College sports leaders created the current chaotic environment by allowing unregulated NIL deals and free player movement.
Quarterback Darian Mensah is reportedly leveraging a potential $10 million deal from Miami to leave Duke.
University presidents and conference commissioners have been ineffective at controlling the new landscape of college football.
They started this mess nearly five years ago by inviting the wolf into the room and winging it.
No script, no clue. Just completely winging it.
Now all of a sudden, while the uncontrollable storm of private NIL deals and free player movement in college football roars unchecked, I’m supposed to care about Darian Mensah’s 11th hour power play.
Supposed to get all in my feelings and screech about the “unsustainable” path of college football.
That university presidents and chancellors and conference commissioners continue to trot out that tired talking point only underscores how wildly misguided they were in the first place.
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Swing open the doors to unregulated NIL and free player movement. What could go wrong?
Merely everything.
You would think presidents and chancellors in the Big Ten and SEC — their mammoth stadiums filled every fall Saturday with feed-the-beast or fire-the-coach — would’ve seen winging it without rules regulating player procurement would lead to this.
And by without rules, I mean no rules.
For being the best of the best in higher education, these presidents and chancellors aren’t exactly the brightest bulbs in the room. What did they think was going to happen?
The deep-pocket boosters who gave and gave and gave to their university’s sports programs, were suddenly told one summer day in 2021 they can give straight to the players. And it was all legal.
Now we’re all shocked a Miami booster, or boosters, is willing to pony up as much as $10 million — $4 million to buy out the remainder of Mensah’s contract with Duke, and $6 million for a new deal with Miami — for a one-season run with Mensah? Don’t be ridiculous.
The only thing more absurd than ignoring that reality is welcoming the Wild, Wild West to college football and begging Congress to help after the fact. Or setting up something called the College Sports Commission, and hiring a czar — or whatever they’re calling CEO Bryan Seeley these days — to police the private NIL world.
Which is sort of like asking a lifeguard to stop a tsunami.
Let me explain the deep, disturbing extent of “winging it” by these brilliant university presidents and chancellors: they’re relying on the honor code. The CSC has no subpoena power, no legal enforcement; it’s all voluntary compliance.
In other words, it’s the NCAA — which was last seen in an uncontrollable death spiral.
It is here where I remind everyone that after the NCAA came up with this ludicrous dog and pony show, one of the CSC’s first major steps was executing a promissory document for private NIL deals that went something like this:
Do you agree to not cheat? Check yes or no.
And, in the shocker of all shockers, not everyone checked yes.
So please stop the hand-wringing for the Mensah-Duke kerfuffle. There’s only one thing that ends this nonsense, and those brilliant university presidents and chancellors know it’s collective bargaining — but won’t get within a country mile of it. Unless forced to.
Short of that, the one thing that could slow momentum of he-with-the-most-cash-to-burn-wins, is the free market. At some point, boosters get tired of throwing good money after bad.
Of the top-10 paid players in college football in 2025, only one was part of a championship team. Not Arch Maning or Carson Beck, Not Jeremiah Smith or Garrett Nussmeier.
Not DJ Lagway, LaNorris Sellers, Cade Klubnick, Drew Allar or Bryce Underwood.
You know who was? Mensah, and his ACC championship at Duke.
So Miami got to the end of its College Football Playoff run last week, and looked into the quarterback room. There was freshman Luke Nickel, and redshirt freshman Judd Anderson.
Those two have combined for one more college pass than I’ve thrown. And didn’t complete it.
The next thing you know, Mensah — despite having a year and $4 million left on his contract with Duke — is rethinking his options. Guess who’s the logical path?
That would be Miami, and its recent history of throwing stupid money at quarterbacks Cam Ward and Carson Beck. If you’re scoring at home, that’s two transfer portal openings in the past nine months, and two marquee quarterbacks (Nico Iamaleava, Mensah) holding out with leverage.
My shocked face.
The moral of this story: He who lets the wolf through the door must eventually deal with the destruction.
Or keep winging it.
