Auburn athletic director Allen Greene weighs in on state of college football: 'We're in a world of uncertainty'

Many around college football have called the game’s current state the “Wild, Wild West” as NIL and the transfer portal change the landscape as we know it. Auburn’s athletic director opened up about that with Paul Finebaum last week.

Allen Greene joined Finebaum May 13 to talk about the state of the game as NIL collectives dominate headlines. He realizes it’s a crazy time right now, but everyone’s in the same boat because so much is happening at once. He stressed the importance of navigating the current terrain until things settle down.

“We’re in a world of uncertainty,” Greene said. “It’s a combination of a number of hot topics that are really complex all hitting at the same time. [We’re] trying to sort them out, [pick] them apart and try to make progress the best way we can.”

Although every school is dealing with the current landscape, Greene said there needs to be consistency. He added many people are in favor of NIL, but there needs to be more regulation as it continues to become a big part of college athletics.

“I think that’s probably the biggest challenge is different schools are interpreting things differently,” Greene said. “We’re working hard to be leaders in the industry and to support our student athletes. I believe, like many of my peers have said, NIL in and of itself is a really good thing and we’re OK with that. It’s bled into something that, quite frankly, we anticipated would happen without guardrails.

“Now, we’re in this world where we’ve heard the terms ‘Wild, Wild West’ and free agency. We feel the same thing. That’s part of where we are and just continue to try to work through it and try to get some clarity as best we can.”

NCAA issues updated guidance on NIL collectives, boosters

Earlier this month, the NCAA Board of Directors sent out new guidance clarifying the current NIL rules and prohibiting boosters from recruiting. It’s effective immediately, and comes amid multiple calls for changes across the board.

“Today, the Division I Board of Directors took a significant first step to address some of the challenges and improper behaviors that exist in the name, image and likeness environment that may violate our long-established recruiting rules,” Georgia president Jere Morehead, the board chair, said in a statement. “While the NCAA may pursue the most outrageous violations that were clearly contrary to the interim policy adopted last summer, our focus is on the future.

“The new guidance establishes a common set of expectations for the Division I institutions moving forward, and the board expects all Division I institutions to follow our recruiting rules and operate within these reasonable expectations.”