THIS could DESTROY the sport?! || The NCAA just RUINED D1 track FOREVER by doing THIS!

[@stephanledford9792]

This doesn't just affect track & field; it affects all sports. The Arkansas football coach just talked about some of the problems that he has already faced with NIL, where some 18-year-old players are already making huge amounts of money from NIL while some of their teammates are getting nothing but an athletic scholarship (or even a partial scholarship). Football is a sport that depends on team unity and introducing differences in "pay" can have the same corrosive effect that having employees discuss salary differences at an office can have. Most colleges are going to have a limited amount of money to "buy" players, so unless they are rich school (like Texas or Texas A&M), they are going to have to spend their money on one or two sports. My team (Arkansas) has built up the war chest for basketball and the football people are trying to play catchup, but eventually this will filter down to all sports. Going back to track, if I am an elite, national championship caliber track & field star, and I have one school offering me a full (or partial) academic scholarship and another school offering me the same, plus $50,000 spending money, then I will probably go to the school that pays me more. I am not sure college sports survives these changes, and if the same "rich" schools are winning everything because they can spend more buying athletes, then interest in college sports may also wane.

[@caseysmith544]

I feel a rule will have to be in place that if you give players X money they are not allowed to get a scholarship and are forced to pay for everything. NIL is okay but I fear schools will start doing more of what the lower end FBC schools do and find email/rich alumni who graduated making big money and asking for donation to players via an account like Co-Fi where no money is needed in return.

[@ricksimmons9015]

NO marketing...NO spectators... NO revenue! I pole-valted in high school and no one came to the events because there was no marketing. I would love to go to events in the DFW area if there was any marketing ANYWHERE that told me there was an event coming up!!!

[@TranelHawkins]

The cost of Track is actually not that high compared to NCAA football when teams locally compete. D2 works because teams ride buses and compete locally. schools ride buses. It makes no sense for none revenue generating sports to travel great distances. We need to break football and some bball completely away from non revenue generating sports. College football is essentially semi pro. Break it off and support and fund all other sports differently.

[@SCATrackandField]

I appreciate your perspective and comment. Unfortunately, in the current model, the other Sports would not exist. The inter-departmental money is how non-revenue generating sports get funded. The model works fine, except for at the power conference level.

[@caseysmith544]

I suspect the FBS/former D1AA top level schools in football will go full pro as much as 2/3 of highest CFL or what 3/4 of highest paid in new XFL with a rule no need to be in even enrolled in school and have to make a new Football team for the schools becuse nobody is going to class, only rule is 4 years in this Full pro Program is all that is allowed. Also in sports like Track and Field I see more and more of the top elite going full pro who made it from High School into Olympic trials and so on with a higher chance of burnout. I mean Sports like road cycling never used NCAA yet look at how the USA is doing in the Sport outside of Tour De France and Paris Roubaix, The smaller 1 week event in France basically any Tour in France where they are basically preventing anybody from USA or Canada from competing by setting higher standards even when fewer Canadian Cyclists cheated during the heavy big drug years compared to USA cyclist or basically everyone else in early 2000's where the least cheating were Canadians faking asthma to legally obtain and using a single inhaler up before each days ride or some using Adrenal 4:1 drink and keeping Adrenal glans maxed out, reason most were doping was becuse the true cheaters made the rides look so easy they made those few years at Tour De France so hard even the non dopers had to dope a bit or work the then gray area just to continue becuse of the pain/altitude from how tough the events were.

[@paulerskine9416]

It seems like D2 schools without football are developing into a real sweet spot for high school seniors to look for a place to run.

[@caseysmith544]

@@paulerskine9416 Even some D2 and in the non FBC type of D1 with the older football playoffs that have football as well are moving this way like schools that still have conferences they have been in for almost 20 years when FBC was first established in 2007. You see schools like University of South Dakota and South Dakota State University or North Dakota State University or University of North Dakota still having track in last few years. You just will have FBC schools that should have been big D1 strictly, having now to drop non football/basketball sports becuse the FBC schools realignments make no money off them when in 1930's and prior Track and Field was one of the big 3 sports along with Football and Basketball. Now sports like Ice Hockey in some winter schools or Baseball/Softball in last 10 years have supplanted sports like running.

[@TranelHawkins]

⁠I competed in D2 and made the Olympic team. I rode buses across Texas, and the furthest I ever competed from Texas was D2 Nationals. D1 schools got spoiled by the money. Track and Field athletes are true student Athletes. Let’s be real Track and Field will never make money, and we still will have a great Olympic team. And, btw, why are state funded schools giving scholarships to foreign athletes?

[@aarond23]

I'd like to be optimistic, but I see it for all college sports, we are going to have college football player millionaires and some of these non revenue sports are going to have to revert to club sports. I'm sure the 'big schools' will still do T&F but going to lose some talent along the way for people who would go to smaller schools.

[@chatta6013]

There are already several college football player millionaires.... nil made several

[@veganpotterthevegan]

The bulk of the big sponsors want their athletes at the biggest schools. Those top athletes will get more money from revenue sharing too.

[@StudentAthletes2000]

Coach, thanks for the breakdown. I have been waiting for this. I will definitely check the article. One thing I will add is the importance of the NCAA tournament in this. In basketball, D1 is D1, in that EVERYONE has the chance to make the NCAA tournament. Even when it was 1A and AA, that was the case. If THAT one day changes, where the NCAA tournament will only be open to schools that opt in, that could be the death of T&F. Because the NCAA tournament generates A LOT of money and schools, especially those with no football, want that opportunity. If they are forced to make that choice in the future, that could result in the “AA” schools cutting track as well. For now, I hope things stabilize at least for the next 10 years. We will see. Maybe D3 will become the place to go for non revenue generating sports. Many programs use sports like track to increase enrollment, where many kids would choose not to attend those schools if they don’t have opportunities in certain sports.

[@raylopez99]

I recall reading a book in the 1980s about how unfair the NCAA was to amateur athletes by denying them their money. Well now that's changed and yet we still seem to have challenges. The more things change, the more they stay the same?

[@daniellawson652]

I think the service academies are going to see more success with more roster spots. It’s going to mean that there’s going to be less non athletes getting into the academies, but it’s going to be a way to grow their programs as the funding for each student comes straight from the budget anyways. Their track and field teams are just going to be deeper.

[@Krogtheclown]

So coach Rob could you tell me this how many people that made the finals in the Olympics that did not go to the NCAA's? Cuz if you really look at it the US is basically paying for the entire world's athletes to get experience and to be able to get an opportunity to run the Olympics. If it's a private college I have no gripe about them taking in foreign athletes but a state college with taxpayer money should not be giving foreigners full athletic rides and not giving it to US citizens. The foreigners never paid any tax get to come here for free and get a full scholarship and that cuts out USA kids from getting a scholarship that's ridiculous and needs to stop!

[@blakefisher920]

Rob, I'm a 63 year old Kinesiologist, Exercise Physiologist, and Biomechanical Engineer- you are now my write- in candidate for President of the USA. I hope you win! Cheers

[@johnnelson5929]

Also, schools will still be required to balance spending and participation to meet Title IX rules. So, while there may be more scholarships permitted in sports, not only may schools not fund those possible scholarships, but their funding must be balanced-along with all spending across sports-to meet Title IX. I'm not sure how this will play out, but I expect mens sports to be hit worse because the revenue generating sports for men (mainly football) cost more to participate, and that's why you tend to have more women's sports and teams in football-heavy schools already. How the scholarship changes work with this will be interesting.

[@fredhall5038]

When did school stop being about education? And if you cut sports it will likely be the ladies who are harmed the most.

[@Krogtheclown]

well almost no Female sport makes money so not sure what you mean with that, laws are there to protect female but not males so many male sports and gonna disappear.

[@TheHuskyK9]

It stopped being about education when a capitalist society decided that entertainment is more important and will gladly pay more for it.

[@TheHuskyK9]

@@Krogtheclown Incorrect. Women's college basketball revenue has been increasing year-by-year as the popularity of it grows alongside it. Projections show that it's about to pass $1 billion in revenue for the first time in college sports history. That popularity is also growing into the pros like the WNBA thanks to Caitlyn Clark and Angel Reese nearly single-handedly renewing interest in the sport.

[@mixa7039]

when they started letting in blacks

[@stevebolin-y9w]

I got a scholarship to a junior college in 1971 full ride

[@johngrossiv9185]

With everyone talking about the idea of relegation systems for football, it would almost be more interesting to use a ranking system that evaluates schools across all sports and then determines if they are in the Power 4, Group of 5, and so on. Then you start seeing major football schools get kicked out of the Power 4 because they are weak in a couple of sports they don't care about/aren't as popular. Then they are forced to spend time and money on bringing those sports if they want to compete in the bigger markets. Essentially, it could raise the tide on the program as a whole instead of sacrificing less popular sports to be good at football, basketball, etc.

[@billybud9557]

Power Conference D1 football is simply gonna be "NFL Light". And it will suck Track and Field and Wrestling dry.

[@gregorylagrange]

Women's track won't be affected as much as men's track because women's track will be able to hide behind title 9. And there may be a decline in men getting designated track scholarships with schools offering less and just using football players to run track.

[@jar1345]

I started watching recently but I am a wrestling guy. Basically the same thing applies to it. 4 or 5 schools will really be able to compete. As it is right now nobody competes with penn state though

[@SCATrackandField]

Thanks for watching, I really appreciate it! I have seen how NCAA wrestling is basically dominated by the same few programs every year.

[@nealwright5630]

I just met with a steering committee this week to discus reviving my university's T&F program after thirty years. Title IX killed it in the 90s. But this revival will include women's T&F as well. A number of factors are coming together to make it beneficial to do it now. I'm very excited and hoping we can pull it off!!

[@gordono672]

What are referred to as "non revenue" sports oftentimes actually generate revenue, but they don’t generate a profit.

[@kirkjabusch1514]

As you started talking my first thought was that they will cut the sports entirely, then you mentioned it. My daughter was a power 5 conference (Pac 12) scholarship tennis player. Few people attended the matches. They had 8 full rides per team for women's tennis. No way they will have that many going forward. Some schools will likely drop the sport entirely.

[@mcj1992GOE]

Great video per usual, Coach Rob! Would love a follow-up deep dive at some point down the road on the impact on D2, D3, JUCO schools, especially under this new structure. I'm curious of the positives & negatives towards those schools

[@SCATrackandField]

Thanks for the comment. I really appreciate it. I honestly think lower divisions will see more athletes head their way in time. For that matter more schools may drop down in division depending on how the opt out rules affect them.

[@davidhooper259]

Colleges are stingy with “Olympic” sports. My roommate in college was number 4 best high school breaststroke events both in high school and USS shirt course meters entering his freshman year in college. Arizona was an Olympian training camp at the time especially on the men’s side. He had to negotiate for a 65% ride. A family member of mine also won girls 400m dash two years in a row in high school again only 75% through athletics and it was like the university had a decent squad or lack of money . She got the ready through academic scholarship. These Systems were broken now who knows.

[@alvarochavez814]

This makes me worried about the D1 school I used to attend University of New Mexico they have a fairly good Track and Cross country teams but their Football team has always been historically bad, with these changes I worry they may sacrifice a lot of the sports they are better at for the chance to not be a Football laughing stock.

[@SCATrackandField]

Thanks for the comment. I really appreciate it. Schools like them are definitely going to have tough decisions to make.

[@abpob6052]

Any idea how much "money" (tuition, fees, room, board, equipment, etc.) a major D1 university gives out in athletic scholarships in a typical year? I know it's a lot and most sports don't make any income for the school.

[@SCATrackandField]

Mathematically, it would be at least $5 million on the low end depending on the school, to perhaps as much as 15 million if they are putting in any level of effort to win at the D1 level.

[@brendancroft5290]

I’m annoyed I didn’t see this video when it released, right as I was talking to my school’s coach and being personally affected by these rule changes. I was trying to find articles and stuff on this subject

[@SCATrackandField]

I'm sorry that you are going through this very unstable time in the NCAA. Glad the video was helpful. Don't hesitate to reach out on my site, I'm always here to help!

[@brendancroft5290]

@@SCATrackandField it’s not a good time to try walking on lol

[@onemanagainsttheworld1630]

Rob can you update the girls 2025 class for the 400m hurdles after both Junior Olympics are over?

[@SCATrackandField]

I will certainly consider the results and factor them in on a fall update.

[@TheJttv]

The 2 problems with NIL are its concentrating talent in specific conferences. We are seeing this badly in hockey where Atlantic Hockey can't hold onto any talent they put into developing despite being a D1 league. The other more personal issue I have with NIL is that in team sports you can have a millionare on the same team as a kid struggling to put food on the table. There is no team split.

[@isaackruger8473]

Coach - Are those uniforms in the back from Trinity School NY??

[@SCATrackandField]

Yes they are

[@isaackruger8473]

@@SCATrackandField graduated in ‘23 - just put the pieces together I was chasing your records all of senior year! (Hate to say that I finally got you in the 55 & 100) Motivated me all year - you’re an absolute legend Coach!

[@andyprior5283]

Time for a completely new model of funding the sport, advertising, NIL, scholarships, everything.

[@xtlm]

If top teams limit their track and field to improve football, wouldn't that leave good athletes for lesser programs?

[@CreativeFishDesignsCharlotte]

if u have the info SHARE IT END THIS OR ur part of the issue, I cant see how there SILENT like when I was in school THIS IS WRONG, I went to UB when we got to d1 this is BAD

[@billa8083]

You really went to college? Hmmm. What the heck are you even talking about.

[@TetragrammatonPriest]

Kinda been trending this way for a while. D1 track will be a small group of mainly international world class athletes. It will basically be a professional level league under the NCAA system. D1AA will be the new D1 and should have its own championship

[@anthonyskata]

Hey man, I have an athlete going into high school (freshman) she high jumped 5'2" as a 14 year old in middle school. No off-season practice and minimal high jump technique training How early should I start trying to get her offers. A

[@NYCDurrani]

When she starts jumping high enough to place at a collegiate conference meet.

[@SCATrackandField]

I would contend that she should probably wait til the end of her freshman year at the earliest. She is certainly on the path to be a college track and field athlete. She could even wait until the end of sophomore year in all likelihood. If she is truly just a high jumper than recruiting for that event, is in less demand than many others, so she may not get a lot of "early" offers unless she is a top 5 high jumper in the nation regardless of hs class.

[@classicclassi6146]

Gotta be skeptical anything packaged as a nice thing. Probably another thing that serves football

[@Ecojock]

I heard about this coming down the pipeline in 2016 and when it was explained to me I was stunned into silence. As you (Coach Rob) have mentioned in this video, it is going to affect the composition of scholarships, teams, conferences, and championships. This 'new' development is going to have a massive recruiting but one point that was not discussed (because of time constraints) is how this will impact 'coaching'. The pressure to win(school rivals, conference, NCAAs) on coaches (head and assistant) has always been there; but now it will go up even more and many coaches will 'leave' the sport. On a 'track' message board they are already talking about younger coaches 'leaving' the sport. This will only accelerate this phenomenon. I watched a KZbin short about this by NCAA swimming coaches and they say they 'know' programmes will be eliminated.

[@SCATrackandField]

Thanks for your comment and perspective. I really appreciate it. I suppose I’m one of those younger coaches who left the profession. Coaching in today’s climate is incredibly hard to sustain. And the coaches are very concerned about viability in track and field. I have heard it from several.

[@Ecojock]

@@SCATrackandField Thank you for all the work you are putting in to keep the track and field community informed and educated on the day-to-day and 'big picture' of our sport.

[@PhillipStone-zk7vz]

Coach Rob, bless up yuself,I would like for you to help me with this,were Florence Joyner,flo jo stripped of her title, after being tested positive for performance enhancement steroids,?

[@SCATrackandField]

I don’t believe she was ever proven of any misconduct. That’s why her records still stand.

[@PhillipStone-zk7vz]

@@SCATrackandField thanks coach 👍

[@stevenmiller6725]

There was no random drug testing back then. Only during events.

[@d2haze]

Your feedback & concern is valid. I work in NIL at the high school & college levels for small & large programs & knowing all that you mentioned in this video & much more I can tell you that I am more excited for amateur sports than ever before. The model as we know it will continue to fade away & be replaced with better systems & programs for athletes. It’s going to be awesome. Continue with your caution but don’t let it turn into doom & gloom!

[@BlackMan614]

NIL that basically has no rules and no organization with legal oversight is the future of college sports. What possibly could go wrong? It will become a cesspool of criminals and of course, a great way to launder money.

[@waltershreffler4564]

And lets not forget U.S. athletes will continue to be ignored for foreign athletes making money even more scarce

[@TheeMelloMan]

Power 2

[@stevenmiller6725]

I think this will turn out differently than you expect. You can bet Phil Knight will make sure Oregon has 45 scholarships for both men and women some with endorsement deals. If other top schools don't follow suit they will lose. So most likely you will get some big corporate sponsors that create power programs. (I bet Carl Lewis can find one) and the rest of D1A. Then the opt out programs will have to get creative to survive but they probably will. Think 20 to 30 scholarships will be fairly common. Easy way is to create exchange programs with other states offering in state tuition rates so scholarships are cheaper. Then recruit out of those states. 30 in state tuitions cheaper than 15 out of state tuitions. And if you want 115 football players you put 10 on track scholarships. Lots of loopholes. Also surprised they don't have sports dorms away from regular dorms with different food and rules. This may start that.

[@SCATrackandField]

We will see. However even the financials of Oregon track and field are not as robust as you might think across the board. Yes they have the stadium. But their team, particularly the men are not as nationally competitive as they could be. And if they were outspending everyone in the current system I don’t see how that would be the case. I hope you’re right but there is so much less money flowing through track and field than most people realize if you follow the balance sheets.

[@Ecojock]

Football scholarships, along with basketball scholarships, are 'full' scholarships - track is not even close with 12.8 for a whole team. This goes to the very heart of the matter in this video and Title 9. The current/old system treats football as its own entity. This is the reason why so many wrestling, swimming, track, and other male sports were cut over the last 4 decades in order to be in compliance with the number of female scholarships offered by a university. You also have to deal with a lot of football coaches absolutely despise track. Only the more enlightened and innovative coaches actively look for 'track guys'. The reason for the hatred towards track is that 'track guys' are seen as soft AND they are not available for Spring Football. I saw this all the time as a track coach dealing with football players, their parents, and their football coaches. Ironically, the entire football strength and conditioning industrial juggernaut is based of track and field (Boyd Eply; a U of Nebraska pole-vaulter).

[@waxwars9183]

College as we know it will be obsolete soon. Lol…..so if you’ve been paying attention, China won’t be a country in about 5 years. Anyone that could have moved their manufacturing out. The result is if we want manufactured goods the United States will be manufacturing again. What does this mean?? The entire college system will collapse here. Trade schools will take over producing technicians and welders. A lot of universities will just shut down. Some will probably transform into trade schools. But the power 4 schools will probably be the only few colleges that survive. These new rules are probably just getting everyone ready for the future of reality. It’ll be tough few years as people realize their college education is worthless and the only good jobs are in manufacturing.