If this is what you’re waiting to read about from the college football media meetings, think again. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
To the surprise of no one the Big Ten Football Media meetings had very little to do with football, and more to do with how to make money. And Michigan coach Kyle Whittingham called life at Michigan, “Drama!”
To the surprise of no one, Jeff Gilbert and Marcus Hartman should earn Pulitzer Awards for making something out of nothing – for columns posted this past week while covering the Big Ten Media Meeting in Chicago.
Put it this way. Press Pros probably spent a couple thousand dollars for travel, hotel and meals, and as the late Columbus Citizen-Journal writer and friend Kaye Kessler once shared, “For 25 cents worth of something the media already knew.”
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Point in case, Jeff’s excellent profile this week of sophomore quarterback Julian Sayin, where he had more to add about Sayin’s record-breaking freshman season of a year ago than did head coach Ryan Day, who provided all the quotes he’s used in the past, just with a slightly different context.
“In year two he has a different look in his eye,” said Day about his quarterback.
Classic cliche’ for the moment, but what else would you say? Actually, I doubt the look in his eye is much different from the one Sayin had when he put the statistical thrashing on Michigan last year, snapping the Buckeyes four-game losing streak to TTUN.
“The look in the eye” quote is oft-used, and classic, go-to ‘coach-speak’. It sounds distinguishing, and it makes writers, themselves, spend a thousand words trying to explain. Speaking of ‘classic’, it’s right there with the old Darrell Royal Texas favorite, “all hat and no cattle.” That’s Mt. Rushmore ‘classic’.
Actually, Woody Hayes used a lot of empty rhetoric during his time, including “the look in the eye”. John McKay said it about OJ (who had another different look in his eye once, years later), and what Barry Switzer once said about Billy Sims at Oklahoma, and Emmitt Smith with the Cowboys. And LSU coach Ed Orgeron probably said it about Joe Burrow, and somehow Urban Meyer missed seeing it when Burrow was at Ohio State. Talk amongst yourselves on that.
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And Day wasn’t alone this week. Just turn on the BIG Network and you could hear P.J. Fleck give his version about Minnesota…Pat Fitzgerald spun it green and white from Michigan State…David Braun did it in purple for Northwestern…and Indiana’s Curt Cignettia said little outside of the Big Ten being the best conference in the country, and did it at the expense of the SEC.
Illinois’ coach Bret Bielema was perhaps the most forthright of all, despite what you might think about Bret Bielema in the past. “It’s a different world than it was when I was at Wisconsin, in terms of roster assembly and player opportunity,” he said (paraphrasing). “I wouldn’t have the players we have now were it not for the transfer portal and revenue sharing.”
Tell us something we don’t already know, eh.
The question was asked to Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti: “How long can schools withstand $50 million dollar rosters?”
The coach with the biggest opportunity to give the people what they wanted to hear was Michigan’s Kyle Whittingham, who spent the first five minutes of his time talking about what an honor it is to be at a prestigious place like Michigan. “A university that’s got it all,” said Whittingham.
Seriously? Did he forget Warde Manual, the Capone of athletic directors, who’s getting $7 million to leave Michigan (sometime soon, but who’s sure), and who oversaw the Wolverines’ athletic legacy through one scandal after another?
When asked specifically about a different kind of ‘blue’ currently enveloping the Michigan legacy Whittingham quickly passed it off, calling it “drama”.
Asked an actual football question about sophomore quarterback Bryce Underwood, Whittingham added, “He showed a lot as a freshman last year, winning nine games. He’s 6’4″ and 230 pounds, he’s an athlete, and he throws accurately on the move. But there’s a lot he can improve.” He said nothing about any different look in his eye. The portal, for instance?
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And who can blame coaches for working in the shadow of what Big Ten Commissioner Tony Pettiti opened with on Tuesday, when he again pushed the prospect of enlarging the college post-season playoff menu to 24 teams, an increase of 100% over last year’s 12-team field. And why go for just 4, or 8, when you can have 12? The reason?
“The idea is keeping as many teams in contention for as long as possible. Play as many meaningful games for as long as you can.”
Great for the hard-core fan who can watch 3 am TNT replays on sleepless nights. But the real reason is the money grab, like expanding the OHSAA field to seven divisions and 16 football teams per region three years ago. More divisions, more teams, means more games, more tickets sold, and more revenue. And who’s not going to go to watch their kid play in the state or national tournament, regardless of hats, or cattle?
He consistently brought up the issue of member and conference incentives regarding the expansion, but his points could not be construed in any other terms than increased revenue. College football needs money. “And how long can Big Ten schools afford $50 million dollar rosters?” a reporter asked.
High school tickets cost $12, and NCAA tickets will be hundreds, so Petitti is playing for keeps…or for keeping more of your money. Because he knows, and he made the point, that the fan base who’s never been there will still show up just for alma mater’s sake.
The trick is, convincing the questionably cash-strapped television networks to buy the rights to broadcast the extra games.
Have you noticed that ESPN fired veteran talents like Karl Ravech, Ryan Clark, David Lloyd, and Tom Pelissero last week to lighten its financial load – to afford fat cat talents like Pat McAfee ($60 million) and Stephen A. Smith ($21 million)? And does that sound like a scenario willing to shell out to broadcast a Virginia Tech playoff game?
My friends, this is the tip of the iceberg for the next injection of cold, hard cash and college sports.
Also announced this week was the not-to-be-unexpected relationship (being called a partnership) between JP Morgan Chase and Ohio State, whereby the Buckeyes get $17 million annually in support of NIL, financial literacy training, and introduction into the next level of ultra-heavy-hitter benefactors; and JP Morgan Chase gets branding on uniforms and in athletic facilities on campus. One day later, Notre Dame got an even richer deal with SoFi. Nowhere in the language of either deal was there mention of a tuition and board reduction for the poor schmuck who just wants to get a teaching or engineering degree.
Dollars and dimes. But really, who worries about dimes, anymore?
All of this, you see, is the elephant in the room, grossly overshadowing talk of actual football at any of the conference media meetings, while Ohio State and Notre Dame certainly open fall camp this week with a different look in their eye$.
And don’t you worry. Somehow, some way, they’ll find a way between now and the Texas game to answer the questions about who takes over for Caleb Downs and Arvell Reese.
And dollars to dimes? We did pretty good, ourselves. We probably spent less than two thousand.
Much less.
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