With a House-NCAA settlement on revenue sharing with college athletes waiting approval in April, UTSA faces decisions on how committed it will be.
UTSA beat the odds, and it wasn’t the first time. Five years ago, the Roadrunners had been almost nowhere but the bottom. Four weeks ago, they might have felt even lower, depending on their coach’s definition of “the pits of hell.
” Next month, they’ll play in their fifth consecutive bowl game. It’s the latest unlikely accomplishment in what’s become an impressive string of them, and the Roadrunners should be proud of them all. But in advance of another ground-shaking college football offseason in which programs serious about winning will separate themselves even further from those who pretend to be, UTSA is facing a pivotal decision. Does it want to keep banking on beating the odds? Or does it want to try to tilt them a little more in the Roadrunners’ favor? “We’re going to have to take a look at that big picture view,” coach Jeff Traylor said after UTSA’s bowl-clinching 51-27 victory over Temple at the Alamodome on Friday. “How committed are we going to be?” There’s no need to get cute with euphemisms here: Traylor is talking about money. If the Roadrunners want to keep going to bowl games, they’ll need to spend more. Now that revenue sharing is an integral, court-approved part of college football, schools interested in hanging championship banners had better be willing to share at least a portion of their revenue with the people who are running, throwing, blocking and tackling. And if that reality makes some institutions of higher learning uncomfortable? Well, that’s fine. Just as some people have reasonable objections to eating meat, some have understandable qualms about treating college recruiting like a free-agent market. But the point is, if you’re intent on staying a vegetarian, you probably shouldn’t enter a hot dog eating contest. UTSA is part of college football’s version of that contest now. It made the choice to invest in a lucrative contract extension for Traylor, and it made the choice to jump to a higher, more financially lucrative level of competition in the American Athletic Conference. Both of those moves made perfect sense, but only if the Roadrunners also are willing to reinvest a portion of their increased revenue in roster-building. Per the details of a House-NCAA settlement awaiting final approval in April, schools will be allowed to share up to $20.5 million annually with athletes, beginning next summer. Major-conference powerhouses like Texas and Texas A&M are expected to use the maximum amount each year. Nobody expects UTSA, which still isn’t receiving its full payout from the AAC, to spend anywhere near as much on players as the Longhorns and Aggies do. But unless the Roadrunners want to lose lots of future recruiting battles to conference mates like Memphis, Tulane and North Texas, they’ll need to stay within striking range of whatever those schools are spending. In an interview with On3 last summer, AAC commissioner Tom Pernetti mentioned the possibility of instituting a “salary floor” — some have suggested a number as low as $1 million — that all schools in the league must meet. UTSA, like every other program, will make up its own mind on whether to exceed the minimum, and by how much. The good news is it has a couple of things working in its favor. The first is that so far, at least, the transfer portal has been a net positive for the Roadrunners. Yes, they’ve been raided by bigger programs for a few key players like wide receiver Zakhari Franklin and defensive end Trey Moore , but Traylor’s starting lineups on both sides of the ball are loaded with guys who began their careers at other programs. Just as importantly, UTSA has a luxury most programs — even some of the biggest — do not. The Roadrunners have a quarterback they like, and one they can count on sticking around for a while. As Owen McCown showed on a 75-yard touchdown scamper Friday, he has athleticism to go with his pro-caliber left arm. And thanks in part to the 16 years of NFL paychecks earned by his father, Josh, the Roadrunners aren’t worried about McCown leaving for a better financial offer. On the recruiting trail, Traylor can sell offensive difference-makers on the chance to play the next two seasons with McCown. He can point to a five-year track record as evidence the Roadrunners can win while developing NFL talent. Even so, the pitch gets more difficult if other schools are outbidding him — not only for high school prospects, but also for players already on his roster. “Are we going to be a farm system, and just develop them and let them go?” Traylor asked. “Or are we going to keep them here?” It's not impossible to keep players around without significant revenue sharing, just as making a bowl wasn’t impossible after a brutal loss at Tulsa last month dropped the Roadrunners to 3-5 and sent them to what Traylor called “the pits of hell.” With little margin for error, they managed to find success the hard way. They probably don’t want to make a habit of it.
House NCAA Temple American Athletic Conference Texas A&Amp Longhorns Tulane On3 NFL Ole Miss Roadrunners Jeff Traylor Owen Mccown Tom Pernetti Josh Trey Moore Zakhari Franklin M Aggies Alamodome Texas North Texas Memphis Tulsa Illinois UT
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