The Ryan Day lesson
Comments
-
If you mean to say that you long for the days when we weren't officially paying players over the table then I'm with you. I don't like it. I prefer to compete with the SEC paying a kid here and there a few hundred thousand and leave it there for them to either get away with it or get caught and get probation. Also dislike the unlimited transfers. Super destabilizing to the sport.
But I'd also say that the modern approach makes it more possible for programs like Washington to be at the table. Yes, I tend to say that Washington is underrated in terms of HS talent production but it's not close to enough to build and maintain a contender. So, then it's a matter of talking some kid from somewhere else into coming out to play at your school instead of staying within the state/region he's from.
IDK, I keep thinking about it and the more I do the more I think the old system isn't great for a program like UW unless and until they catch lighting in a bottle with a juggernaut and household name coach. That's happened once in the color TV era, arguably twice.
Fat programs were fat in the old days and fat programs are fat in the new days. The new system has allowed some competition to come from schools that don't have the natural advantages but mostly it's the same cast of characters.
-
I don't have a very strong opinion, at least not yet. I know others don't agree with me about the House Settlement from this summer but I still think it will lead to leveler playing field since teams like Ohio State and Oregon won't be able to simply outspend everyone with $35 million rosters. I don't know how much Texas Tech spent but it probably was around $25-$30 million. The billionaire backers of those schools knew the restrictions were coming so they spent a ton of money before the NIL restrictions came in.
With that said, there is no substitute for having a great coaching staff, a great eye for talent, and a great player development system. My guess is that Indiana has spent $10-$15 million on their roster but they are extremely well coached and get a ton out of guys who are an inch or two shorter than the prototypes at their position and / or don't fit what the Blue Bloods want.
As this pertains to UW, the House Settlement helps UW because we(?) don't have a billionaire backer and are thus in the second tier (about $15 million going to the roster from the school and another $5 to $10 million in NIL money). While it has helped to stack recruiting classes and concentrate spending on a DT, Edge, CB, WR, and maybe WR and TE instead at every single position group like the last two off seasons, Fisch hasn't proven he is a one of the better coaches in CFB and that, more than anything, will hold UW back from making the playoffs (unless he proves otherwise). I just can't get past his too often head-scratching play calls and that he tries to force the pass too often when the running game is going well enough.
-
I don't see the House Settlement doing much as the 20m every school can spend all the top 25 teams will do, so it again comes down to NIL packages and why there is supposed to be a clearing house that will say a NIL deal for xyz business is/will be worth on average $150,000, there are going to be 100's of class action lawsuits challenging that and there is NO WAY a judge is going to tell student athletes the private deal you can cut has a ceiling, but any other student or citizen in the US doesn't
-
Miami was the physically superior team. Not close, really. First Miami game I've watched all year and I was very impressed.
Watching these bowl playoff games, UW has a long ways to go to get to this level. The interior line play by most of these teams is multiple tiers above what UW showed this year.
