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The past week saw major developments with both the NBA and NCAA, as the amateur sports league announced reforms to allow compensation to student-athletes for use of name and likeness while the G-League — the NBA's minor league system — welcomed elite once-NCAA-bound recruits to the professional ranks. Former San Francisco 49ers, now Michigan Wolverines, head coach Jim Harbaugh thinks the NFL needs to step up to walk in stride with the other North American leagues and revolutionize draft eligibility.
According to a letter obtained by ESPN's Adam Schefter, Harbaugh, the 56-year-old one-time Super Bowl coach for the 49ers, wrote the amateur and professional models for athletes must be disrupted and adapted to the modern era, as the NBA and NCAA pave the way to a new future and the MLB and NHL have already adapted in recent years.
“In my opinion, we are in need of constructive, proactive discussion about the evolving issues facing intercollegiate football. In today's world, many young men and their families perceive college football as preventing them from earning a living as a professional football player. That is not an unreasonable perception given the rules currently in place.”
Jim Harbaugh wants to overhaul the rules of college eligibility of when is the right time to turn pro and enter the draft, as this letter shows. Baseball and hockey already have changed, and basketball is about to change, and Harbaugh wants to empower the student-athlete. pic.twitter.com/lQLb10H8SR
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) May 7, 2020
Harbaugh saw 10 Michigan Wolverine football players taken in the 2020 NFL Draft last month, tied for the second-most along with heated Big Ten rival Ohio State behind reigning college football national champion LSU.
These individuals, like new New Orleans Saints center Cesar Ruiz, had the opportunity to advance for a chance to compete in the NFL and get paid a professional salary due to the training and stage of college football. However, as Harbaugh notes, the amateur track via the NCAA is also preventing present earnings for these student-athletes.
Harbaugh rejoined his alma mater Michigan at the Ann Arbor campus in Dec. 2014 following four seasons with the NFL's 49ers.
