Greg McElroy reacts to the possibility of eliminating walk-ons in college football

Greg McElroy does not want walk-ons to go away in college football as they are too important to the sport.

Amid speciation of roster changes, and coaches like Matt Rhule and Dabo Swinney being irate at the idea, McElroy is in the same boat. The walk-on is too important to the game since these players can get opportunities and it provides depth.

McElroy went in depth what they meant to football.

“I don’t know how much traction there is but walk-ons are an essential part of putting a program together,” McElroy said on Always College Football. “Guys that are either from the area, have ties to the school and a willingness to accept an opportunity to play at a place without a scholarship is something I don’t ever want to see get rid of.

The NIL era is different though when you account deals and then the transfer portal.

“I think it kind of tilts the deck, frankly, especially in the NIL era,” McElroy said. “Because you just now pay a walk-on NIL money to compensate for the loss of scholarship and maybe in some cases the walk-on won’t even break even but they’ll actually exceed what the break even mark might be. So I do think at some programs with deep NIL pockets you can have a significant advantage for the type of player that you can attract as a walk-on. 

“But at the end of the day man, guys are not often turning down scholarship opportunities at the Power Five level to walk on to the Power Five level. Now guys might turn down an FCS opportunity to walk on to the power five level or a G5 opportunity to walk on the Power Five level but it’s not often you’re seeing guys spurn one level for the next level when they’re on the same level.” 

McElroy cited rare examples of how walk-ons are a big help and sometimes a “cheat code,” but they’re still too important.

“So I think walk ons can in some cases, really, it’s kind of a cheat code,” McElroy said. “I think back to Nebraska back in the day. How many walk ons did they have? Like 40, 50, 60 walk-ons? It was so beneficial and they just had the deepest roster possible and guys that would get scholarships elsewhere were just wanting to play in Nebraska, so they went to Nebraska. So I do think that in some cases it can be a significant advantage. But I don’t ever want to see walk-ons get rid of, they’re too important of the fabric of college football.”