What to do about opt-outs?

[JoeCakeEater]

Next man up. As a coach you can’t worry too much about it. Go ahead and have a practice run playing without that player next season.

There are positives for the school if said player gets drafted high, because then you can sell to recruits that you developed an early rounder at that position or whatever. It’s not worth burning a bridge over.

 

[GT98]

I think that is inevitably where we are headed. With NIL money going directly to the players the bagmen will become redundant to the players NIL agents. With most advertising money going online, TV will soon realize they can not justify the lavish contracts paid to conferences and new versions will shrink. Schools will recognize this and care much less about having a semi-pro "college" team except for the 2 dozen pseudo universities. The NFL will have to step in and provide a development league for paid players. I give it 10 years.

Agree except for the part in bold. The TV contracts will just (initially) be redirected towards the super conference(s) that contain the 32 or so teams. The TV money will really shrink/disappear for the remaining schools that choose to compete in a "new" Div. 1aa type format.

No reason for the NFL to spend a nickel on a development league when the remaining 32 teams will provide it for them. Additionally, players from the "new" Div. Iaa will get drafted as well and the NFL scouts will earn their keep scouting those guys not in a made for TV super conference(s).

But I do think that the superleague idea is coming. I guess the question will be what will GT do?

 

[GT98]

I for one am not cheering the demise of the bowl system. I think it's unique in sports and I like it. Not interested in expanding the playoffs beyond 8 at most.

Interesting. What is it about the bowls that you like? I used to enjoy the bowl season, but with approximately 40 bowls, it is too diluted. Remove 20-25 of those and the bowl system would be much better. As it stands, too many games between 6-6 and 7-5 teams with a corporate sponsor playing on a tuesday afternoon. Not entertaining for me.

I like the playoff idea of 8--5 conference champs and 3 at-large teams.

 

[gtchief]

Interesting. What is it about the bowls that you like? I used to enjoy the bowl season, but with approximately 40 bowls, it is too diluted. Remove 20-25 of those and the bowl system would be much better. As it stands, too many games between 6-6 and 7-5 teams with a corporate sponsor playing on a tuesday afternoon. Not entertaining for me.

I like the playoff idea of 8--5 conference champs and 3 at-large teams.

You haven’t provided a good reason at all to reduce bowl inventory. All bowls have corporate sponsors, and undercard matchups can still provide interesting games between comparable teams of different conferences even if they’re not the main event. It sounds like the spirit of the bowl system in general just doesn’t appeal to you anymore and you want a playoff tournament, which is fine and all but that’s not what the bowl system is about.

 

[whiskey clear]

Seems silly to punish a kid for not playing in fairly meaningless bowl game. I can’t imagine a player would opt out of a playoff game but even that wouldn’t bug me much. Non playoff bowls are just post season exhibition games and really just a reward for the teams after a long tough season.

 

[smokey_wasp]

Interesting. What is it about the bowls that you like? I used to enjoy the bowl season, but with approximately 40 bowls, it is too diluted. Remove 20-25 of those and the bowl system would be much better. As it stands, too many games between 6-6 and 7-5 teams with a corporate sponsor playing on a tuesday afternoon. Not entertaining for me.

I like the playoff idea of 8--5 conference champs and 3 at-large teams.

Well, I haven't watched any bowls myself this season, but that's more for my own reasons rather than anything wrong with the bowls themselves. Ultimately, if some players don't want to play, fine. The backups can get a leg up on next season. And you will always have teams that are actually motivated to go out and win a trophy. What worries me more are entire teams opting out because of cheap athletic departments. I wonder if they will find flimsy reasons to do so, post-Covid.

 

[gtfan088]

I still watch some bowls here or there, but often you can just tell very early on that one or both teams aren't even really into the game. Hard to care a lot about a game that even the actual participants don't seem to care much about.

It's nice having games to fill out the December days, I suppose.

 

[GTRules]

Wrong. It is just a matter of time before players start opting out of the last few games of the season when they see nothing is at stake. Why risk injury playing UGA when you know you have a good shot at using the portal to Bama if you stay healthy?

Already happened to us this year.

 

[aeromech]

I am all for the team element and anyone who sits out a game for personal gain is an asshole to that element. However, I am personally against it, but that is an issue that should be able to be fixed within the walls of the locker room.

The NCAA screwed the pooch on taking the high road with anything as long as they overlook semi literate players that spend their whole lives as a sacrifice to the football Gods because of their ability to play sports. I mean, it's not just at the collegiate level and I can't lay it all at the NCAA's feet, but these kids are getting left behind and if football doesn't work out, they're ööööed in general. Does the NCAA give a öööö about them? Nope.

So this is my daily diatribe about the NCAA. öööö them.

Are the semi literate players really good for anything else? Those four years of college football may be the best years of their lives, not sure the NCAA should step in and rob them of that. Is the NCAA taking advantage of them, or are the semi literate players taking advantage of the system?

Imagine a world where there was no college football recruiting and no signing day. A world where football coaches had to encourage regular students to go out for football. Would GT be able to field a team?

 

[GTYJ]

Op-outs are pure sell outs. Wishing them the worst in their careers.

 

[joeye]

1) bowl games are no less meaningful then any games played after you’ve been eliminated from national title contention, which is everyone but 15 teams after week 3.

2) NIL becomes less valuable to sponsors when the players don’t appear on the field, so look for NIL contracts to start to build in layered incentives for appearing in bowl games and late season ‘meaningless’ games for eliminated teams.

 

[aeromech]

1) bowl games are no less meaningful then any games played after you’ve been eliminated from national title contention, which is everyone but 15 teams after week 3.

2) NIL becomes less valuable to sponsors when the players don’t appear on the field, so look for NIL contracts to start to build in layered incentives for appearing in bowl games and late season ‘meaningless’ games for eliminated teams.

bowl games are no less meaningful than any games where both teams have been eliminated from national title contention are playing. As bad was we were, if we had knocked off UGA that game would have been meaningful because 1 team was still in contention.

 

[OptionJacket]

1) bowl games are no less meaningful then any games played after you’ve been eliminated from national title contention, which is everyone but 15 teams after week 3.

2) NIL becomes less valuable to sponsors when the players don’t appear on the field, so look for NIL contracts to start to build in layered incentives for appearing in bowl games and late season ‘meaningless’ games for eliminated teams.

Which is why you’ll see opt outs becoming the norm during the regular season. Heck, if I were Gibbs dad he wouldn’t be playing next season at all. He would have already signed with an agent, had deals in place so he could spend his 3rd year training and not destroying his body in a corrupt sport system so fat cats can get fatter.

College football for pro prospects is a tryout. Once you show you got it there is no reason to stick around.

 

[Nehru Jacket]

1) bowl games are no less meaningful then any games played after you’ve been eliminated from national title contention, which is everyone but 15 teams after week 3.

2) NIL becomes less valuable to sponsors when the players don’t appear on the field, so look for NIL contracts to start to build in layered incentives for appearing in bowl games and late season ‘meaningless’ games for eliminated teams.

This becomes the question in which the answer is different from player to player. Why do you continue to give 100% when the game or season is lost. For most players it’s a sense of pride. It’s the same drive that makes them a good player to start with. If a player is only trying hard because of his NIL I’m afraid he can not be counted in when the chips are down.

 

[andrew]

1) bowl games are no less meaningful then any games played after you’ve been eliminated from national title contention, which is everyone but 15 teams after week 3.

I strongly disagree with this.

Conference championships mean a lot. You spend three quarters of the season every year playing teams in your conference and watching the standings to see who's doing the best. Being able to say, "We beat out 13 other teams in our conference over the course of the entire season to become champions" means a lot more than "We beat a random team in the Cheez Whiz bowl", even if it doesn't result in a shot at the national title.

Similarly, rivalry games mean a lot. I know beating U[sic]GA isn't the be-all end-all to every Tech fan, but few would disagree that a win over U[sic]GA with no national title implications would mean a hell of a lot more than a win over a random team in a mid-tier bowl. Even a win over Clemson, FSU, or some other team we've historically played a lot means more to most people than a win in a random bowl game.

The issue with bowls is that there isn't much to give them meaning. You're usually playing a random team who you don't normally play and who you aren't geographically close to. The bowl itself is usually in a random place. While you do kind of earn your spot in a bowl, a lot of the reason you go to a given bowl depends on fanbase size, who gets picked above you, etc. -- so it's not like you can have playing in a certain bowl as a season goal like you can with the conference championship.

There's just not much there for bowls storyline-wise. It's like they exist solely for the purpose of making TV revenue during the holiday season -- which, of course, is the sole reason most of them exist.

 

[GTYJ]

Op-outs are selfish and quitters.

 

[gtfan088]

Op-outs are selfish and quitters.

They are "selfish" in the sense that, yes, they are doing what is best for themselves. Just like coaches who leave before their bowl games. It's hard to find a bowl game out there where at least one coach on either staff hasn't left before the game for a new job.

 

[gtfan088]

I strongly disagree with this.

Conference championships mean a lot. You spend three quarters of the season every year playing teams in your conference and watching the standings to see who's doing the best. Being able to say, "We beat out 13 other teams in our conference over the course of the entire season to become champions" means a lot more than "We beat a random team in the Cheez Whiz bowl", even if it doesn't result in a shot at the national title.

Similarly, rivalry games mean a lot. I know beating U[sic]GA isn't the be-all end-all to every Tech fan, but few would disagree that a win over U[sic]GA with no national title implications would mean a hell of a lot more than a win over a random team in a mid-tier bowl. Even a win over Clemson, FSU, or some other team we've historically played a lot means more to most people than a win in a random bowl game.

The issue with bowls is that there isn't much to give them meaning. You're usually playing a random team who you don't normally play and who you aren't geographically close to. The bowl itself is usually in a random place. While you do kind of earn your spot in a bowl, a lot of the reason you go to a given bowl depends on fanbase size, who gets picked above you, etc. -- so it's not like you can have playing in a certain bowl as a season goal like you can with the conference championship.

There's just not much there for bowls storyline-wise. It's like they exist solely for the purpose of making TV revenue during the holiday season -- which, of course, is the sole reason most of them exist.

Agree. A player coming to Tech comes to play UGA, Clemson, and our division rivals. Those games mean far more to most of them than a December game in Detroit against a middle-of-the-pack Big 10 team.

 

[RoanokeJacket]

Agree. A player coming to Tech comes to play UGA, Clemson, and our division rivals. Those games mean far more to most of them than a December game in Detroit against a middle-of-the-pack Big 10 team.

That used to be the case anyway.

I propose we qualify for one sometime in the next 5 years to see if it is still true.

 

[RussianOffense]

It'd be cool if someone did a fake opt-out to get an advantage