Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh is not backing down on his stance regarding compensation for college athletes. Following the national championship game, Harbaugh took to the microphone once again to address the NCAA and its policy on paying players.
“The organizations are fighting hard to keep all the money. The universities, the NCAA, the conferences. It's long past time to let the student athletes share in the ever-increasing revenues,” Harbaugh said, per The Athletic.
Harbaugh has long expressed his views that the NCAA and university athletics needs to do more to share revenue with the college athletes who play in the games. When asked by a reporter if he would meet with NCAA President Charlie Baker to discuss his views, Harbaugh didn't exactly shy away from the matter.
“I think they know my number,” Jim Harbaugh added. It's the second time in the last week that Harbaugh has advocated for revenue-sharing policies.
NCAA President Charlie Baker put out a proposal in December that would reform college athletics and allow universities to put money together each year into a trust that would pay athletes. Student-athletes could also negotiate name, image and likeness deals directly with schools, which is a shift from the current model that uses collectives to facilitate NIL transactions. Schools would even be allowed to play in another athletics subdivision if they agree to those terms. The Division I Board of Directors is expected to take up Baker's proposal this week at the NCAA Convention in Phoenix, per CBS Sports.
Harbaugh clearly feels passionately about the topic, and it's possible his words will move hearts and minds. The NCAA is already dealing with lawsuits regarding compensation of athletes.