In life, things often change in a hurry as the DOOR SWINGS BOTH WAYS. Take a look…

…for decades, the big-time college sports schools probably paid their athletes outside of the scholarship to attend the school with no tuition, no payment on food, no payment for medical attention, etc, etc. It was thought to be the best approach for decades. But, it’s been changing gradually for years now. With the introduction of the NIL money (payment for Name, Image, Likeness) by boosters (initially), the bar was knocked down. The monetary incentives in major college sports has now seen the DOOR SWING BOTH WAYS.

… Now, payments to college players is out in the open. Direct payment by schools to star athletes for their services on the field/court has been approved by the NCAA. So, in 2025, the NCAA took a stronger approach as it marked a new era for college athletics. For the first time, student-athletes are compensated directly by their schools for their athletic talent, creating opportunities that go beyond scholarships and NIL deals. It’s not a complete SWING because schools/players/ agents STILL don’t permit the DOOR TO SWING BOTH WAYS as they don’t provide us with the exact amount of cash going to these professionals. (I can’t call them amateurs any longer).

… Seemingly, the constant shuffling between school to school continues to shift towards “professional” athletes playing college ball. As of July 1, 2025, Division I schools started distributing a portion of their athletics-generated revenue directly to athletes. This drastic shift in policy, marks the 1st time that schools can legally pay athletes using institutional revenue rather than limiting compensation to scholarships or third-party NIL deals or…the “under the table” deals that many suspect put money into players pockets.

…Sooo…some of your tax dollars are being used to pay directly talented athletes, who seemingly, jump schools on a whim. Or worse yet…from school to school to widen their wallet while taxpayers who pay those athletes continue to see their ticket prices rise!  Seemingly, THE DOOR IS WIDE OPEN for these players as they SWING from 1 campus to the next w/o any qualms or restrictions as they put lots of money into their pockets (and their agents)😊 !

…With the DOOR swinging heavily towards the athletes, my question is …how many of these athletes are actually students?  Meaning, how many of them are actually taking the minimum of 15 hours/semester and receiving a 2.0 gpa or higher? (That was the criteria used during Vietnam War Days to receive an academic exemption from the military draft for that year).

…Further, students jump from school to school as the DOOR CONSTANTLY SEEMS OPEN. The 1-year “sit out” requirement for transfers was removed a while ago. Since then the flood-gates have been broken down for transfers who SWING DOORS to new schools almost yearly.

… You’ll will see a QB in his 4^th/5^th year at the same school (or maybe his 2^nd/3^rd school) with some of those players being 24, 25 years old (yet still in college). Don’t we need an age limit for a college player? It seems to me that a return to the 1 year transfer rule of sitting out a year when a player transfers from D-1 to D-1 school would help “put on the “skids” on these yearly transfers. But…don’t hold your breath….none of that will happen. The Schools & Players are making too much money to let the DOOR CLOSE!

…I think in the future, the feelings/treatment of MAJOR  SPORTS SCHOOLS  may go another direction.  At some point, schools will return to being educational institutions, not sports “production facilities” who “bring in” athletes (who in some cases are NON students) to win games.

…If you want to watch true amateur sports at the collegiate level, watch D-2 or D-3 level teams. In St Louis, Univ of Missouri-St Louis(UMSL) is a D-2 team with solid teams and very good coaching. You may watch them in M-W soccer, M-W basketball, Softball, Baseball in home games. Check them out some time!

….Two more very significant SWINGING BOTH WAYS…that startled many fans…

…Bill Belechick, who was ranked by many as the best NFL coach in recent years, had a MAJOR SWING as he accepted the College Head Coaching Position @ N.Carolina prior to 2025 season, despite NEVER coaching college football in his career. Immediately, he became the oldest active college football coach at 73 years old. His debut season (2025) was described as a “rollercoaster” (that’s putting it mildly…some others might say , “it was terrible”) as N.Carolina was 4-8 for the season. It was truly a rocky start as he lost the opening game 48-14 with many celebrities in the stands including Michael Jordan and Lawrence Taylor. Belechick still faces challenges of SWINGING THE DOOR OPEN TO WINS. There’s no doubt that he knew NFL football. Most expected that the step down to collegiate football would be easy. Well…maybe the strategy is similar – getting good matchups on off vs def lines & wr vs dbacks, etc are usually the emphasis. Question is, can his RECRUITING DOOR BE WIDE OPEN? Or, do the 18 year old HS Seniors see him as their grandpa?

…The door was SWINGING IN A TOTALLY DIRECTION this year @ Indiana. Traditionally a basketball school, Head Football Coach Curt Cignetti led Indiana to its 1^st National Title in Football.  Indiana was picked pre-season by the writers for 6^th place in the Big 10…oops.. Big 18! Instead, the DOOR WAS ABLE TO SWING IN A TOTALLY DIFFERENT DIRECTION under Cignetti– no one saw it coming. Holding a 3-0 mark after 3 cupcake games to open the season, still no one thought much of them. A dominating win in week 4 against Illinois 63-10 still didn’t bring much attention. Week 5- a late come-from-behind win over Iowa as Indy took their 1^st lead in the 2^nd half in the 4^th quarter with just 1:28 remaining saw them reach #11 in the National Poll.

… Finally, THE DOOR WAS SWINGING WIDE OPEN  as many fans noticed Indy (now #7 in USA) when they went to Eugene Oregon to face #3 ranked Oregon(now in the same conference) and won 30-20. That win saw them jump all the way up to #3 in the rankings. An easy 38-13 win the following week over Michigan State followed

…The DOOR SEEMED WIDE OPEN as 3 consecutive HUGE blow-outs over UCLA , Maryland & Michigan State followed. By this time,  In week 10, Indiana edged Penn State on a pass from QB Fernando Mendoza to WR Cooper Omar, JR for a 7 yd TD pass with only 0:36 left on the clock to win the game!! Clearly that win opened the eyes of most voters and fans. 2 easy wins followed over Wisconsin & Purdue setting up the Conference Championship Game against Ohio State.

 …Then Indy really KICKED THE DOOR DOWN when they knocked off the Buckeyes 13-10 in a defensive battle. There were NO points scored in the 4^th quarter by either team. A 13-10 score in this era of college football is really, really an amazingly low score. Indiana really brought the spotlight on themselves as they snapped a 30 game losing streak to the Buckeyes! It was their 1^st Big 10 outright football title since 1945!!!

…How big was the DOOR SWINGING OPEN TO A TITLE? Check out some of these startling stats on Indy football.  Before this year Indiana had the MOST losses in college football history. Across 125 seasons before Curt Cignetti was hired in December 2023, none of its 23 coaches left the program with a winning conference record. Only twice had the Hoosiers claimed at least a share of the Big Ten title, most recently a three-way tie in 1967. For decades, Indy football fell short due to administrative dysfunction, low football revenue, poor recruiting with a department emphasis placed on men’s basketball. These factors turned Indiana football into a team to “beat up on” in football by other Big 10 teams for decades.

…But, the 2025 season saw a different Indiana team in conference as they BANGED THE DOOR DOWN.  These statistics illustrate the point– Points per game-41.9, 4^th in conference; Yards per play-7.09-T-7^th in conference; Third-down conversion %-55.8- 1^st in conference; Points allowed per game-10.8-2^nd in league; Yards allowed per game-257.2-4^th in conference; Turnover margin-Plus-17!! – Tied for #1 in Big 10.

… Then….the biggest game of Indiana football history …. The win over Miami in the NCAA Championship game was a terrific college football game. Both teams were very talented, aggressive, and evenly matched.  Indy’s Fernando Mendoza bulldozed his way into the end zone for the winning score and Indiana bullied its way into the history books as they knocked off Miami 27-21 to put the finishing touch on their rags-to-riches story, an undefeated season, and the national title as they KNOCKED THE DOOR DOWN COMPLETELY  about Indy being only a basketball school!!

…Coach Curt Cignetti richly deserves huge accolades. He’s really a story in itself.  He arrived at Indy after Indy had won a total of 9 football games in the 3 previous seasons!! In his 1^st year (last year), he led the Hoosiers to a 1^st round game in the NCAA Football Championship Tourney!!( That achievement was largely over looked by national sports writers) This OPENED THE DOOR as only 1 other Indy coach done–putting together back-back winning seasons.  It was last done in 1993-94 seasons!  He was able to SWING THE DOOR WIDE OPEN as he moved Indy from so-so program (I’m being very generous here!) to VERY, VERY GOOD national program!

• Cignetti is a PROVEN that he can OPEN THE DOOR to winning! He has won 14 of the 17 national Coach of the year awards in his career.

…This past recruiting season, his class was listed as #14 in the USA!  Sooo…the DOOR IS GOING TO STAY OPEN to wins in the future for Coach Cignetti.

• He is the only Indiana head Football coach to begin his head coaching tenure 4-0 or better and his 11 wins set the mark for wins by a first-year IU head coach, previously held by James M. Sheldon (8 wins in 1905). 120 YEARS AGO!! Sooo… we’re all seeing the DOOR GET TOTALLY KICKED DOWN @ Indy by Coach Cignetti.

…Well, the DOOR IS SHUTTING ON ME now!! See you next week! Your thoughts/comments are always invited. Send to me or post directly on my Face Book Page-Bob Ryan.   Thanks for your read!  Bob