As the SEC spring meetings continue on, Texas A&M head coach Mike Elko has certainly let his comments be heard. When first asked about the potential expansion of the College Football Playoff, Elko gave the most honest answer he could. Of course, an expansion would be good for the coaches because it allows them the ability to keep their jobs the more they make the playoff.
The expansion wasn't the only thing Elko shared his thoughts on, though. Elko also shared some pretty strong words on how the highest level of college football has no enforcement of rules.
"How about a billinaire dollar industry has a CEO?" Elko said.
Texas A&M's Mike Elko frustrated that there is no enforcement of rules at the highest level of college football: "How about a billionaire dollar industry has a CEO?"
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) May 26, 2026
Mike Elko believes NIL will bankrupt college football college football
While the potential of a College Football Playoff expansion has taken over the world of college football, Elko believes there are bigger problems that should be discussed, especially at SEC spring meetings.
If we don’t find a way to create some level of regulation in the market, a lot of people are going to go bankrupt pretty quick,” Elko told On3’s Pete Nakos. “We’re two and a half years away from having an NIL budget that’s greater than the TV revenue for our entire university.”
Elko honestly is speaking the truth when it comes to NIL regulations. There are no real checks and balances when it comes to the money universities are giving out to teenagers and kids in their early 20s. The numbers seem to keep going up year after year, and when is it going to stop?
There are teams like Texas Tech, Ohio State, Michigan, Texas, and other high-dollar revenue schools that are spending double, triple, and even quadruple what other programs are. At some point, there is going to have to be some sort of cap put on what teams can spend, or this will turn into the MLB, and the big market schools will continue to run college football.
Elko knows what it is like to have money and not have money. Coming from Duke, the majority of the money goes to the basketball team, while at Texas A&M, football gets the lump sum. The SEC is talking about going forward with a conference-wide governance model that will rule for NIL and revenue-sharing, which is exactly what Elko believes the entirety of college football needs.
There have been conversations on college football having a commissioner like all the major sports, and at this point, with the money being spent, it is an idea that needs to be seriously considered. Even though college sports shouldn't be treated as a professional sport, there needs to be some sort of check on teams and conferences when it comes to spending this kind of money. These are colleges after all, a place to get an education and a degree.
Add us as a preferred source on Google