Pete Carroll does not think college players need to be paid

Pete Carroll has always been viewed as a players’ coach, that’s why some may have found his thoughts on college athletes being paid to be surprising.

California has recently passed a bill (SB 206) that would allow college athletes to profit off their image or likeness. Whether college athletes should be paid has been a topic of debate for years, and now California is moving forward to make a change.

Carroll, who from 2001-2009 was wildly successful as USC’s head football coach and now coaches the Seattle Seahawks, said Wednesday he does not think the college athletes need to be paid.

Here's Pete Carroll's full quote regarding California's proposed law that would allow college athletes to be paid for their likeness: pic.twitter.com/iMnKWVfrEF

— Joe Fann (@Joe_Fann) September 18, 2019

Carroll is correct: student-athletes get a much better deal than most people who are complaining realize. They get free education to schools like USC, that otherwise would cost perhaps a quarter-million dollars to attend (and where parents pay hundreds of thousands in potential bribes). They get books, athletic clothing, gear, food, and housing paid for. They even get monetary stipends. Sure, they may struggle with expenses, but that is standard for college students who are spending most of their hours studying and attending classes rather than working; it’s not limited to athletes.

While I do believe college athletes should be allowed to capitalize on their fame through such potential deals, I think that revenue should be put into escrow accounts until two years after an athlete last played for a team or two years after their freshman class has graduated, whichever comes later. There still needs to be some protections against these young people squandering their money and being influenced by it while in school. I also would not allow these athletes to be represented by agents in negotiating these deals but would rather run things through the school. Agents working to force NBA and NFL players out of contracts is already a major headache in pro sports. Can you imagine what would happen in college sports too if you allow agents to start getting involved with these players?

Like Mike Leach and others have said, there will be a lot of unintended consequences. Maybe the gap between competitive and non-competitive teams will widen due to these pay opportunities. Maybe college sports — which many view as a more pure option to the money-focused pro sports — will be ruined. We may eventually see the consequences if this law gets enacted across the country.