In the year 2008, I went to my first college football game. I instantly fell in love with the game, but 18 years later the game I love has changed completely. This topic keeps coming up for debate in the sports world. Purists want the old way back – no NIL, college athletes don’t get paid, and no transfer portal. On the other hand, modernists are open to the new rules and accept change. This divide has been a talking point for college sports fans, executives, players, and coaches in the last couple of years.

In News Staff, we are also debating this topic. Us sports fans understand why NIL is necessary for college athletics, but that doesn’t mean we have to like it. We discuss new strategies that coaches take on recruiting players: Why recruit high school athletes anymore? They’re younger, less experienced, and quite frankly, a waste of time and money. Instead, college coaches should be focused on the already proven college athletes looking for a new home and the right fit. An example of this is Michigan’s young “star” QB Bryce Underwood. U of M is paying him 4 million dollars to be an average quarterback when they could’ve had anyone else that’s already proved themselves.

The idea of getting transfers to play for your team goes against everything college sports is. But, adapt or die, the way college athletics is nowadays is that you have to bring in transfers to complete your team. You need to be able to spend your money and get your guys.