The NCAA’s grip on college football has been loosening for years. Former coach Urban Meyer is just the first one to call it out.
The most recent flashpoint was Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss, who secured a sixth season of eligibility after a Mississippi judge overruled the NCAA’s decision to deny his waiver request.
Meyer, who won national championships at Florida and Ohio State before being inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame, has seen enough of the sport’s inner workings to know what that means.
Urban Meyer deems the NCAA to be powerless
Speaking on a recent episode of “The Triple Option” podcast, the Hall of Fame coach did not hold back when addressing the governing body’s repeated failures in court, as players across the country continue seeking injunctions in state courts to bypass NCAA rulings.
“The NCAA, to give them credit, every time they’ve set a penalty, they’ve tried to enforce something,” Meyer said. “They litigate, they go to court and they lose. There is some empathy to understand they don’t have subpoena power. They’re a powerless organization right now.”
Still, the NCAA did pick up a couple of wins on the eligibility front. An Alabama court revoked eligibility for basketball center Charles Bediako, and a Knoxville judge denied Tennessee quarterback Joey Aguilar a preliminary injunction. NCAA spokespeople praised both decisions.
Earlier in February, Meyer played a round of golf with President Donald Trump, Florida governor Ron DeSantis and former Alabama head coach Nick Saban. The group discussed eligibility, NIL and college sports governance. Meyer said the conversations were ongoing but stopped short of endorsing federal oversight as a fix.
“The federal government, to me, can’t get out of its own way,” Meyer said. “I think there’s a lot of people in this country, bipartisan, that want to see some answers to one of the greatest pastimes in the history of our country, that’s college football.”
NCAA eyes rule change, looking for enforcement
The NCAA’s Football Playing Rules Committee meets this week at the NFL Scouting Combine, where it will consider removing the carryover suspension for first-time offenders on second-half targeting penalties.
A 15-yard penalty and ejection would remain. The rule drew attention last season when Miami cornerback Xavier Lucas sat out the first half of the CFP National Championship Game against Indiana for a penalty committed in the Fiesta Bowl semifinal.
Equipment violations are also on the table. Players wearing pants above the thigh, mouthguards dangling off helmets unused, jerseys exposing the midriff, the latter was banned by the NCAA in 2015, and it has already crept back.
The rule exists. Enforcement does not. Game officials, coaches and conferences have all looked the other way. Whether the committee’s proposals this week change any of that remains to be seen.
