Steve Spurrier on realignment: 'I'm sad for the student-athletes'

Legendary college football coach Steve Spurrier isn’t quite a fan of conference realignment, especially as of late.

With major moves by the Big Ten and Big 12 this month, it’s all but destroyed the Pac-12 going into 2024. Spurrier is fascinated by these country-wide conferences, but took issue with the perception student-athletes weren’t considered more with these realignment decisions.

Spurrier chalked it all up to the almighty dollar.

“Yeah, I’m sad for the student athletes,” Spurrier said on Open Mike. “You know? It seems as if money’s the only thing that these conference commissioners and athletic directors want to look at. I noticed one of the women soccer players, I think it was at either Oregon or Washington and said, one reason I chose this school is because my parents can come watch me play. Some of them will be playing games halfway across the country. 

“They’re not gonna get to watch. But yeah, they don’t consult with the athletes about what decision to make and it just seems like money is the only thing you’re basing all these decisions on.”

Conference realignment bad for student-athletes?

The “Head Ball Coach” isn’t the only former Florida Gators man to feel this way. Dan Mullen had similar comments about money ruling the way conference’s operate in terms of realignment.

“It is a shame. And you get into what drives this, the whole realignment, is the money, right? It’s the TV rights, it’s the money,” Mullen said. “Don’t think it is just the athletic department or these people wanting it. It is the president of the university that’s sitting there and saying, ‘If I move over to this league? I essentially just got a massive donor giving money to the school.’

“The TV money is going to go above and beyond the athletic department budgets. Guess where that surplus goes? And guess what the presidents (are saying) when they sign that deal? Athletic department? You get this much of the cut – but the university gets the rest.”

From there, Mullen further looked at the disaster that has become the Pac-4. He said the downfall of the Conference of Champions could have been better avoided had they themselves been more open and willing to go down the path of expansion.

“What is a shame is if maybe one more year? If the Pac-12 had one more year? I know the TV rights were coming up and everybody looked at it and said, ‘Okay, we’re going to go be aggressive,’” Mullen said. “The Pac-12? They stayed pat, I know, because of the academics they had and some of the things they had.”