Pete Thamel: President Trump's involvement post-House settlement isn't 'a magic bullet'

Now that the House settlement has been approved, there’s a renewed focus on what various political bodies can do to help ease the transition for college athletics programs. And whether President Trump can swoop in and make things much easier remains a topic of conversation.

Some have outright called for the president’s aid. But ESPN analyst Pete Thamel doesn’t necessarily see Trump as a fix-all for college sports.

Thamel outlined the backdrop of the situation on The Paul Finebaum Show on Wednesday. He began:

“President Trump is interested in college athletics. I’ve heard that from myriad sources,” Thamel said. “You know, Paul, because I think you’ve been there in DC, the SEC and other leagues have kind of paraded themselves through to ask for Congressional help over the years. There’s been a handful of trips from the major conferences. The commissioners have been there a bunch. There has been a plea to Washington D.C.”

So far, that plea has mostly fallen on deaf ears. Not necessarily because the people, like President Trump, who are being called on aren’t interested. But moreso because the issues are so complex.

It’s been hard to get the various major parties at play all on the same page. How might that happen?

“President Trump has mentioned a potential executive order,” Thamel said. “That isn’t really what’s needed here. There needs to be Congressional help. I think what we can say with certainty is that President Trump is intrigued and wants to help and has talked about helping. How that manifests itself is still a ways away, and I don’t think his involvement right now is a magic bullet, by any ways.”

Thamel summed up where things are at right now when it comes to the president’s potential involvement and solutions. Bottom line: He’s not convinced presidential involvement is the answer.

“I think Trump is like genuinely interested in college sports,” Thamel said. “I think a lot of his base is in a lot of the states where college sports really matter. So politically it’s probably a wise thing for him to be intrigued by. But his interest level translating to Congressional result, there’s still a giant disconnect.”