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Steve Sarkisian calls out college football's money problem at SEC Spring Meetings

Byington mugby: Alex Byington05/26/26_AlexByington

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian is widely believed to be leading one of college football’s highest-paid rosters in the 2026 season after going all-in on the NCAA Transfer Portal this offseason. But, with estimates suggesting rosters could be teetering toward the $40-50 million range, Sarkisian is also among those sounding the alarm against the proliferation of money on the sport of college football.

During a podium appearance Tuesday on the first day of the 2026 SEC Spring Meetings in Miramar Beach, Fla., Sarkisian bemoaned the “Playoff-or-bust” reality facing coaches and teams all across the FBS. It’s part of that financial pressure that’s behind the widespread support for College Football Playoff expansion.

“It’s challenging, because when I talked about Playoff-or-bust, there’s a lot of money invested now. There’s a lot of money invested from donors, there’s a lot of money invested from fans, there’s a lot of TV money involved – you’re talking billions of dollars,” Sarkisian said Tuesday, according to On3‘s Inside Texas. “And all of a sudden we’re all reliant upon 16 people sitting in a room deciding who’s making the Playoffs and who’s not. The ramifications of that are enormous, and I do think that is something we have to take into consideration, the allocation of money and funds, what we’re doing with our money. We need to be prudent with that.”

And while there will be plenty of discussion this week about whether SEC coaches and administrators stand support the Big Ten-backed 24-team Playoff field, Sarkisian prefers to focus more on a growing push for the SEC to establish formal governance rules around each program’s finances, specifically how it pertains to the way teams utilize NIL and revenue-sharing with regards their rosters.

“Just to want to win a recruiting battle, knowing a young man is probably not going to play for a year or two, that’s not a wise business model. And I think we have to be prudent that way, and understanding that when you look at recruiting, you’re thinking about potential. When you’re looking at retention and the portal, you’re looking at production,” Sarkisian continued. “And those are two different things, so how much are you willing to invest in potential as opposed to how much you’re willing to invest in production. That doesn’t mean we don’t invest in potential, we do, because that’s our core, that’s our lifeline. But, man, we have to make sure we have the right balance in place.”

Of course, with no formal rules explicitly limiting the use of unregulated third-party NIL agreements that have many Power Four teams exceeding 2026-27’s $21.3 million rev-share cap established by last Summer’s House v. NCAA settlement, finding that balance remains effectively unattainable.