RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 2 sourcesJul 30, 2026; Chicago, IL, USA; Michigan Football head coach Kyle Wittingham speaks during Big Ten Media Days at Hilton Chicago. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Michigan head coach Kyle Whittingham spoke at Big Ten Football Media Days in Chicago on Thursday, and he explained why there needs to be a “seismic change” to the college football landscape in the coming years.
NIL has completely changed college athletics in recent years, and a lack of rules and regulations on player compensation have made for an uneven playing field across the country. Whittingham believes there needs to be more restrictions in place.
“There’s no guardrails and there’s no parameters,” Whittingham said. “So I believe there has to be a seismic change in college football, and I think there will be in the next 2-4 years. Part of that will be getting a handle on NIL and a salary cap.”
Adding restrictions to what schools can and can’t do with NIL, and implementing a salary cap similar to the NFL — limiting how much programs can spend on a yearly basis — would go a long way in bringing a sense of balance to the sport.
Money has always been the driving force in college athletics, and it always will. But now that paying players is legal and out in the open, there needs to be regulations put in place so that every program is forced to follow the same guidelines.
“The sky’s not the limit for everybody,” Whittingham said. “I believe we have to have a salary cap, and an NFL minor league model for college football is in its best interest. It’s not sustainable to stay on the path we’re on right now.”
Whittingham believes NIL spending is rising at an unsustainable rate, noting that some of the top-tier programs are currently spending as much as $40 million per year. That will very likely only continue to increase unless a salary cap is installed.
The financial disparity between the wealthiest programs and the rest of the country is a serious threat to the future of college football. That’s due to the rise of spending having no end in sight — unless the NCAA and/or the U.S. government steps in and creates an NFL-like model.
In order to fix college football’s spending problem before it’s too late, Whittingham thinks implementing a collective bargaining agreement, unions, roster budgets and salary caps similarly to the NFL will be beneficial for all parties involved.
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