Nick Saban sure knows how to grab a headline. Commenting last week on the proliferation of rouge agents that are willing to get coaches and athletic programs in hot water with the NCAA by funneling money to NFL eligible players, Saban said, “Agents that do this, I hate to say this, but how are they any better than a pimp? I have no respect for people who do that to young people, none.”
Pressure needs to come from the NFLPA on the agents by threatening decertification, and using outside “marketers”, such as Lloyd Lake and Michael Michaels in the Reggie Bush case, to get around that issue, laws should be enacted in States that currently don’t have the Uniform Athlete Agents Act. The UAAA puts fines in place for those that try to pass themselves off as representing players without certification.
But, simply put, the NCAA really holds all of the cards in preventing the agent from performing illegal acts which can affect a player’s eligibility. What you are seeing now with the likes of Reggie Bush is coaches are scared to lose their star players before the start of the season through suspension.
In the past, the NCAA efforts were always after the season was completed and the player and/or coaches have moved on to the pro level. At that stage, once out of the prevue of the NCAA, these individuals have continually denied any wrong doing, and have, in most cases, skirted penalties, leaving the university programs to take the hit (at least Reggie Bush has to give up his Heisman!).
This concerted effort to catch the agent or “marketer” before the season resonates throughout college football. As a friend of the NCAA for over 40 years (coach, academic advisor, compliance officer, athletic director, and agent), I love all the attention the industry is receiving right now. When I became an agent 17 years ago, many of my colleagues were skeptical of my motives to join an industry which has a reputation of being a little shady. As the cliché goes, one bad apple can spoil the whole bunch. I can assure you there are some very ethical agents in the industry but I do feel we need more. I have always said you cannot legislate integrity but you can attract people with ethical foundation, teach them the NCAA rules and how to illuminate their ethical compass.
Shining light on the problems will help clean up the industry and provide painful consequences to coaches and alumni for the loss of eligibility of their star players, which will eventually get the stakeholders of college football to assist the NCAA in preventing these violations from occurring.
