I'm not trying to patronize you but you may be sensing a little bit of frustration in my tone because I feel like I'm repeating myself over and over and the point I'm trying to convey is not landing and it might not even be anybody's fault but my own. I apologize if that's the case. I also appreciate the discussion.
In soccer and baseball and many other sports that make the kinds of money that college football in America makes high school talent of the highest caliber is being guaranteed 7 and 8 digits
This is straight out of high school without ever taking a professional at bat without ever riding a factory bike without ever hitting a jump shot with a NBA caliber player in their face etc etc
So there is precedent for investing multi-millions in very green/raw prospective talent. The fact that most of these prospects don't fully reach their potential or ever return a single dollar on their investment doesn't change the fact that their fair market value is still worth millions of dollars as a top prospect.
It's up to the institutions to figure out what the fair market value is for prospective talent based on the revenues and profits in the sport and to invest accordingly. The risk that the prospect completely flames out is built into their cost
Unfortunately I don't even think any of this is on Notre Dame's radar. the operation feels like it's being ran out of a neighborhood high school back in the 1960s sometimes and the results on the field over the last 30 years is a testament to that
The frustration is mutual. I do understand your viewpoint. That players have value at all different levels, and there are players which values that far exceed a $12M cap. True.
Where we differ is college football is very different than any other sport. It is a 3-4 year max contract, different than any sport you’ve mentioned. Also, my hesitation on paying someone like underwood now, is not that players aren’t worth the money, it’s if these players can necessarily be identified as early as Underwood was. Possibly the most valuable college player in the last 10-12 years was Johnny Manziel, he’s someone who would never have been valued high until after recruiting.
To your last point, when someone like Ellison comes in, true market value no longer matters. They can just overspend with no issue. $10M to someone with $230B is not the same as $10M to any institution.
I don’t think we need to keep arguing our points, simply two different views on when players values are known.
