson threatening to leave the ACC because they’re not getting enough revenue for their brand, schools like Oklahoma and Texas leaving for the filthy-rich SEC or players now bolting for reneged promises of payment, college football is saturated with everybody wanting a bigger slice of the pie.
Now in Sluka’s case, if agent Marcus Cromartie ’s claim to ESPN is correct and a UNLV assistant made a promise in which the school couldn’t deliver, the alleged $100K offer is chump change compared to what NIL collectives at many Power 4 schools are giving a starting QB.
Still, it underscores where the college football landscape is likely headed at some point: toward being a professional sport, where players are treated as paid employees with their own labor union.
No matter how long it takes for that scenario to happen, you can bet there’ll be more chaos involving players all over the country like what happened with Sluka, who transferred to UNLV after four years at Holy Cross.
Before Sluka dropped his bombshell — leaving a UNLV program that is 3-0 and considered a strong Group of 5 contender for the College Football Playoff — USC learned that defensive tackle Bear Alexander is also leaving the program in a dispute about playing time.
Alexander expected to be a starter, but when he was a rotational player in USC’s first three games, his frustration boiled over. Now, like Sluka, the Georgia transfer is leaving the Trojans immediately so as not to sacrifice his redshirt year.
For college football and all athletics, this figures to be just the tip of an iceberg, maybe bigger than the one hit by the Titanic.
Sluka’s claim comes four months after former Florida quarterback Jaden Rashada filed a lawsuit against coach Billy Napier and a top booster, claiming a failed NIL deal worth $14 million fell through.
“Those are two salvos thrown into the mix a lot of people didn’t see coming,” said Taxslayer Gator Bowl CEO Greg McGarity , formerly a 10-year athletic director at Georgia. “With the UNLV quarterback, whether it’s verbal or written, like with Rashada, it’s going to make other players around the country go, ‘Woah, where’s my money?’
“The USC lineman transferring right now over playing time, so he won’t lose his redshirt year, is also shocking. What all this player movement has done is open up unintended consequences of NIL.
“NIL was set up where once a kid enrolled, they could be compensated. With no guardrails put up, it’s opened a new chapter that I’m not sure anybody anticipated.”
With the NCAA virtually powerless to enforce its own rules, college football’s Wild, Wild West landscape is reaching a new level of chaos. Of course, fans won’t care much so long as their school has the resources to consistently compete for a spot in the 12-team playoff.
Still, this greed-infested college football culture that starts at the top is a sad commentary on what the sport is becoming.
Homecoming for Jaguars ’ Little
Doug and Sara Little , the parents of Jaguars’ fourth-year offensive tackle Walker Little , live so close to NRG Stadium in Houston that they could almost walk to Sunday’s game between the Texans and Jacksonville .
For the past decade, Walker’s parents have lived off University Boulevard near Rice University, which is only a seven-minute drive along Buffalo Speedway to NRG.
Walker, an unrestricted free agent after this season, plans to visit with his parents and sister Ellie at the Jaguars’ team hotel on Saturday.
Little says he remains focused on the present and spends little time wondering if his football future is in Jacksonville or somewhere else.
“I’ve done a good job of focusing on the now,” said Little. “You try to enjoy each team for what it is. To worry about it seems foolish.”
Carson Beck can make Heisman case
If Mandarin High product and Georgia quarterback Carson Beck wishes to become the third Jacksonville area product to win a Heisman Trophy, he can get a nice push Saturday by having a standout performance on the road against No. 4-ranked Alabama.
For now, the Heisman race looks wide open as about a half-dozen quarterbacks, including Miami’s Cam Ward as the current favorite (oddsmaker Danny Sheridan lists him at 4-1) , and Colorado two-way player Travis Hunter all have garnered enough attention to get into the conversation.
Beck has multiple chances to be a top Heisman candidate because Georgia still faces four of the nation’s top 15 defenses in the country in Bama, Texas (Oct. 15), Ole Miss (Nov. 9) and Tennessee (Nov. 16).
Three of those matchups happen to be against legitimate Heisman hopefuls in quarterbacks Jalen Millroe (Bama), Jaxson Dart (Ole Miss) and Nico Iamaleava (Tennessee), so Beck will have plenty of high-profile games to impress voters.
If Beck wins the Heisman, he would join Nease High QB Tim Tebow (Florida, 2008) and Yulee High running back Derrick Henry (Alabama, 2015) as Jacksonville area players to capture the award.
Chris Sale’s amazing comeback
One of the reasons the Atlanta Braves have stayed in the NL wild-card playoff hunt despite horrific injury circumstances is Chris Sale , who has returned to the form that made the 6-foot-6 southpaw an All-Star pitcher from 2012-18.
Going into his Friday start against the Kansas City Royals, Sale had 18 wins, a 2.38 ERA and 225 strikeouts, putting him in a tight battle with the Detroit Tigers’ Tarik Skubal for the MLB lead in all those categories. He should be close to a unanimous selection to win his first Cy Young award.
Considering he was sidelined by Tommy John surgery in 2020, then dealt with an assortment of injuries the next two years before the Boston Red Sox traded him to Atlanta last December, a healthy-again Sale has been one of MLB’s best comeback stories.
Sale, the 2010 ASUN Pitcher of the Year at Florida Gulf Coast, resurrecting his career at age 35 might also spruce up his resume enough to one day put him in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Quick-hitting nuggets
When Lawrence lost his eighth consecutive start Monday night against the Buffalo Bills, he joined Jim Plunkett as the only No. 1 draft pick to have multiple losing streaks of at least eight games in his career. Lawrence also lost eight straight during his 2021 rookie season, capped by a 50-10 blowout road loss to the New England Patriots. Plunkett, the Patriots’ top pick in 1971, lost eight straight starts in his second season. After going to the San Francisco 49ers, Plunkett lost his last five starts in 1976 and his first five starts the following year. …
It’s perfectly understandable the NFL wants to protect its interests by enforcing anything close to a dangerous hit on quarterbacks, but the flip side is officials are inclined to be overprotective. Last week, two highly suspect roughing-the-passer calls against the Kansas City Chiefs’ Chris Jones against Atlanta Falcons QB Kirk Cousins and the Baltimore Ravens’ Odafe Oweh on Dallas Cowboys QB Dak Prescott led to touchdowns. This isn’t touch football. If the pass-rusher isn’t putting the quarterback in harm’s way, officials should have the situational awareness to keep the flag in their pocket. …
Pigskin forecast
Houston Texans over Jaguars by 4 (AFC South banners); Pittsburgh Steelers over Indianapolis Colts by 1 (sound QB plan); Miami Dolphins over Tennessee Titans by 3 ( Will Levis mistakes); Buffalo Bills over Baltimore Ravens by 1 (epic QB battle); SMU over Florida State by 3 (bowl invitations); Georgia over Alabama by 3 (CFP byes); UCF over Colorado by 10 ( RJ Harvey highlights). Last week: 5 right, 2 Baylor Hail Mary defenses.
Gfrenette@jacksonville.com ; (904) 359-4540; Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @genefrenette
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: UNLV QB leaving over alleged broken promise another sign of college football greed | Gene Frenette
Local News
Comments / 0