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As name, image and likeness (NIL) deals have taken over college sports, player movement and coach movement have become as frantic as ever.
Former NFL agent Ben Dogra said the NCAA is not doing its job and that the colleges are unable to rule themselves, which he said is why there are talks of Congress getting involved.
“I always think less government is better. You shouldn’t have government involved unless you need it. I don’t think they should be involved. But who’s going to be involved? The NCAA clearly isn’t doing their job. And you can’t have these colleges ruling themselves,” Dogra told Fox News Digital in a recent interview.
Dogra referenced Washington quarterback Demond Williams Jr. reversing his decision to transfer as his $4 million deal rocked the program.
“It’s going to be hard to penalize these players for transferring because it’s a business, and they have the prerogative to move from school to school,” Dogra said. “It’s no different than the coaches. The coaches are doing the same thing. I find it very fascinating that at the University of Washington, the quarterback who signed for $4 million was going to give it up and go someplace else for ($6 million.)”
Dogra said that head coach Jedd Fisch wasn’t happy about the prospect of losing Williams to the transfer portal, but that Fisch himself was looking at other jobs.
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“The head coach wasn’t very happy about it, but that’s the same head coach, Jedd Fisch, that wanted the job at Florida and wanted the job at Michigan. So, isn’t what’s good for the goose good for the gander? And so, now you bring the kid back because you threaten a lawsuit because he broke the contract. Well, do you want that player on in your locker room? Is he going to be happy playing for the University of Washington? So, you have to be really careful. You might be killing your own culture because why couldn’t the kid transfer and break the contract if the coaches are? It’s called a buyout,” Dogra said.
Dogra then wondered whether, in a situation like that, contracts are enforced across state lines.
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“Are those contracts going to be enforceable from state to state? Who’s really regulating them? So, unless you have something that’s uniform across the board, and I think that’s where they’re talking about Congress getting involved, we really don’t know much until there is a test case and we haven’t had a major test case,” he said.
Dogra referenced Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney ripping into Ole Miss head coach Pete Golding for trying to poach his players. The former agent said navigating NIL is like the Wild West.
Dogra represented Adrian Peterson, Patrick Willis, Mario Williams and Richard Sherman in his career.
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