Which do you think our coaches hate more (and why)?
The Portal???
NIL???
Both we are at a disadvantage in both with bigger schools
NIL and the Portal have really changed college sports, and not exactly in a good way for smaller schools like Miami. Feels like anymore, the minute a kid turns into a really good player, the bigger schools swoop in with more money, nicer facilities, and bigger-time exposure, and they’re gone. Smaller programs do all the developing, then somebody else cashes in on it.
Meanwhile, schools like Miami are still trying to keep up, so they end up paying decent money to kids that maybe aren’t game-changers just to fill out a roster and stay competitive. It’s hard to build any kind of continuity when half your team can leave every offseason. Coaches basically have to recruit their own locker room year round now.
And honestly, you can see it on the field. Teams used to stay together for a few years, build chemistry, know how to handle pressure situations. Now it feels like every season is starting over from scratch. The bigger schools keep getting stronger, and the smaller schools are left trying to patch things together and hope for the best.
I haven’t heard a single coach (but I guess there are recruiting reasons not to) say they don’t want their guys to get paid. Even Steele has said he was happy for his guys who left to get paid (even though he’d obviously prefer if we could pay them that). Chuck has expressed similar sentiments.
Coaches, both big school and Miami level, hate the portal (which is a stand in for unlimited free agency). NIL is obviously a factor in the portal, as if a guy/girl has a right to get paid, they need to have a right to some mobility. But the current every year total free agency, where coaches need to re-recruit and negotiate their entire roster every year, is unsustainable. Listen to Coach Martin talk about the work he’s had to do the last two years. There needs to be something done on the portal. It doesn’t necessarily need to go back to only 1 transfer allowed, but something needs to change.
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Maybe I am wrong, but I’d say NIL. In theory with the portal you can recruit and and sell prospects on the school and opportunity. With NIL, its all about the money which entails full support of the university and continuous fundraising, building revenue and “finding” money and then the huge problem of not bringing in enough money. I think I would lose sleep over when the money will dry up. The portal you can build relationships and find guys for your system.
Its worth noting, that in the true NIL/portal era (really the last 2 years), Miami football, men’s hoops, and women’s hoops are all 3 arguably the best positioned programs in the MAC.
Men’s basketball has the two winningest seasons ever. Women’s hoops had the best season they’ve had in years (ever?) and won the MAC regular season and tournament. Football has made 3 consecutive MAC title games. I honestly don’t know how much NIL/portal is a factor in hockey or baseball as those are way out of my wheel house but both of those are trending in the right direction with baseball also being competitive at the top of the MAC. Also field hockey but again, no idea if there’s any new era type money there.
Whatever the true factor is, its hard to argue that most Miami coaches haven’t reaped conference level success, despite some of the pessimism on what it means for the separation between power schools and everyone else.
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I would think coaches probably hate the portal more, but as a fan NIL irritates me more.
The portal seems like it could be easily solved by allowing 1 free transfer, a free transfer if your coach leaves/gets fired, and then after that it back to sitting out one year.
Unsure on the fix of NIL, but the basic premise for what was originally being fought for seems to be long thrown out the window and has completely devolved into the wild Wild West.
Think we all can agree Dabo fucking hates it