Kyle Whittingham didn’t exactly hide where he stands on the current state of college football.
Speaking during Big Ten media days, the Michigan head coach laid out his concerns about NIL, the rising cost of building a roster, and what he believes has to happen next if the sport is going to stay afloat in its current form. Along the way, he also slipped in a pointed line that seemed to land with Ohio State in mind.
Whittingham said the sport needs a major reset, and he wants it to look more like the NFL in concept. He pointed to the financial side of roster building and made clear he sees the current setup as headed in an unsustainable direction.
“Well, the sky's not the limit for everybody. But I believe, Lane Kiffin, I think that's a good concept. I believe we've got to have a salary cap,” Whittingham said.
i believe in an NFL minor league model for college football is in its best interest. Maybe not exactly item for item, but in concept, you know, conceptually. And I can tell you right now, with NIL rising 20, 30, 40 percent a year.”
That’s the reality coaches are dealing with now: recruiting the roster they have and the one they still need, while NIL money keeps climbing. Whittingham framed it as a system without enough structure, and he said the sport can’t keep moving this way for much longer.
“it's not sustainable to stay on the path we're on right now. It just can't. Except for maybe Ohio,” Whittingham said.
“I guess that's the ones that can. But it's something that there's no guardrails.
There's no parameters. And so, I believe there's got to be a seismic change in college football.
And I think there will be in the next two, three, four years. And part of that will be getting a handle on this, the NIL and the salary cap.”
The Ohio line stood out. Whittingham has a relationship with former Ohio State coach Urban Meyer, and Ryan Day now sits in that chair. So while he didn’t name Day directly, the message was hard to miss.
Whittingham’s comments fit the broader conversation around college football right now, where coaches and schools are still trying to figure out how to operate in a landscape that keeps shifting under their feet.
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