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Herein Lies The Reason That Our Football Ceiling Will Forever be Limited...

king ward

Well-Known Member
Aug 10, 1999
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...at least in the current environment. My brother, known on some Gamecock boards as Spinal Tap, copied this from the Sports Talk board. It tells the awful truth. We cannot compete.

USC offered OG Keyshawn Blackstock (6-5 315) of Coffeyville JC, KS and Covington, GA on November 2nd and immediately became a major player for a player regarded by some as the top interior offensive lineman available in junior college this recruiting season. Blackstock included the Gamecocks in his top 12 and took an official visit the weekend of November 16th.


After the visit, Blackstock spoke highly of Shane Beamer and offensive line coaches Greg Adkins and Lonnie Teasley. He said relationships with the coaches was a big part of his decision. But the Gamecocks did not make his top five which he released earlier this week. He settled on Oregon, Southern Cal, Michigan State, Oklahoma and Tennessee.


NIL opportunities are important to Blackstock in the recruiting process, and according to his father, what USC showed him in that area did not match up with the competition.


“He’s not necessarily all about money. He’s not one of those kids,” Keith Blackstock said earlier in the week before his son released his to five. “You’ve got all these schools offering all these opportunities, and you’ve got South Carolina that’s literally at the bottom of the whole crop when it comes to what they can offer a kid. It kind of sucks, you know. It may be a great school. It ain’t about money, but one injury and you can never play football again. That’s one of the things at South Carolina, they don’t really have opportunities like some of the other schools do. NIL stuff. NIL opportunities.”


Schools have been warned by the NCAA that using NIL as a recruiting tool is forbidden.


“Other people are using that as a recruiting tool,” Keith Blackstock said. “I’m not downing anyone. He did like South Carolina a lot. Other schools are offering opportunities for it and giving you examples. South Carolina just doesn’t have those things. It’s nothing against them. Other schools are using that as a recruiting tool, and me, personally, I don’t think that should be done. Nothing is guaranteed. With any kid, you can’t really guarantee them NIL money, but they just give them examples of people who played their position or who was their size, something that can resemble that kid that gives them some intimate idea. That’s some of the other schools whole selling point. It’s not Keyshawn’s selling point, but when you have a coach that he really likes and then they bring that up, it looks good. But the main thing with Keyshawn though is depth chart. He’s more concerned about a depth chart than anything else. Even if you’re offering him two million, if he doesn’t get to play, what is two-million dollars? But because he is who he is, he knows that football isn’t guaranteed. He knows the chance of going to the NFL is slim, and you want to be compensated. He wants help his mom out. He just wants to be in a position to take care of his family. I told him he shouldn’t have to think like that, but he wants to.”


Keyshawn Blackstock has taken official visits to Illinois, USC and Michigan State. His father said he is going to try to visit Oregon or Oklahoma before making a final decision next week.
 
So should we feel bad or something? The Yankees have the highest payroll and best players it seems every year.........they don't win the World Series often. This guy tries to make his son sound noble, then basically says it's about the money (after saying it's not about the money). He'd make a good politician.

If college football goes down the toilet and turns into 6 teams playing for a title each year........so be it. I guess I'm old school wishing college was still a rah rah love your school type place. It appears those days are over. I watch anytime a Gamecock team is playing in whatever sport men or women. I guess there may be a day I care about football the least if it's simply who has the most money. But if SC is playing, I'll be watching.

I always told my kids growing up there will always someone with more, and someone with less so be happy with where you are and help those with less. Even the NFL is smart enough to know everyone suffers if the teams with the most money can buy a championship. They have rules to keep things interesting. So one day it may be the fans of 5-10 teams are the only ones watching and then you'll see a change.
 
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So should we feel bad or something? The Yankees have the highest payroll and best players it seems every year.........they don't win the World Series often. This guy tries to make his son sound noble, then basically says it's about the money (after saying it's not about the money). He'd make a good politician.

If college football goes down the toilet and turns into 6 teams playing for a title each year........so be it. I guess I'm old school wishing college was still a rah rah love your school type place. It appears those days are over. I watch anytime a Gamecock team is playing in whatever sport men or women. I guess there may be a day I care about football the least if it's simply who has the most money. But if SC is playing, I'll be watching.

I always told my kids growing up there will always someone with more, and someone with less so be happy with where you are and help those with less. Even the NFL is smart enough to know everyone suffers if the teams with the most money can buy a championship. The have rules to keep things interesting. So one day it may be the fans of 5-10 teams are the only ones watching and then you'll see a change.
It was never supposed to get this way at levels other than the professional one. You know it and I know it. This has become an absurdity.
 
So should we feel bad or something? The Yankees have the highest payroll and best players it seems every year.........they don't win the World Series often. This guy tries to make his son sound noble, then basically says it's about the money (after saying it's not about the money). He'd make a good politician.

If college football goes down the toilet and turns into 6 teams playing for a title each year........so be it. I guess I'm old school wishing college was still a rah rah love your school type place. It appears those days are over. I watch anytime a Gamecock team is playing in whatever sport men or women. I guess there may be a day I care about football the least if it's simply who has the most money. But if SC is playing, I'll be watching.

I always told my kids growing up there will always someone with more, and someone with less so be happy with where you are and help those with less. Even the NFL is smart enough to know everyone suffers if the teams with the most money can buy a championship. The have rules to keep things interesting. So one day it may be the fans of 5-10 teams are the only ones watching and then you'll see a change.
Ditto and well said from a Clemson fan. Won’t be long and we will be looking else to do in the fall. This is becoming the NFL. They lost me about 20 years ago.
 
No reason why these comments cannot be digested by our coaching staff and adjustments made.

This can be a wake-up call...not a final disposition.
 
He keeps saying "it's not about the money", but everything that follows is ABOUT THE MONEY! I THOUGHT there was a rule in place about RECRUITING MONEY but evidently that's not true or at least NOT ENFORCED! It should be STRICTLY ILLEGAL to BUY A PLAYER!! Just ANOTHER reason that NIL sucks!!
 
I quit reading after he said it's not about the money. It's about the money. And when he collects that money there's no guarantee he will be a success. Texas A&M and Miami have proved they can buy players but are still losers.
It has been a pleasure to watch the Jimbo meltdown this year. I’m disappointed they aren’t in a bowl so we could watch him squirm one more time.
 
I quit reading after he said it's not about the money. It's about the money. And when he collects that money there's no guarantee he will be a success. Texas A&M and Miami have proved they can buy players but are still losers.
“Even when they say it’s not, it’s always about the money”. —Melissa Francis; Fox Business—
 
No reason why these comments cannot be digested by our coaching staff and adjustments made.

This can be a wake-up call...not a final disposition.
Sorry my man , but NIL ain't on the coaches......NIL should have been capped and it would not be the monster it has become. I'm moving on to FCS football!
 
Please explain to me, allow me to understand. Some folks, honestly believed that large sums of money are involved and not only would N.I.L. level the playing field BUT would actually benefit Carolina???

"Bridge for Sale in Brooklyn, N.Y." Carolina hasn't had a good Conman since John Jenrette (or Jim Baker, if you consider him as a Carolina Conman)

How's the Portal working out so far???
 
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Sorry my man , but NIL ain't on the coaches......NIL should have been capped and it would not be the monster it has become. I'm moving on to FCS football!
Wonder what effect FCS will feel from this? It does appear IMO competition will be better in FCS in the future.
 
I quit reading after he said it's not about the money. It's about the money. And when he collects that money there's no guarantee he will be a success. Texas A&M and Miami have proved they can buy players but are still losers.
The problem is that, even if those teams fail, they still take disproportionate numbers of talented players out of circulation while they are failing. If they leave, they are still going to follow the $$$.
 
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Heres how I see it: My company could offer some NIL or sponsor a key player. We wanna see the Gamecocks win!! But….we also know $$$ must be spent wisely. And from what Ive seen, these players that we *might* invest in, sure the hell arent committed to what we fans want (which is win as many games as possible). They wanna win games to get their own $ and jump ship once they feel like they are pro prospects.

So we aren’t interested in spending valuable business $$ on a player who may quit before, say, a chance to beat Notre Dame. That isnt “in our best interests”. So yeah that is a problem USC is gonna have, with lots of potential NIL providers.
 
Heres how I see it: My company could offer some NIL or sponsor a key player. We wanna see the Gamecocks win!! But….we also know $$$ must be spent wisely. And from what Ive seen, these players that we *might* invest in, sure the hell arent committed to what we fans want (which is win as many games as possible). They wanna win games to get their own $ and jump ship once they feel like they are pro prospects.

So we aren’t interested in spending valuable business $$ on a player who may quit before, say, a chance to beat Notre Dame. That isnt “in our best interests”. So yeah that is a problem USC is gonna have, with lots of potential NIL providers.
Well, at least the pros have contracts to protect their interests. The colleges don't even have that. NIL "investments" carry no guarantees, either in terms of player performance quality, or with respect to player service duration. They can go "poof" at any time.
 
The problem is that, even if those teams fail, they still take disproportionate numbers of talented players out of circulation while they are failing. If they leave, they are still going to follow the $$$.
Will the rich get richer or will the talent be distributed across college football due to the portal. Seems like there may be a lot of highly recruited talented athletes looking for homes.
 
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Well, at least the pros have contracts to protect their interests. The colleges don't even have that. NIL "investments" carry no guarantees, either in terms of player performance quality, or with respect to player service duration. They can go "poof" at any time.
Their NIL shouldnt have any guarantees. We cant count on them to represent USC thru an entire single season, no way would I do a multi year NIL
 
Will the rich get richer or will the talent be distributed across college football due to the portal. Seems like there may be a lot of highly recruited talented athletes looking for homes.
We just have to remember that the more talented they are, the less we can count on them. If we wanna do NIL, do it for the roster filler guys who can develop and we know will stay committed to USC football. The stars? They’ll take the $$ then quit. Look at Quinn Ewers. He quit on his HS team to sign a year early w Ohio State to take their NIL money, then bailed without playing a single down back to Texas. Now hes doing ok at Texas but not what they thought he’d be. Probably bc hes spending time looking for the next NIL

Pay the dependable players, not the stars
 
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The game is in trouble and amendments need to be made. This probably doesn't happen until fans stop supporting this garbage. To those who are trying to use outlier arguments about money not buying advantages as a whole and over time...comeon, you're smarter than that.
 
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No reason why these comments cannot be digested by our coaching staff and adjustments made.

This can be a wake-up call...not a final disposition.
Agree but what can the coaches really do about it?? The less affluent schools that play in smaller markets will always lose this game. The money has to come from somehwere/someone.
 
We just have to remember that the more talented they are, the less we can count on them. If we wanna do NIL, do it for the roster filler guys who can develop and we know will stay committed to USC football. The stars? They’ll take the $$ then quit.

Pay the dependable players, not the stars
That’s my feelings on it.
 
Agree but what can the coaches really do about it?? The less affluent schools that play in smaller markets will always lose this game. The money has to come from somehwere/someone.
Learn to play the game. It's a new dimension to recruiting. This is just going to evolve and evolve like recruiting.
 
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Their NIL shouldnt have any guarantees. We cant count on them to represent USC thru an entire single season, no way would I do a multi year NIL
I'm old and stodgy. I wouldn't do it for a single year since I believe in a different paradigm.
 
Will the rich get richer or will the talent be distributed across college football due to the portal. Seems like there may be a lot of highly recruited talented athletes looking for homes.
I think we're going to need at least five years to assess the dual impacts of the NIL and the portal. From what I see right now, adjustments will be necessary to prevent widespread public disaffection and almost complete loss of the educational component.
 
The recruits father is saying it’s mostly about money while claiming it isn’t about money. In between the lines he is asking for an NIL deal that will set his son up financially for life.

Maybe there are deals that big for college players. Where they make enough money in college to where they don’t have to work a day in their life post college. I don’t know.

Regardless, this looks to be turning into a big mess. When little Johnny’s parents start suing McDonalds becuase those monthly $1,000 NIL checks stopped flowing after he never made the starting role.

I mean heck. If I were an oil tycoon billionaire. I would buy Carolina a QB, stable of backs and receivers. But there would be some fine print with some stipulations in their NIL contracts! to if they don’t produce- then daddy war bucks is cutting them off.
 
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Agree but what can the coaches really do about it?? The less affluent schools that play in smaller markets will always lose this game. The money has to come from somehwere/someone.
One answer is everyone who gives to the Gamecock Club STOP. That money goes to the whole athletics department. We wanna win football games. Give that money to an off campus unaffiliated NIL collective that pays the football players. We can be a 7 win program in the NIL era. But to win 10+, all our $$ has to go into the pockets of football players, no one else.

How much we win depends on this and this alone.
 
I think we're going to need at least five years to assess the dual impacts of the NIL and the portal. From what I see right now, adjustments will be necessary to prevent widespread public disaffection and almost complete loss of the educational component.
We've already lost the educational component. It used to be a joke that these kids were interested in an education. Now it's plain as day and in your face that they couldn't care less about the university, it's alumni, fans, colors, mascot, etc.
 
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I think we're going to need at least five years to assess the dual impacts of the NIL and the portal. From what I see right now, adjustments will be necessary to prevent widespread public disaffection and almost complete loss of the educational component.

Why would you need five years when the answer is very obvious in present day? All five years does is allow deep pocket schools to create a deeper separation and their reputation for success will carry on far beyond any amendment to the system.
 
Wonder what effect FCS will feel from this? It does appear IMO competition will be better in FCS in the future.
Depends. FCS teams everywhere are losing key players that they developed and invested in. That hurts them obviously. But, it could also allow some FCS teams to market themselves as farm teams as a pipeline to the FBS.

What my pessimistic side says is that FBS teams will do the same. They’ll recruit guys who are borderline FBS players and tell them to sign with their preferred FCS team and develop then transfer in. In exchange (off the record of course) the FBS team will give that FCS team multiple future $$$ games. Like we could just use Furman as a farm team. Promise kids who are borderline that if they go there and develop for a year or two we’ll bring em back in year 3.

Longer term, a court has already ruled in California that college athletes are EMPLOYEES of not just the University but the NCAA. They’ll obviously say this applies to all athletes, football, bball, womens sports and all. FCS schools cannot afford to take on 300 new employees w benefits, workers comp, insurance, etc etc; Non revenue sports will be dropped
 
Wonder what some college professors will think about teaching some uneducated, immature kid that is making 10 times what they are?
 
Wonder what some college professors will think about teaching some uneducated, immature kid that is making 10 times what they are?
Haha Ive thought the same thing!! It was one thing when the student had rich parents. But now the pony tailed sociology professor gets to teach an 18 yr old athlete making $2,000,000 a year! Would it even be illegal if the player just offered him $50,000 for an A?
 
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