Write your search in the input below and press enter.
Esc to close.

The Sports Doc Chalk Talk with Dr. Chris Stankovich

Peak Performance:
Not Just for Sports, for Life

  • Products
    • Toolkits
    • Audio
    • Videos
    • Books
    • Apps
  • Services
  • Chalk Talk
    • Recent
    • Athletes
    • Coaching
    • Sports Parenting
    • Sports Administrators
    • Life
    • Administrators
  • About Dr. Stankovich
  • Testimonials
  • Contact
  • Products
    • Toolkits
    • Audio
    • Books
    • Videos
    • Apps
  • Services
  • Chalk Talk
  • About Dr. Stankovich
  • Testimonials
  • Contact

Hello. Sign In

My Account
  • Login
  • Register
0
The Sports Doc Chalk Talk
Subscribe
The Sports Doc Chalk Talk with Dr. Chris Stankovich
  • Recent
  • Athletes
  • Coaching
  • Sports Parenting
  • Life
  • Administrators
Home / Blog / Bob Stoops Defends Not Paying Paying NCAA Student Athletes, But Not Everyone Agrees

Bob Stoops Defends Not Paying Paying NCAA Student Athletes, But Not Everyone Agrees

By: Dr. Chris Stankovich | @DrStankovich | Apr 11, 2013

No Comments

Oklahoma-Cincinnati_557363a

Oklahoma head football coach Bob Stoops doesn’t believe scholarship D1 student athletes should be paid a stipend, stating:

“I don’t get why people say these guys don’t get paid. It’s simple, they are paid quite often, quite a bit and quite handsomely.” 

Interesting these comments from a guy making over $4 million dollars a year to coach “amateur” NCAA football.  Of course, Stoops is entitled to his opinion and he is not the only one who believes student athletes are already “paid” quite handsomely because of the free education they are afforded — but like most things in life, there are many layers to this debate that also need to be examined.

The easy answer to why student athletes should not receive a stipend is the argument Stoops makes — that is, student athletes already get a “free ride” in addition to countless privileges they receive as being rock stars on campus.  While this may be true, there are many counter-arguments to this position, including the following:

  • D1 student athletes are afforded a free education, but not every SA comes to campus with an appreciation for this trade-off.  In fact, many SA’s (and especially the blue chip players) are coaxed to attend a specific college not for the academics, but for the more direct route to the NFL.  When academics are devalued — or viewed as a “necessary hindrance” as some coaches see it — can you blame student athletes when they, too, devalue the “free ride” they are given?
  • Following the last point, many student athletes are encouraged to major in eligibility classes in order to stay on the field.  Keep in mind college football coaches (including Bob Stoops) get raises for perfect seasons, conference championships, and BCS appearances — not graduating players.  The reality is keeping student athletes eligible is of the utmost importance, which often creates a decreased value for student athletes to choose more pertinent college majors.
  • The message of “you already get a free education” is beginning to be sniffed out by increasingly more student athletes who see their coaches (including many assistant coaches these days) earn $1 million or more dollars a year.  As the gap widens with coach salaries compared to everyone else on campus, student athletes are catching on and seeing that their “trade” is hardly comparable to what coaches make — and, ironically, coaches make these huge salaries exclusively on the backs of the student athletes they recruit.
  • Student athletes also see how their likeness is profited by countless people – but not themselves!  While seemingly everyone around the student athlete makes money off his likeness (i.e. college apparel, video games, etc), the student athlete sees none of this money.

The “you get a free education” argument really only goes so far, especially when it’s been demonstrated that many student athletes (at the very young age of 18) are persuaded (overtly or casually) that it is most important to choose a simple major and instead prioritize the fact that they are the select few to have an opportunity to play football for the school.  The easy comeback to this is “they are young adults and need to be more responsible with the privilege of a free education,” but that argument doesn’t wash for two very important reasons:

1.) Young adults are just that – young.  It’s a shallow argument to assume they are wise enough to make mature, sound decisions when everything is thrown at them as is the case with big time college sports.  Just think what you were doing at 18, and then imagine how you might have responded at this age as you were walked down the “football hall of fame” at XYZ university, where you see all the former greats who later went on to successful NFL careers.  Do you think you might have “drank the kool aid” and focused a lot more on football than you would have school?

2.) The #1 job of compliance is to keep student athletes eligible, which often means finding majors that are most conducive and suitable for the lifestyle of a D1 student athlete.  At risk of offending anyone majoring in traditionally “easy majors” that don’t have much value for a future career, I’ll just say that it’s commonly known there are majors out there that simply keep student athletes eligible, and not necessarily the best to help with a future, non-sports career.  Again, if you were 18 years old and told you could stay eligible by simply taking a couple PE classes, a music appreciation class, and maybe a CPR class, would you fight your adviser in order to take a more rigorous schedule?

I have long wondered what would ever happen if student athletes unionized?  While college athletic departments roll in the dough, student athletes receive a *free* education in return.  But what would happen if there were a union of student athletes who assembled and fought back for equal pay in return for the tens of millions of dollars they generate for their respective universities each year?  And what if these student athletes ever went on strike?  Can you imagine the leverage they would have against the NCAA machine?  The truth is student athletes actually hold all the cards, and the entire NCAA cash cow machine would crumble without their participation.  Perhaps Bob Stoops and others should fear that possibility more than fight against student athletes earning a few measly dollars for their pockets.

www.drstankovich.com

 

 

athletes, bob, free, NCAA, oklahoma, pay, ride, scholarship, stoops, student

  • Author
  • Comments
  • Details
Get to Know the Author

Dr. Chris Stankovich

Dr. Stankovich has written/co-written five books, including Positive Transitions for Student Athletes, The ParentsPlaybook, Mind of Steel.

Latest Blog Posts

  • May 6, 2025 Beyond the Numbers: How Overusing Sport Analytics Can Undermine Expert Judgment
  • April 21, 2025 Juggling Sports and Schedules: The Hidden Costs of Playing Multiple Sports
  • April 17, 2025 Earning Power: College Athletes Aren’t Greedy, They’re Just No Longer Free Labor
  • April 16, 2025 Decoding Intuition: What Happens When We Follow Our Inner Compass?
  • April 8, 2025 Precision, Purpose, Performance: The Psychology of Efficiency in Success

Comments are closed.

PREVIOUS POST

Does Better Sports Equipment Lead to Riskier On-Field Play?

NEXT POST

The Sports Doc Minute on NBC4

Category

Amateur , Athletes , Athletic Department , Coach , Coaching , College , Eligibility , Leadership , Leadership and Role Modeling , NCAA , Off Field Issues , Pro and College Sports , Social Responsibility , Sport Philosophy , Sport Psychology , Sport Sociology , Sports Administrators , Sports Culture and Society , Sports Leadership , Sports Media , Sports Performance Science , Uncategorized , Violations

Tags

athletes, bob, free, NCAA, oklahoma, pay, ride, scholarship, stoops, student

  • Recent Posts
  • Most Read
  • Beyond the Numbers: How Overusing Sport Analytics Can Undermine Expert Judgment
  • Juggling Sports and Schedules: The Hidden Costs of Playing Multiple Sports
  • Earning Power: College Athletes Aren’t Greedy, They’re Just No Longer Free Labor
  • Decoding Intuition: What Happens When We Follow Our Inner Compass?
  • Precision, Purpose, Performance: The Psychology of Efficiency in Success
  • The Importance of Passion & Purpose for Sport Success
  • How Human Arousal Impacts Sport Performance
  • Bouncing Back: How Coaches Can Help Kids Learn from a Tough Loss
  • Learn Sports Fear Reduction with these 5 Psychology Tips
  • Why Does Your Kid Play Great in Practice, but Not in Games?
  • The Sports Doc on TV

    Catch Dr. Stankovich’s tv, radio, and print interviews and columns here!

    Dr. Chris Stankovich Watch Videos
  • Sport Performance Assessment

    Dr. Chris Stankovich Quickly and accurately test your level of mental toughness in just a few minutes using the Sport Performance Assessment.

    (SPA), an easy-to-use sport psychology system specially designed to help you REACH YOUR FULL ATHLETIC POTENTIAL.

    learn more
  • SportsSuccess360

    Life strategies for performance and character development for coaches, parents, and student athletes competing in youth and interscholastic sports.

    Life Strategies learn more
  • Contact Dr. Stankovich

    1207 Grandview Ave., Suite #218, Columbus, OH 43212

    (614) 561-4482

    Media & General Inquiries

    information@drstankovich.com

    Sales & Product Support

    sales@drstankovich.com

  • About Dr. Stankovich

    • Media
    • Blog
    • Testimonials
  • Products

    • Toolkits
    • Videos
    • Books
    • Audio
    • iPhone Apps
  • Services

    • Athlete Performance Training
    • Parent Community Forum
    • Coach Education & Development
    • Athletic Crisis Response and Intervention
    • Drug & Alcohol Assessment
    • Life Success Programs
    • Counseling & Consulting Services
  • Blog
  • YouTube
  • twitter
  • facebook

All rights reserved © 2025 Advanced Human Performance Systems™

↓ ↓