I’ve been saying this for a long time and the NCAA investigation at Michigan and Coach Tressel’s and Doug Worthington’s followup comments do nothing but reinforce the idea.
It’s simple. Students go to college to prepare for a career. The ability to prepare a student for the selected career plays a significant factor in the selection process. While at college, students prepare for their selected career by studying (often pulling all nighters) to meet the demands of their chosen major. To pretend that this is somehow different with college football is absurd. Ohio State has long been a training ground for the NFL and Ohio State’s NFL draft record plays a significant role when it comes to recruiting.
In yesterday’s presser, when asked about the NCAA charges leveled against Michigan, Tressel commented that we wouldn’t prevent the med. students from studying in the library. In the same vein, we need to let the players train. Tressel also clarified that while it is not required, it is sometimes difficult to keep the players out of the weight room or practice field. And isn’t that what makes a 4.0 student–dedication to the selected major and the willingness to put in the work needed to succeed? The only difference is that the football players aren’t allowed to declare “Professional Sports” as a major.
College sports (especially football) have reached a level where it is foolish to pretend that the athletes come to the school to study something other then football. Sure, some may do very well in other academic classes and yes, there are some who have aspirations outside of the NFL but why deny those with professional aspirations. Colleges need to develop an academic program that prepares students for a career in professional sports.
Think about this for a moment. Curriculum would include legal classes in contract negotiations and business classes/finance classes geared to the professional athlete — often a very young, overnight millionaire. The program would also include courses such as sports broadcasting, front office operations and coaching for athletes who either don’t make it to the pros or face career ending injuries.
And the clincher…make it a four-year program but the fourth year is taught during the off season so an athlete can still finish his degree even though he went pro after three years.
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Seems as though 4-6 players each year have a shot at pro sports. If another 10 get a degree in pro sports then they made a bad decision that leaves them no second option.
No. Not at all. There are plenty of off field careers in professional sports. The idea is that along with training for an on field career, the program also trains for alternative careers in the realm of professional sports. (ie. broadcasting, marketing, management, coaching, etc).
The student chooses a track such as “football/broadcasting,” “Hockey/management”
Agreed- and I would even add the following:
Ensure that they get free degrees (even after they’ve left to go pro, the get to come and finish on the University’s dime). I’d even go as far as to say if they graduate while playing their sport, they should be eligible for another (another BA, a Masters, whatever).
Again, this would only work for the “revenue” sports- Football, Men’s/Women’s basketball, but it would go a long way toward 1) creating equity regarding the money athletics brings in, 2) creating a vibrant alumni base, and 3) empowering athletes with opportunities to impact society beyond what they can do on the field/court.
So Mali, not sure if I’m reading you…sarcastic?
Either way, the players get a free degree (if they choose to finish) as it is. Why not let them major in a degree they are interested in pursuing and one that leads them to their chosen career.
Yeah, it only works for the revenue sports but then again, there’s not a lot of professionalism outside of the revenue sports. Although it could work in other sports also. Ohio State has trained a number of Olympians in sports such as swimming, wrestling, etc. It is very difficult to make a living at the Olympic “amature” sports. How about a curriculum that helps students make a career out of these pursuits also.
I especially agree with your bottom 3 points. Especially when the concept of paying student athletes arises.
I’m with you on this. Imagine the recruiting boon Ohio State and the Big Ten would gain over other conferences by instructing these “fallback” skills, allowing those B-level players to use the experience they gain on the field in broadcasting, journalism, coaching or assistant coaching. It’s a great idea whose time has come.
Excellent insight!
Even the Ivy League teams might aspire to more than just winning the first game in the NAAC. And it could still work in the non-revenue sports, given flexibility in the minors. I see parallels in curricula like Musical Theater and the other performance arts — Music and Dance for example.
Jim, I think that’s a hell of a good idea.
Or maybe even winning the second game in the NCAA and knocking off a Big Ten team in the process.