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Cutting the roster to 105

This is professional football. Two select Powers To Be are dictating roster size, salaries, and total free agency. The inmates are running the asylum. The 5 smaller conferences are a feeder system to the 4 preselected conferences. If you can't cut it at the 4 selected conferences, move down a level, play a couple of seasons, and move back up... THIS is not college football. Give it about 5-6 years and the newness will wear off and the numbers will tumble, the money will slow down, and the only relevance of what used to be a season will be 5 weeks in November and December.
What? College football is not professional football lol. Put down the bottle.
 
But if there is money set aside for full or partial scholly, what is full scholarship valued at? Do the state schools get to award in state tuition amounts for in state players on the roster?
If so, the private schools are at a disadvantage. Also, the state schools with the most in state talent would have a big advantage, like state schools in California, Texas, Georgia, Ohio, Florida, etc
Hope all these details are worked out fairly, which I am sure they won’t be
This is the way it has always been. Tommie Frazier's scholarship was calculated at the outstate rate while Ahman Green's was "worth" less. There are people in the university's financial aid office and athletics compliance office whose job it is to calculate these sort of things. Then the university bills the athletic department. The amounts vary from year to year.
Also, nobody is required to give any grant $ at all to any players, and some simply won't be able to afford it. Like I said, the rich will get richer
 
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Will many NCAA teams begin to have a "practice squad" or something similar.? Those players won't be on the official 105 roster but would be held in some sort of reserve capacity. They could still get some NIL deal as compensation (cost of attendance) for being associated with the team but not on the 105. What is stopping them from being able to attend team meetings, do film study, and have access to workout facilities. If a player on the 105 gets injured, or decides to transfer, they get replaced by the practice squad player.
 
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What? College football is not professional football lol. Put down the bottle.
Describe the difference! I'll wait.

There is none. Webster's definition of a professional: participating for gain or livelihood in an activity or field of endeavor often engaged in by amateurs (previously known as college football)

Players are now compensated in cash and taxed for play. The NFL, UFL, and Arena leagues pay money for players, they have free agency, and a commissioner (The Select 2) for unity purposes. Their tuition and books are also paid for; how much total compensation is that worth at the end of 4-5 years?

So, please explain the difference...
 
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If Rhule is smart and truly embraces a CEO role he will see these changes as an opportunity. He can upgrade and overhaul the staff while flipping the roster with a mix of high school players and transfers. It’s essentially a new lease on life for his tenure here if he plays his cards right in the offseason.
 
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This is the way it has always been. Tommie Frazier's scholarship was calculated at the outstate rate while Ahman Green's was "worth" less. There are people in the university's financial aid office and athletics compliance office whose job it is to calculate these sort of things. Then the university bills the athletic department. The amounts vary from year to year.
Also, nobody is required to give any grant $ at all to any players, and some simply won't be able to afford it. Like I said, the rich will get richer
With the NIL dollars already available to pay players, how does it matter to programs that are already rich?
 
I believe that all of our walk ons have received the cost of attendance for the past year. That's nothing to sneeze at regardless of what the final rules are on this roster reduction. It sounds like there's some things that still have to be worked out and I suspect lots of schools are going to express concern about this. 105 guys is still a large number of guys but what is going to be more important than ever is finding mature P5 ready transfers to fill roster holes. Then how many QBs and centers for instance do you carry on your roster. We've seen teams go through 5 QBs due to injuries this year. There's not going to be as much room at programs like NU for projects. In some ways, it's going to make things easier for our staff and we might not need as many assistants as we have right now. Other than the feel good stories of the local kids walking on, this shouldn't really affect NU all that much in the long run. That new locker room is going to seem awfully empty next year.
1. No
2. Yes, its hypocritical of the ncaa to say we care about safety yadda and then tell schools to play more games with less roster. Its hard to practice effectively in week 10 let alone 13 and walk ons are valuable for that.
3. It will affect NU in the long run. I get the arguments that the roster is too big, but nebraska enjoyed walk on success that other universities did not, and many former players would not ever have been at NU if this rule was in place.
 
Describe the difference! I'll wait.

There is none. Webster's definition of a professional: participating for gain or livelihood in an activity or field of endeavor often engaged in by amateurs (previously known as college football)

Players are now compensated in cash and taxed for play. The NFL, UFL, and Arena leagues pay money for players, they have free agency, and a commissioner (The Select 2) for unity purposes. Their tuition and books are also paid for; how much total compensation is that worth at the end of 4-5 years?

So, please explain the difference...
Jesus, we are this far into the right to NIL compensation (as mandated 9-0 by the US Supreme Court) and some fans are still confused?

Professional players are drafted and sign an employment contract which sets forth all manner of rights, rules, and restrictions applicable to the employer (c/o the labor union) and the employee (c/o the employer). Start there.
 
Jesus, we are this far into the right to NIL compensation (as mandated 9-0 by the US Supreme Court) and some fans are still confused?

Professional players are drafted and sign an employment contract which sets forth all manner of rights, rules, and restrictions applicable to the employer (c/o the labor union) and the employee (c/o the employer). Start there.
a college football/basketball players union is not far off
 
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Jesus, we are this far into the right to NIL compensation (as mandated 9-0 by the US Supreme Court) and some fans are still confused?

Professional players are drafted and sign an employment contract which sets forth all manner of rights, rules, and restrictions applicable to the employer (c/o the labor union) and the employee (c/o the employer). Start there.
These have nothing to do with what a professional is. These are terms of agreement between employer and employee. Since the courts are involved, these rights or terms of agreement will be hashed out soon by the universities (Employers) and players (Employees). How you select or get drafted where you play is moot. If the universities get on the hook for the players being employees, this will raise the costs by about 40%-50% due to insurance, FICA, unemployment, workers' compensation, withholding, and union contracts. This will force many schools to drop football.
 
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These have nothing to do with what a professional is. These are terms of agreement between employer and employee. Since the courts are involved, these rights or terms of agreement will be hashed out soon by the universities (Employers) and players (Employees). How you select or get drafted where you play is moot. If the universities get on the hook for the players being employees, this will raise the costs by about 40%-50% due to insurance, FICA, unemployment, workers' compensation, withholding, and union contracts. This will force many schools to drop football.
College football players are not employees. NIL compensation is a privately contracted arrangement independent of the college. Just about everything you posted above is speculative, at best.

You started this exchange by boldly proclaiming that “college football is dead” in light of the fact that it is demonstrably more popular and more lucrative now than at any other point in the history of the sport. It’s not dead.
 
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College football players are not employees. NIL compensation is a privately contracted arrangement independent of the college. Just about everything you posted above is speculative, at best.

You started this exchange by boldly proclaiming that “college football is dead” in light of the fact that it is demonstrably more popular and more lucrative now than at any other point in the history of the sport. It’s not dead.
I know they are not employees (probably will be soon). College football is , was, to be played by amatures. The players are no longer amatures, they are professionals now. Colleges previously would have football players for 4-5, develop them, knowing they would be there. Fans knew the rosters and watched the team develop. Players can transfer as many times as they want, and the top tier athletes prostitute themselves to the highest bidder. Universities in the B1G must honor their scholarships for 4 years, but now the players can leave when they want... I will say it again: this is not college football.
 
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College football players are not employees. NIL compensation is a privately contracted arrangement independent of the college. Just about everything you posted above is speculative, at best.

You started this exchange by boldly proclaiming that “college football is dead” in light of the fact that it is demonstrably more popular and more lucrative now than at any other point in the history of the sport. It’s not dead.
while they operate independently, NIL collectives, which pay the lion's share of collegiate athletes, are affiliated with their respective universities.

that line is much more blurry than you make it out to be.
 
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Will many NCAA teams begin to have a "practice squad" or something similar.? Those players won't be on the official 105 roster but would be held in some sort of reserve capacity. They could still get some NIL deal as compensation (cost of attendance) for being associated with the team but not on the 105. What is stopping them from being able to attend team meetings, do film study, and have access to workout facilities. If a player on the 105 gets injured, or decides to transfer, they get replaced by the practice squad player.
The good news is 105 gets you 4 deep at EVERY position....theoretically
 
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This is going to be a good thing for Nebraska football. Nebraska needs to be focused in every respect, and I don't believe there is any way to efficiently coach a roster of 150+ players. Guys who could be "developed" are getting lost in the shuffle. I guarantee multiple points this season Rhule has thought "damn, I forgot about that guy" or maybe even "who the hell is this guy?" Sure, we might lose a few guys who could have eventually contributed, but that will be more than offset by focusing on a smaller number and getting them the reps and coaching that is so critical. I'm glad the NCAA is making a decision that we're too dumb to make ourselves.


Couldn't agree more. I understand the love for the walk on program but at this point I don't think the juice was worth the squeeze.. imo we reached that a long time ago.

Hate it for the kids. But I actually think our coached and staff will quietly be fine with this.



Holla
 
Will many NCAA teams begin to have a "practice squad" or something similar.? Those players won't be on the official 105 roster but would be held in some sort of reserve capacity. They could still get some NIL deal as compensation (cost of attendance) for being associated with the team but not on the 105. What is stopping them from being able to attend team meetings, do film study, and have access to workout facilities. If a player on the 105 gets injured, or decides to transfer, they get replaced by the practice squad player.
Not allowed. Once a student-atlete takes part in any athletically-related activity, he counts as a member of the team. Such activities include practice and required team meetings.

105 is a lot of players. How many times does the 104th guy get into a game? Rarely. Still plenty of bodies for practice. Teams will adjust and be fine.

Tom Osborne lamented when scholarships were cut from 95 to 85 that it would end college football as we knew it. Obviously didn't happen. This won't kill it either
 
Not allowed. Once a student-atlete takes part in any athletically-related activity, he counts as a member of the team. Such activities include practice and required team meetings.

105 is a lot of players. How many times does the 104th guy get into a game? Rarely. Still plenty of bodies for practice. Teams will adjust and be fine.

Tom Osborne lamented when scholarships were cut from 95 to 85 that it would end college football as we knew it. Obviously didn't happen. This won't kill it either
PS. And you can still have a walk-on program. Just invite players to be part of the 105 man roster and don't offer them any aid. Ta-da! A walk-on.

Also, anyone demonizing the NCAA over this is way off base. These initiatives are presented to the member schools by a school or a conference, then put to a vote. Nobody in Indianapolis is sitting around doing this
 
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Couldn't agree more. I understand the love for the walk on program but at this point I don't think the juice was worth the squeeze.. imo we reached that a long time ago.

Hate it for the kids. But I actually think our coached and staff will quietly be fine with this.



Holla
Probably better for most of them to go to lower tier programs and hit the portal later if they prove they can play.
 
This is going to cost hundreds of kids the chance to have college paid for by NIL support. There's going to be a lot of high schoolers who would have had a shot at a scholarship at the D2 level to end up at lower levels as those D1 kids flood FCS and D2 programs.
I bet a fair number of the Nebraska kids just finish things out in Lincoln and give up football.
 
An overly large roster of players doesn't seem to have benefitted us in quite a few years.
Back in the day, we had an oversized roster due to the JV team. Having kids play a JV season as freshmen, redshirt their sophomore year and play on the scout team. That's where the numbers were. The JV team practiced separately. After a year on the scout team, probably half of each class dropped off the roster. As I recall, there really weren't all that many walk-ons who stuck around long. So the only people lost in the shuffle were really only those 2nd year kids who were scout team & redshirting.

The way it works today sounds like a cluster-- far too many kids, too crowded, less productive practices.
 
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Most of our walkons are going to find homes if they want at FCS or D2 programs. It sucks but if they want to keep playing they can. The kids that are going to lose out are the D2 kids. IF I’m a D2 program I’m not signing many if any high schoolers this winter.
Don't bet on it. I would say that most of our walkons are NOT going to find a home at FCS or D2. First of all, it is debatable that our 4th teamers would be attractive additions to any FCS team under normal circumstances. But this situation is different as many schools are going to be cutting loose guys at the same time. It's going to be much tougher to hook on with a team. Some will try to land at Wayne State or Kearney State. If the coaches already know them from HS, they'll have a shot there. But how many spots do those schools have open?
 
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LOL, no.

Record attendance
Record viewership
Record revenues

College football is very much alive. More people are attending, watching, and paying for the product than ever before.

The addition of a playoff format will make this season -by far- the largest and most successful season in college football history.
Sure there's a product that resembles college football with a lot of money involved. It's semi-pro football played on college campuses in the traditional uniforms.
 
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I'd tend to blame Congress for this more than the NCAA, but regardless, the crusty old ****s on rules committees can't help but get their greasy hands involved in changes like this. Be damned the consequences and long term implications of their own decisions. These geriatric ****s have done nothing else with their lives and this is their only shot to make an impact. They don't give the slightest shit whether the changes are actually positive or negative, just as long as they get to put their name on something and feel accomplished.

Because if they did give a shit, you'd think that at least one of them would have caught that the average roster size is well above 120. And that they were ruining opportunities for 20+ kids on each roster to be a part of major college football, and which often have much bigger and better schools and degree programs for those student-athletes.
 
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So the new era of roster limits may effectively kill the idea of the dual sport athlete that wants to keep competing in a spring sport opposite the football season, albeit rare.
Also, I’m guessing HCMR and the AD will trim staff that was previously needed to help manage a 150+ roster and now no longer necessary for 105.??
 
Describe the difference! I'll wait.

There is none. Webster's definition of a professional: participating for gain or livelihood in an activity or field of endeavor often engaged in by amateurs (previously known as college football)

Players are now compensated in cash and taxed for play. The NFL, UFL, and Arena leagues pay money for players, they have free agency, and a commissioner (The Select 2) for unity purposes. Their tuition and books are also paid for; how much total compensation is that worth at the end of 4-5 years?

So, please explain the difference...
I tend to agree with you. Last week at the game my brother chatted with the father of an offensive tackle at Wisconsin. He told my brother his son gets 32k deposited in his account every month. The more elite players like Raiola get much much more. The vast majority of these kids will never see that kind of paycheck after they leave Nebraska - as this particular kid is making close to $400k a year. That’s roughly the type of salary some Drs make (what is that - about 8 years of school)?

I talked to the owner of a Husker Hounds’ manager about a month ago. He said he tried to get Dylan to come sign autographs for 2 hours. Dylan’s agent or representative asked how much money that the HH mgr was thinking he’d pay Dylan to do this. The Mgr sad $15k (for 2 hours). The Mgr told me that would have been the most he’s ever paid a player to do an autograph session. DR’s rep came back and said “they wouldn’t do it for anything less than 50k” (for 2 hours).

Let’s face it many of these kids are making much more than most of us when the hit campus at age 18 while we adults have Bachelors and Masters and Doctorate degrees + many years of experience in the workforce.

This isn’t the NFL…but it is pro football. LOTS of money involved now. One difference - with the transfer portal college football is the Wild Wild West right now. The NFL has contracts and forbids other teams from soliciting players that have contracts and forbids players to get out of their contracts without repercussion. There are rules.
 
Don't bet on it. I would say that most of our walkons are NOT going to find a home at FCS or D2. First of all, it is debatable that our 4th teamers would be attractive additions to any FCS team under normal circumstances. But this situation is different as many schools are going to be cutting loose guys at the same time. It's going to be much tougher to hook on with a team. Some will try to land at Wayne State or Kearney State. If the coaches already know them from HS, they'll have a shot there. But how many spots do those schools have open?
IF our walk ons can’t find a spot on a D2 roster they shouldn’t be on ours. The ones that want to keep playing can find a spot.
 
IF our walk ons can’t find a spot on a D2 roster they shouldn’t be on ours. The ones that want to keep playing can find a spot.


I kinda lean this way also. If we are being honest today's roster of 150 players isn't nearly as talented as it was back in the days. A lot of those guys from back then might very well have been at the Dakota schools for example. Lot of truly talented walking. I don't think we have close to that level of talent on this current roster from walkons.

I understand the value they bring to a team. The hard working attitude. The grindinding day in a and day out mentality. I don't think that's changed much from back in the days. However I do think the talent level of those guys and the ability to help on the field has dramatically dropped off.

We will likely miss the stories and the work ethics mostly. On the field though I think it's mostly sentimental. You probably couldn't be a Nebraska fan from Nebraska and not have someone from the walk on program who has known one of those kids and their stories and how it's touched you.

I hate it for the kids mostly. If the coaches are OK with it and the university is OK with it I'm not sure why the "tight asses" even café. Hopefully those lesser talented guys land on their feet. Even some of the scholarship guys we have are gonna have trouble landing somewhere imo. That's when I'm kinda with you. If you ate on scholarship at Nebraska and can't get a d2 gig then we don't need you on the roster anyways.

Earlier this year I talked about the PK Alvano. How if you couldn't be counted on to make a 35 yd fg then you shouldn't be on scholarship at a school like Nebraska. I still feel that way. I know it's hard but this limit is gonna make coaches make some tough decisions. Kohl has improved a ton and seems almost reliable. If in the next couple games he continues that trajectory would it be fair to keep Alvano on scholarship and have him still paying for his his education? Would he get offers somewhere else? Just thinking out loud. I know the politics behind possibly "moving on" from a scholarship kicker from maybe the premier school in the state and how that would look. Just rambling and thinking out loud.

Coaches have some tough calls to make...



Holla
 
I kinda lean this way also. If we are being honest today's roster of 150 players isn't nearly as talented as it was back in the days. A lot of those guys from back then might very well have been at the Dakota schools for example. Lot of truly talented walking. I don't think we have close to that level of talent on this current roster from walkons.
It's hard to say. We've had some players make it and become key contributors. But overall, I'd say it's as much caused by a lack of development in the program under Frost, Riley, Pelini, Callahan (can't improve much in practice watching from the sideline) and lack of opportunity as it is lack of talent. And the reason I say that is because the scholarship players ahead of them were also not as good as the standard used to be.
Earlier this year I talked about the PK Alvano. How if you couldn't be counted on to make a 35 yd fg then you shouldn't be on scholarship at a school like Nebraska. I still feel that way. I know it's hard but this limit is gonna make coaches make some tough decisions. Kohl has improved a ton and seems almost reliable. If in the next couple games he continues that trajectory would it be fair to keep Alvano on scholarship and have him still paying for his his education? Would he get offers somewhere else? Just thinking out loud. I know the politics behind possibly "moving on" from a scholarship kicker from maybe the premier school in the state and how that would look. Just rambling and thinking out loud.
They will keep Alvano. On a 105 roster, you've got to have at least two kickers and two punters. The NFL keeps one of both but this ain't the NFL. The NFL cuts down to half that, 53, so they only keep one kicker. But they have practice squad players and free agents. If a college team is dumb enough to only keep one kicker, heaven help them if the kid gets hurt or gets the yips.
 
IF our walk ons can’t find a spot on a D2 roster they shouldn’t be on ours. The ones that want to keep playing can find a spot.
Walk ons that don't pan out haven't stayed on our roster very long either. Never have.

If it were me, I would love to take on transfers from NU especially if my program was struggling. This is especially true of D-II and NAIA. Or maybe a couple young guys bounce over to Iowa Western. But as far as anything above that, I think back to the UNI coach's comment after playing us which, read between the lines, he wasn't impressed with Nebraska. I'm not sure how many of his own kids he's gonna cut in order to bring in our 4th and 5th teamers. And Northern Iowa went 3-9.
 
Walk ons that don't pan out haven't stayed on our roster very long either. Never have.

If it were me, I would love to take on transfers from NU especially if my program was struggling. This is especially true of D-II and NAIA. Or maybe a couple young guys bounce over to Iowa Western. But as far as anything above that, I think back to the UNI coach's comment after playing us which, read between the lines, he wasn't impressed with Nebraska. I'm not sure how many of his own kids he's gonna cut in order to bring in our 4th and 5th teamers. And Northern Iowa went 3-9.
That UNI coach was talking out of his ass. That said, he's coached against some pretty good P5 teams and the Dakota schools so he's seen NFL talent. We're sorely lacking that in our back 7 on defense in several spots. I continue to be amazed at the number of NFL TEs there are who played at the Dakota schools. Green Bay's TE from South Dakota State looked really good last night.
 
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I kinda lean this way also. If we are being honest today's roster of 150 players isn't nearly as talented as it was back in the days. A lot of those guys from back then might very well have been at the Dakota schools for example. Lot of truly talented walking. I don't think we have close to that level of talent on this current roster from walkons.

I understand the value they bring to a team. The hard working attitude. The grindinding day in a and day out mentality. I don't think that's changed much from back in the days. However I do think the talent level of those guys and the ability to help on the field has dramatically dropped off.

We will likely miss the stories and the work ethics mostly. On the field though I think it's mostly sentimental. You probably couldn't be a Nebraska fan from Nebraska and not have someone from the walk on program who has known one of those kids and their stories and how it's touched you.

I hate it for the kids mostly. If the coaches are OK with it and the university is OK with it I'm not sure why the "tight asses" even café. Hopefully those lesser talented guys land on their feet. Even some of the scholarship guys we have are gonna have trouble landing somewhere imo. That's when I'm kinda with you. If you ate on scholarship at Nebraska and can't get a d2 gig then we don't need you on the roster anyways.

Earlier this year I talked about the PK Alvano. How if you couldn't be counted on to make a 35 yd fg then you shouldn't be on scholarship at a school like Nebraska. I still feel that way. I know it's hard but this limit is gonna make coaches make some tough decisions. Kohl has improved a ton and seems almost reliable. If in the next couple games he continues that trajectory would it be fair to keep Alvano on scholarship and have him still paying for his his education? Would he get offers somewhere else? Just thinking out loud. I know the politics behind possibly "moving on" from a scholarship kicker from maybe the premier school in the state and how that would look. Just rambling and thinking out loud.

Coaches have some tough calls to make...



Holla
The guy who is going to find himself on the outside looking in is the scholarship guy who has trouble making the fall 105 right now because of his attitude or work ethic. There's going to be some guys who get injured who are given the option of going on a medical ship or leaving.
 
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