Steve Sarkisian Blasts Unqualified NIL Agents, And Roommates, Ahead Of Transfer Portal Chaos

I think it's fair to say that Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian has had enough of negotiating deals with agents who have no clue what they're actually doing for their clients. Three days before the transfer portal opens for college football players, the sport is still dealing with nonsense around NIL. 

At this very moment, there are players leveraging their current school to get better offers from others. Sure, this is a business now in college athletics, but that doesn't mean most coaches have to like the direction this has all taken in the current era. 

"At Its Best": Georgia Is Remembering The Good Of New Orleans, Reflecting On Last Year's Terror Attack

But, if you aren't navigating this transfer portal madness, or at least have a solid foundation of staff members handling it, you're going to get lost in the free agency that now runs the sport. 

And for goodness’ sake, players better make sure they are represented by an actual agent that knows what they are doing. If not, Steve Sarkisian is either going to run laps around you during negotiations, or he's going to not waste his time in dealing with the nonsense. 

"It's one about need. Two, it's about money, the cost and where's the market. And, which agent you're dealing with? There are some agents that are rational," Steve Sarkisian said. "And there's some that this is their first time being an agent. 

"I don't even know if they're licensed to be agents. But all of a sudden, they get to be agents because we have no certification process in college football. In the NFL you have to be certified. In college football, it might be their college roommate their freshman year who's their agent right now."

Yep, that sounds like a coach who has dealt with plenty of guys who have no idea what they are doing. But, at the same time, understands that the current market is going to dictate who they go after in the transfer portal. 

Unfortunately, not much has changed in terms of monetary figures. For a while, some in college athletics thought the market would correct itself, or even stabilize. But, unfortunately for plenty of schools, the numbers keep rising.

This doesn't mean Steve Sarkisian is going to give into every demand, or even agree with a price that is thrown out regarding one player. 

"I'm probably going to be on the phone with an agent today that's going to throw a number at me that I'm like, 'Good luck. I hope you get it. If you don't, call us back.'"

And there it is, recruiting tactic 101 for college athletics. A school like Texas is going to spend money on its roster, but they darn sure are not going to waste it if they don't feel the need to. 

This right here is the NIL era with zero rules behind it. And, it's not going to get better any time soon, unless Congress decides that it's worth jumping into the fray. 

So, when 12 a.m. ET hits on Friday night, prepare for pure madness once again. This time, we only have one transfer portal period to deal with, which means it's about to get pretty wild out here.