FARGO — There is one week left in the NCAA transfer portal and then the national FCS head coach nightmare will be over. Or at least let’s hope so.
It’s been eight days since the last North Dakota State player announced he was going into the portal, perhaps a sign that the bleeding has stopped. Bison players who receive funds from the Green and Gold Fund, the collective that pays players directly from the athletic department, sign contracts that in theory commit them to the school.
But in NCAA football, what’s a contract these days?
Maybe there’s hope on the horizon.
ESPN earlier this week reported quarterback Demond Williams Jr. signed an NIL deal to remain at the University of Washington, but then announced he was leaving to pursue another school. Imagine that happening in the NFL. It doesn’t, at least it’s not that simple.
But back to the college game and Williams Jr., the university didn’t take too kindly to that, as it shouldn’t, and there were reports Washington was prepared to fight back. This is not a $10,000 check maybe a Bison football player would receive.
This is about millions of dollars.
Guess what? Williams Jr. on Thursday put on Instagram that he was “fully committed” and is returning to Washington. Imagine that. Perhaps somebody got to him with the following logic: Demond, do you want to hire a lawyer for a lot of money with no guarantee you’ll win just to transfer to, say, LSU? It’s a reminder of the famous “Seinfeld” line when Jerry was at an airport car rental desk. His vehicle wasn’t immediately available and that didn’t sit well with him. “You can take the reservation but you can’t hold the reservation.”
The point being holding, honoring a contract, is the most important part.
Maybe, just maybe, the players finally met their match. On that note, the NCAA denied a waiver request for another year of eligibility of Ole’ Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss. I never thought I would see the NCAA deny any sort of waiver again.
NIL contracts? Before Williams Jr. reversed course, they held about as much water as Death Valley in California. The agent who represented Williams Jr., who is also the agent for Washington head coach Jedd Fisch, put on social media he ended his representation with the quarterback because of “philosophical differences.”
NDSU players signing NIL contracts with the Green and Gold Fund are important, with both parties. With the school, the hope is the players honor the deal. For the player, it’s a guarantee they’ll get paid.
There are stories that Bison players who transferred to a bigger school in the past didn’t receive what they were promised. A contract is a security blanket, because it’s doubtful a school would want a reputation of reneging on NIL deals.
It’s all part of the mishmash of the modern world of college football that is screwed up on so many levels, including the calendar of events of the transfer portal and coaches leaving for other schools.
Nick Saban has a point, when on an ESPN “College GameDay” pregame show, the former Alabama head coach suggested taking on more of an NFL model with the calendar. He advocated to move signing day to summer, start the season earlier, move the portal to the end of the school year and then change spring football from March or April to after the portal dates to summer, like the NFL teams do with their Organized Team Activity (OTAs) after the draft.
It would avoid coaches leaving their current school for another during a playoff run, like the Lane Kiffin fiasco from Mississippi to LSU. NDSU went through it to a degree, but Craig Bohl stayed through the 2013 national title game before leaving for Wyoming and Chris Klieman stayed through the ‘18 championship game before heading to Kansas State.
That’s laughable now. But there is this: Maybe the pendulum has reached its peak and will swing the other way.
Let’s hope so.
Jeff Kolpack, the son of a reporter and an English teacher, and the brother of a reporter, worked at the Jamestown Sun, Bismarck Tribune and since 1990 The Forum, where he’s covered North Dakota State athletics since 1995. He has covered all 10 of NDSU’s Division I FCS national football titles and has written four books: “Horns Up,” “North Dakota Tough,” “Covid Kids” and “They Caught Them Sleeping: How Dot Reinvented the Pretzel.” He is also the radio host of “The Golf Show with Jeff Kolpack” April through August.