SPOKANE, Wash. — No timetable, rules or really ideas were put forward on Tuesday but, nonetheless, the NCAA made the announcement that at some point in the next few years college athletes will be able to profit from their name, image and likeness.
Now, we're checking in to see how our local coaches feel about their athletes getting paid.
MIKE LEACH
Leach went viral a few months ago when he spoke on this issue. The reason he went viral was for going after the state of California and saying that maybe they should worry about cleaning up their streets before passing a law about paying NCAA student-athletes.
But before he went on that rant, he did talk about the challenges it could bring to college athletics, including recruiting, and what happens if you don't like something your player is promoting and thus making money from:
"If you create a recruiting advantage, beyond what already exists, I think it’s going to be very difficult," Leach said. "I think there will be a huge imbalance and you’ll destroy college football. I think they’ve got to be very careful of that."
"The other thing, if you can do stuff like that, I mean surely if you don’t like the way the guy’s portraying something you should be able to cut him on the spot I would think," he said. "Then of course, then are we going to have a draft, then are we going to have trading, then are we going to have free agency? I mean how far does all this stuff go? I think we’ve got to be careful with that. Maybe we ought to have minor league football and then those guys can do whatever they want."
It's clear that Leach is not in favor of student-athletes getting paid.
MARK FEW
Just how Leach went viral for his thoughts about the California law, so did Mark Few. At one point during his answer about the law to Stadium's Jeff Goodman, Few said that the California governor "has got a state that borders Mexico and [he should] get that mess figured out."
That did not go over well in some people's eyes.
However, if you listen later during his answer, it seems that Few is definitely in favor of student-athletes getting compensated and points to one particular former Gonzaga player as an example:
"If there was a way we could monetize likeness and regulate it in a way to keep a fair playing field for everybody then I’m all for it," said Few. "I probably have, of the two guys, who could’ve made a lot of money last year, everybody thinks Zion— Let me tell you something, Rui… and I would’ve been all for it and I am all for it."
Few may be giving a tentative yes to a rule change here.
AARON BEST
Out of all of these coaches, Best's program will be impacted the least by this rule change as Eastern is an FCS school and thus just doesn't have the national exposure that places like Gonzaga or Washington State do.
TKREM asked Best what he thought of the implementation of a new rule. It's clear he remains undecided:
"I’m going to have to take some more time because I just saw the same thing you saw," Best said. "The same thing I do at home, I don’t speak unless I’ve got a little bit more data, a little bit more knowledge in terms of not putting both feet in my mouth at the same time. I did see that but it was just a spoonful so I’ll read more into it. I’ll let Coach Leach and company take over that sector of things."