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First think -- CFB will NEVER have a level player, as in, ever. It will always be the have and the have nots. What NIL has done is spread out the elite recruits, as it isn't feasible to pay a fortune for all of them. So they spread out, like Dante Moore going to UCLA, Nico going to Tennessee, Raiola going to Nebraska, Mauigoa going to Miami, McClain to Colorado. These 5 stars kid wouldn't have sniffed those schools prior to NIL and the Portal.Not every school. Only the ones that can afford them. You claim it levels the playing field. Top schools like the majors that have big names, will have major collectives. Smaller schools will only have enough to maybe land one, maybe two mid tier players, or one top name player, if they are going to spend on players in positions of need that they desperately need. You might see a top flight receiver go to a group of 5 team, but he will be nestled among normal group of 5 talent. He will look like a standout, but when his team doesnt win like he wants, he will shop his wares to team B in a power 5. Now this kid comes in, where he was once a star among space dust, and he is nestled in a galaxy of stars and his star doesnt shine as brightly. At some point, these kids will see this for what it is, and not sign with the smaller schools, because yet again, the rich get richer and the scraps are left for the middle and lower class. What you are describing when you claim it will level the field is sort of a trickle down theory of economics. Its not going to trickle down, and all boats wont rise, only the more sound boats will rise, the rest will still be bailing water as they always have
The rich will continue to be rich, they just won't be as rich as they were in the past. The 2nd tier teams will be able to sign some guys they wouldn't have had a shot to sign prior to NIL. They will also be able to go on runs where they compete with the rich. I'm a die hard Michigan fan, I don't consider Michigan in the top tier for the select few elite teams, like Bama and Georgia. But the portal has allowed UM to compete with them, as they could fill holes on their team and we won a national title this past year.
I really want to believe Saban was 'worried about the development' of the kids, but it kind of contradicts his actions when he argued against coaches being able to help out in football camps, because the camps were in the south.
Reality is -- CFB is unbelievably skewed in favor of a select few schools. The coaches at those schools don't want anything to change, because it gives them an ENORMOUS advantage. It is why those coaches bounced from school to school to get to one of the select few schools. The playing field in CFB will never be level, but NIL and the portal has closed the gap ever so slightly.