This is the same argument we’ve had for decades in a slightly different flavor. “Traditionalists” not wanting to pay players (NIL), keep players locked into schools (transfer portal), and now play in bowl games. It’s time that we recognize that college football is now a professional sport (though the elite football schools figured this out long ago). It’s transactional, there’s no such thing as a student athlete, and the stakes are so much higher than they’ve ever been.
I don’t know if Bryce Young or Will Anderson have anything to do with spoon or sydney brown. They might have completely differently NIL structures or insurance policies or school priorities. Hard to say that their playing constitutes “loyalty”.
These mechanics may rightly cost schools and the sport a lot of fans who liked the game because of the feel-good nature of college kids representing universities. Then again, the sport’s never been more popular and more dollars are flowing in than ever before.
I guess the point is that the ship has already left the dock. You can get on board, or you can stay behind and complain that things used to be better. The rest of us are looking forward to a brighter future with BB using as much NIL money as possible to bring in the best recruits and transfers he can