The 28-23 Arizona State win over BYU had everything you want in a college football game. There was a big lead, an onside kick, a huge comeback, and plenty of drama and controversy at the end, followed by not one but two field-storming by the Sun Devils faithful. The fun didn't stop there, though, as ASU head coach Kenny Dillingham even pulled out his best Teddy KGB from Rounders impression from the postgame podium.
“I wore this shirt today for the Sun Angel [NIL] Collective for a purpose. Because if you had fun watching him play and make those plays, [the shirt] was there all night … Because it's a different day and age in college football, and if that was something we want to continue to do, then what's that saying? ‘Pay the man his money'…Pay these guys what they deserve to be paid because, right now, our team is underpaid and we're doing more with guys just who got it out the mud. But eventually, you should get what you deserve, and our guys deserve more.”
Kenny Dillingham does his best Teddy KGB impression from Rounders:
“Pay the man his money…Pay these guys what they deserve to be paid because, right now, our team is underpaid. We're doing more with guys who got it out the mud. But eventually, you should get what you deserve.” pic.twitter.com/hxK7N8w2A0
— SunDevilSource.com (@SunDevilSource) November 24, 2024
While the Teddy KGB impression was funny, the point Arizona State football coach Kenny Dillingham is trying to push was just as sinister as the character from Rounders.
It seems like almost everyone can agree that college athletes — especially big-time college football players who put their bodies on the line and rake in millions for their institutions — should be fairly compensated. However, the next debate in college sports is, who should be paying these players?
Right now, with NIL collectives like the Arizona State football Sun Angel Collective, the money is basically coming from fans, be it alumni, local business owners, people who were previously boosters, or just any fan who decides to donate to the cause. But this is still not anywhere near a good or a fair system.
To see a big-name head coach like Dillingham use his postgame platform after Arizona State beat BYU in a massive college football upset to pump fans for more money is pretty disgusting.
These fans have plunked down hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars to bolster the program, attend games, or even just buy gear to show their support. To ask them for even more money now is ridiculous, especially when you consider that Dillingham makes $3.95 million per season and Arizona State makes tens of millions from the football program and has an endowment (basically a college's savings account) of $1.5 billion.
For Dillingham to tell fans that winning football will go away at the schoolif they don't cough up even more cash is absurd, and nearly as bad as the last 100 years while colleges got rich off the backs of student athletes.