Eli Drinkwitz reacts to Matthew Sluka, UNLV drama: 'The blame lies at the feet of the system in place'

UNLV surprisingly grabbed headlines on Wednesday morning when starting quarterback Matthew Sluka announced that he would be redshirting just three games into the season. Claiming his representations were not upheld from when he decided to transfer in from Holy Cross this offseason.

Since Sluka’s viral announcement that he will not be suiting up for the Rebels anymore this season, reports from his side and UNLV’s side of the situation have gone back and forth about what NIL compensation was guaranteed and given to the quarterback. A dilemma that Missouri head football coach Eliah Drinkwitz weighed in on during the Paul Finebaum Show on Wednesday.

“I don’t know the specifics, and regardless, there’s two sides of every story and then there’s the truth. And so it’s disappointing that this has having to be played out over national television. It’s going to affect real football teams and real families, and that’s hard,” Drinkwitz said.

“But the truth of the situation is, this is what’s going to continue to happen, because there aren’t guard rails in place. There aren’t rules in place and we’re having to operate in a system that there really isn’t a system, and hopefully this new NCAA settlement will provide some structure to what we’re trying to accomplish.”

Drinkwitz is one of several coaches across the country who have pleaded for more rules and regulations surrounding name, image, and likeness as it relates to compensating student-athletes. With the current NIL marketplace serving as the Wild West involving student-athletes, agents, athletic departments, NIL collectives, and more. And in the worst case scenarios, situations like Sluka’s with the UNLV program are a result.

“But this is too many times, this is too many stories that are affecting young men’s future,” Drinkwitz added. “This isn’t why the game of college football was designed to be played. But the reality of it is, there’s a business side to it too, and I think everybody has to understand that. I know Paul, that if the network quit paying you, you’re not going to show up and do your show anymore. So there’s a there’s an aspect of it that we have to understand and respect on both sides.”

According to Sluka’s agent (NIL representative Marcus Cromartie) he was promised “a minimum” of $100,000 but has only received $3000 to relocate to Las Vegas. But UNLV’s NIL Collective Friends of UNILV confirmed to On3 that there was never a $100,000 contract extended to Sluka during his recruitment process or the finalization or agreement to any NIL offers.

Creating a public back and forth between both parties that may ultimately go unresolved and leave UNLV without the quarterback who’s led them to a 3-0 record so far this season.

“Look, this could have happened to a lot of different schools in a lot of different situations, and I just hate it because there’s not really any rules in place that can prevent it. I saw a tweet today like, where are you going to take these complaints? There’s not really anywhere that you can,” Drinkwitz explained. “And that puts everybody in jeopardy, it puts the fans in jeopardy for a great game. UNLV is having the greatest season they’ve had in a long time and no, that’s in jeopardy because of this situation. And I hate it for everybody involved, everybody involved, but really the blame lies at the feet of the system in place.”