Welcome to the end of college football as we know it

He went to junior college first. After his first year, his current university brought him to campus a few times for recruiting purposes, but they didn't end up making him an offer because of his grades. A year later, his grades were up, and he got an offer from that university.

At this university, bad grades will cause you to be dropped from the team and lose your scholarship, no matter how big a star you are. They drill this into the players and make it clear that they owe it to their teammates to keep their grades up. I didn't expect that, and I assume it's far from universal at this level, but I'm glad to see it.

It's also a great opportunity for my nephew. He and his parents don't have the resources for an education of this caliber (his parents are both teachers), but he is getting it because of football. And he's getting much more active support in that education (through things like the tutoring mentioned above). He'd love to play professionally. Now that he's the wise old age of 20, he understands how low the odds are, and he's making sure he gets an education that will lead to opportunities for a good non-athletic career. Not all of his teammates have that clarity, but he says a lot of them do. One of his teammates graduated before his football eligibility was used up, so he's now getting a master’s degree.

You can argue that it's not fair that football players get so many more resources thrown at them. But at this level, they are a huge source of funding for the university. Through things I've heard from his coaches (I've been lucky enough to meet the head coach, the offensive coordinator, and a few others), my guess is that the university brings in somewhere in the neighborhood of $100M/year from football and spends something like 30% of that on football and support for the players. That 30% is seen as protecting the rest of the $100M (if the team doesn't do well, that money is at risk). These numbers are for a university that is not a perennial top 20 team, so I'm sure the numbers can be significantly higher for the top football programs.

On the other hand, "amateur" leagues for popular sports (football, basketball) being associated with colleges is extremely effective at amplifying the interest of these leagues. Consider how little interest there would be in the "Ann Arbor Wolverines" vs "Columbus Buckeyes" in the USFL without any association with schools and their alumni, or whether anyone outside a 20-mile radius would watch Durham vs Chapel Hill if they played in the NBA's G-league.

> 1. Most athletes take fewer and easier classes during their season

This only makes sense if the goal of academia is to get students to pass tests, rather than to get them to learn.

Odds are low, but not zero, especially if he is at a power 5 school.

I have a relative who was in the nfl until recently. Some (summarized) comments from him:

- Focus on technique. There can be substantial differences in size, strength, and skill in college such that sloppy technique can often get the job done. Not so in the NFL. Good technique and good ability to be coached will an asset.

- Focus on good technique in the weight room. This will both develop the right kind of strength and lower risk of injury. Good flexibility via stretching and yoga are also an important part of strength training.

- Get nutrition right asap. This includes moderation of drinking and junk food. There will be people who can help with this.

- Don’t settle for good enough. Most of the future NFL guys are so good that the opponent has to plan around them specifically. Be that thorn in the opposition’s side.

> my guess is that the university brings in somewhere in the neighborhood of $100M/year from football and spends something like 30% of that on football and support for the players. That 30% is seen as protecting the rest of the $100M

Yep.

What many people don’t realize is that revenue from football and basketball fund or cover funding gaps for all of the other sports at the bigger schools.

Not to mention that alumni donations and quality of applicants increase when the high profile teams do well. Simple example, the University of Alabama has seen a substantial increase in out-of-state applicants since Saban arrived.

Best of luck to your nephew, and I hope he makes it to the NFL.

The sooner it dies, the better.