Kyle Whittingham’s arrival at Michigan comes amid college football’s first full offseason with revenue-sharing. The rev-share era began in June 2025 when the House settlement received full approval, paving the way for schools to directly pay layers while also allowing third-party NIL opportunities. Shortly after Whittingham’s hire, Michigan’s NIL efforts ramped up. But as he […]
Kyle Whittingham’s arrival at Michigan comes amid college football’s first full offseason with revenue-sharing. The rev-share era began in June 2025 when the House settlement received full approval, paving the way for schools to directly pay layers while also allowing third-party NIL opportunities.
Shortly after Whittingham’s hire, Michigan’s NIL efforts ramped up. But as he looks at the current landscape, he sees the need for major changes.
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Whittingham called for a “complete overhaul” of the college athletics space. Whether it’s through collective bargaining or making athletes employees – both ideas that have been discussed the last few years – he argued the current setup with rev-share will be difficult to sustain.
“We’ve had some of our boosters and supporters step up,” Whittingham told Urban Meyer of Michigan’s NIL investment on The Triple Option. “We have made a lot of progress in that regard. You’re right. It’s a different world.
“I don’t think this model is sustainable, first of all. I think it’s got to have a complete overhaul. It’s going to have to turn into a, sort of, NFL minor league with a salary cap, collective bargaining agreement, players becoming employees. I just don’t see any other way around it because the roster money, I mean, it goes up 15, 20% every year. It’s to the point now where it just cannot be sustained.”
Under the House settlement, schools can directly share up to $20.5 million with athletes. But the CSC recently announced changes to its rev-share guidance with regard to scholarship counting. Now, schools can use an additional $2.5 million for rev-share, which was previously set aside just for scholarships. However, they will incur a 20% fine for however much is used.
But with revenue-sharing in effect, conversations continue to take place about the current model. Collective bargaining is one potential solution to be floated, and Tennessee athletics director Danny White continues to voice his support. He did so this week on The Mike Keith Show.
“Players value leadership and continuity in the locker room. In my conversations with leaders of our teams and nationally,” White said. “I think people would be surprised to hear that a lot of the things we as fans, as administrators, as coaches want, the players want (that) too.
“They want their piece of the pie. The revenue’s gotten so significant and they deserve a piece of the pie. We got to organize it though. And I think the way to do that is through collective bargaining.”
Category: General Sports
