Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) raised eyebrows this week when he suggested Congress might need to consider ways to penalize college athletes who break NIL contracts.
Public reports of Tuberville’s comments, which he offered Monday at the Morning Quarterback Club in Birmingham, sparked criticism on social media, where people recalled that the former college football coach prematurely left his positions at Texas Tech and Ole Miss without that appears to suffer any financial consequences.
More from Sportico.com
In fact, Tuberville’s departure from TTU in 2012 became a textbook example of the historically one-sided expectations of loyalty when it comes to college athletes and existing employees of athletic departments. Tuberville was having dinner with some Red Raiders recruits at the time he was announced as the next coach in Cincinnati. Tuberville reportedly left the recruits mid-meal and did not return.
In a phone interview Thursday, Tuberville said that in trying to stabilize college sports, he is not seeking to hold athletes to a different standard of commitment than coaches or administrators.
“Everyone should be in the game,” the first-term senator said.
When asked about his own work history as a coach, Tuberville said, “Here’s the deal: I think coaches should be held accountable. … But, you know, if you can get an AD or a president or a school to give you a one-way contract, where, if you get fired, they’ll pay you, but if you leave, you don’t have to. pay anything, I mean, you’ve hit the jackpot. But that’s what’s happening with universities. I mean, these kids come in, they don’t get a contract, but they’re promised a certain amount of money. And then, you know, there are no consequences if they get up and leave.”
Tuberville added that despite the many public examples of college coaches jumping ship mid-contract, with seemingly no repercussions, terminations in employment agreements often serve as a deterrent.
“Sometimes guys have $3 million buyouts and another school says, ‘Hey, this coach is worth paying $3 million for us,'” Tuberville said. “But now you have to remember that that $3 million is taxable to the coach. There are many repercussions for that. There were times when people would call me and say, ‘Coach, what’s your buyout? Five million? Well, we can’t afford it. Then they go down the road. So there is some repercussion. It’s not just the ones you see that work. “There are many, many more that don’t work.”
On the other hand, schools have shelled out more and more money to pay coaches not to complete their contracts. According sportsAccording to the FBS College Sports Finance Database, FBS public schools made $147 million in football-related severance payments in 2022-23.
Besides, sportsthe training salary guidereleased Thursday, lists 21 college football coaches among the top 100, underscoring the healthy financial circumstances of the biggest names.
With Republicans set to take control of the Senate in the next Congress, Tuberville, who sits on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, struck a slightly pessimistic note about the likelihood of passing NCAA reform legislation in 2025. In July 2023, he introduced a piece of NIL legislation with outgoing Senator Joe Manchin (IW.V.), one of more than a dozen congressional bills that failed to reach the floor for a vote.
“There is no perfect bill,” Tuberville said. “There is no perfect way to do this. At the end of the day, we just have to keep an eye on the…institutions, players, families…everyone who needs to be on board with this to make sure we save it. And I’m not sure we have enough people to do that right now.”
The best of Sportico.com
Enroll in Sports newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitterand instagram.