Gameplan

Welcome back to The Call Sheet! Here’s our gameplan for today:

• Tampa 2

  • We’re Suing Coaches Now?

  • The CFP Finally Has A TV Deal!

  • Fox Leaves Us Scratching Our Heads

• Quick Game

Tampa 2

We’re Suing Coaches Now?

Jaden Rashada, a backup quarterback for the University of Georgia, is suing University of Florida head coach Billy Napier and a Gator booster for allegedly defrauding him out of millions of dollars from a name, image, and likeness (NIL) deal.

A quick recap of how we got here:
- Rashada was initially committed to the University of Miami.
- On the early signing date in 2022, Rashada signed with Florida, assuming his NIL deal would be for $13.85 million.
- In January 2023, Rashada was released from his letter of intent to UF.
- Rashada enrolls at Arizona State.
- After the 2023 season, Rashada enters the transfer portal and transfers to Georgia.

Now, this storyline, in particular, isn’t what I want to focus on. Instead, the big picture of players suing coaches, boosters, and collectives should be top of mind. Many have already asked, and you probably have also: Will more players sue coaches and others associated with NIL? Most likely, yes, but let’s wait and see how this lawsuit plays out. Rashada might lack proof since there appear to be no physical contracts.

College football currently lacks the foundational structure to handle NIL deals. Referred to as the Wild Wild West, coaches can land commitments from top players via false financial promises. According to Rashada’s lawsuit, that’s precisely what happened—upon signing his letter of intent, with only a verbal commitment on his NIL deal, Napier and the booster allegedly reneged. And some other programs in the industry are probably guilty of similar behaviors.

Josh Pate put it best earlier this week, “Go ahead and get it all out in the open… Get as much mess out in the open as you possibly can. Leave no doubt, whatsoever, that major changes have to happen.” As great as college football is, its current trajectory isn’t sustainable. Rules and regulations around recruiting, transferring, and NIL deals must be drastically updated. At this point, both sides are exploiting far too many loopholes.

The CFP Finally Has A TV Deal!

Let us all rejoice that the College Football Playoff has a TV deal in place through the 2028 season! I was never concerned that games would not be broadcast, but due to the mess surrounding the CFP (expanding to a 12-team playoff for only two years before moving to a 14-team playoff), networks kept a tight grip on their money until the last possible moment. Think about this for a moment: we’re less than 100 days away from the season kicking off, and the TV deal for this season’s playoff was just signed.

ESPN and TNT reached a five-year agreement with the College Football Playoff earlier this week. You can expect your typical playoff programming from ESPN for most games and the National Championship, but TNT will present two first-round games each season. Beginning in 2026, TNT will also add two quarterfinal matchups per season.

Fox Leaves Us Scratching Our Heads

Speaking of college football on TV…

Do you remember PAC-12 After Dark? If your answer was “no,” I don’t blame you. That name was coined for the PAC-12 kicking their Friday or Saturday night games off at or after 10pm ET. Although it may have delivered some memorable moments, the infamous name existed in large part due to most of the country missing them (unless you’re crazy like me and refuse to go to bed).

On Wednesday, Fox Sports released its schedule for Fox College Football Friday. Michael Mulvihill, Fox Sports’s chief executive in charge of college football programming, told Joel Klatt, “We’re looking in Friday night to open up some new real estate that’s just an easier competitive environment. Even if the games aren’t always at the viewership level on Big Noon, they’re going to be in such a friendly competitive window that I think we can actually do pretty well.”

While most of the Friday night games will kickoff at 8pm ET, three will start at 9pm ET, and one will begin at 11pm ET. Yes, you read that correctly.

I understand Fox’s push to create another primetime window for college football, but I get the sense they didn’t fully think this through.

On September 27, Washington visits Rutgers for an 8pm ET (5pm PT) kick. So, if you’re a Huskies fan, I’m sorry, you’re missing the first quarter, if not the first half, during your commute home.

Michigan State fans will have to stay up late on October 4.

Oregon fans will feel like UW fans on October 18.

And then there’s the aforementioned 11pm ET kick on October 25, when Rutgers visits USC. Scarlet Knights and Trojans fans east of the Mississippi, I’m not sure what you did to piss off Fox executives, but maybe it’s time to make amends.

A week later, UCLA hosts Iowa for a 6pm local kick. Did Fox, whose sports branch sits in Los Angeles, forget what rush hour traffic is like in LA? The Bruins already have trouble filling the Rose Bowl; don’t make it harder.

Should I dive into how this impacts the players? If their school is in the Eastern time zone and they’re traveling to the West Coast, they miss class on Thursday and Friday.

I didn’t mean this to be a rant, but you get my point. I question if the right people are in charge of scheduling these games.

Quick Game

An interesting look at NIL pay by position - CBS Sports

Sleeper teams in 2024 - Josh Pate

Keep tabs on what’s going on at Penn State - CBS Sports

“Will ‘Yeet Yeet’ cut through a den of cowbells?” - Rece Davis

PFF gets me 😎 - Twitter