What College Football can adopt from NFL's early days to thrive

The future is now and real amateurism is dead, but it's time to embrace a new business model

Deion Sanders explained how NIL is broken in college football /

The recent combative conversations concerning the first-round of the new college football playoff format has been interesting. Many thought expanding from four to a dozen participants would quell the strife.

Well, what’s the saying, “The best laid plans?” Sometimes things don’t always pan out as planned. That’s certainly true in life and the crazy world of college football. Tweaks to the current policies will certainly emerge. We hope.

Personally, your scribe is a big fan of the expansion. There’s certain things in college football needing immediate addressing. Anybody fogging a mirror realizes the current lack of regulation concerning NIL, transfer rules and the ability for wannabes, I’d put Colorado in this category, to compete with the established well-heeled programs? One man’s opinion. It’s not sustainable. Something’s gotta change on the financial side of this wonderful sport more than figuring out the dozen teams worthy of chasing a championship.

With that as the backdrop, your correspondent wants to share a conversation with some buddies the other day focused entirely on the initial three paragraphs of this weekly connection.

Here it is. To bring sanity to an insane world, based upon money, with West Coast teams playing in East Coast conferences? Follow the cash. The heck with non-revenue sports having to travel long distances and other arguments against this craziness. Before continuing, hats off to a couple of former Pac-12 members, Oregon and Arizona State. Half the major conference winners are former “League of Champions” members.

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Back to the point of this musing. The engaging and robust social conversation finally settled on, “College football needs to become a mirror image of the NFL that Pete Rozelle created long ago.”

The NFL commissioner for thirty years from 1960-90 brought football into a new era with the Super Bowl era. While his name has faded over time, his accomplishments haven’t. The California native convinced the owners to share revenue. The youngest commissioner ever was hired at the tender age of 33 to lead the fortunes of a league struggling to gain acceptance. Back in the 60s, baseball was “America’s pastime.” That began to change once Rozelle began leading the charge, turned it over to Paul Tagliabue who handed it off to current NFL czar, Roger Goodell, who has come a long way after starting out by working in the mailroom for the league.

The secret to the sauce? Sharing revenue. College football, if it wants to give the wannabes a chance to compete against the big boys? It must consider revenue sharing. Let’s take the NFL as a model. Let’s figure out the top thirty-two football programs in America today. Good luck there. Divide them into four regions with eight teams per region.

The dudes gathered, almost in unison say, “The positive? No more of this crazy travel. Re-establishment of regional rivalries!” Agreed. The debate switched to, “What region for the Buffs?” It was not unanimous with participants wavering between a western region or further east. This 66-year-old’s been around the Colorado football program for five decades and believes west is best. Why? There’s a bunch of CU alums out there.

One thing always noticeable when flying on the team plane heading for wherever the Buffs roamed? More fans show up when going west than east. However, that’s changing with the national appeal Coach Prime and his players have generated. Every Colorado football game this year was on national television. No other program can brag like that. Maybe east, less alums and more eyeballs, would be better? Prime has challenged Buff Nation to arrive en masse for the Alamo Bowl. We’ll see.

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Back to the point. Major college football becomes like a minor-NFL. Thirty-two teams in four regions based upon geography. You still have the post-season tournament. If you don’t play in the regular season you’ll always have the chance to meet in chasing a title.

Share the wealth. Rozelle convinced NFL owners of its value and benefits. What’s the saying, “Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered?” Before this party terminated, somebody asked, “Who would be a good selection as commissioner of this new concept?”

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My brain immediately went to Boulder. Rick George. No idea if the talented guy would have any interest. This was just fellas sitting around talking. This much I know. If lucky enough to be on the selection committee? I’d sure try. Otherwise, NIL "donors" will be acting as owner of programs with very little oversight in this "Wild West" shootout every year.