The college sports landscape has changed dramatically over the last three years, with NIL and the Portal being two of the biggest transformers for athletes and programs alike.
While shifting power to the players, the two have made life difficult for coaches as their job now includes player compensation, poaching and playing defense against poaching.
But Grambling head football coach Mickey Josephy has a good suggestion that could help everyone involved.
Compensate programs for players lost to other teams through the portal.
“We understand. I think the kids understand if they’re here and if they’re sophomores and they have a big year, and a Group of 5 or Power 5 [team] approaches them and they have the finances to pull them out of there, and I can’t match the finances, then you know what? They’re going to go. That’s part of it,” said Joseph. “The coach has been doing it for years, so we shouldn’t get mad as coaches when these kids make decisions to take care of their family. It’s like I said, I’m going to say it again, coaches have been doing it for years. But I also think there needs to be a buyout if they move up. If they move up from me and go to a Group of 5 or Power 5, I should get some kind of compensation for that. So, NCAA, if you’re listening to me, I need a buy out.”
First off, Joseph acknowledged what most have been frustratingly pointing out for years in that coaches can leave programs with no issue or recourse, yet players might have to sit out a season or have other unfair requirements placed on them if they transfer.
But the point about compensation makes sense, and history tells us that it’s a good suggestion.
You only need to look back at the Negro Leagues for proof.
The Negro Leagues featured some of the greatest talents in baseball history. Up until the 1930s, players like Rube Foster, Bill Foster, Oscar Charleston and Turkey Stearnes dominated the diamond, and fans flocked to the games to see these players during the barnstorming days.
But as word spread about the amazing talent in the Negro Leagues, particularly in the 1940s with players like Jackie Robinson, Josh Gibson and Satchell Paige leading the way, it was only a matter of time before Major League Baseball came poking around.
In 1945, the Brooklyn Dodgers snatched away Jackie Robinson, and two years later history was made when Jackie broke MLB’s color barrier.
That move signaled the end of the Negro Leagues because once the door was opened to Black players, the once-popular Negro Leagues were poached of talent and eventually disappeared altogether.
The worst part was that Negro League teams lost major talent without any compensation, like the Kansas City Monarchs when the Dodgers poached Robinson away.
It was a frustrating moment and movement that Newark Eagles owner Effa Manley spoke out about, as MLB teams were able to poach Negro League players without offering any compensation to the teams.
Fast forward 80 years and Grambling’s Mickey Joseph, a Black coach running a football program at a Black school, brought up the same issue, only this time it impacts all coaches, not just Black ones.
Manley was vocal about the practice of stealing players away with no discussion or even a rental fee similar to soccer teams. Not only was she frustrated about the lack of compensation, but she also understood that the practice could lead to the demise of the Negro Leagues, which it eventually did.
Joseph has taken a page from Manley’s book and applied it to a new problem that is causing headaches for coaches and programs across the country.
If programs are going to invest in players and raise money through collectives to recruit players, then those programs should be compensated if the player leaves for another program.
Hopefully, the NCAA pays heed to what Manley was saying way back in 1945 and takes action so that an equitable solution is derived. Otherwise, it could lead to the demise of smaller programs like HBCU schools.
And if you don’t think that could happen, you should read up on the Negro Leagues and watch the news to see what’s happening in the U.S. right now.
