The final approval hearing for the House vs. NCAA settlement will happen next week on April 7. The settlement was first approved last October. If it passes, NCAA schools that join the agreement will be able to pay their athletes directly. There will be a spending limit, estimated to be around $20-22 million for the 2025-26 season, according to the University of Cincinnati.
Before the hearing, Georgia football coach Kirby Smart shared his thoughts on the changes in college football and how the settlement could affect the NCAA.
“Everyone is nervous because we don’t know exactly what will happen,” Smart said this week.
Smart supports athletes getting paid, but he is worried that people will find ways to take advantage of the system. He is also unsure if the new rules will make competition fairer in the NCAA.
“There are a lot of people doing things that aren’t illegal, but they are using money in tricky ways to move funds around,” Smart said. “What will happen? There could be a big financial spike or bubble. Agents will try to take advantage of this as much as possible, getting the most money for their clients. But in the end, it might backfire. At some point, when the spending cap is enforced, the market will correct itself.”
He continued, “We’re trying to create fair competition, but unfortunately, I don’t know if this settlement will actually do that.”
Smart is most concerned that these changes won’t truly help athletes in the long run.
“Kids will struggle in the next 10 years,” Smart said. “Later, when people look back, they’ll see that many players who transferred two, three, or four times didn’t end up in a good place. I believe the transfer portal is helpful for older players who have been in college for three, four, or five years. But for younger players, it gives them an easy way out, which isn’t always good for their future. Right now, the system isn’t working well for anyone.”
Despite all the uncertainty, Smart and Georgia will continue to recruit players who care about more than just money.
“What I do know is that we will keep recruiting athletes who love football and are passionate about the game—not just focused on money,” Smart said. “I’ve never seen a great player who only cared about money.”
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