The recent announcement on the NCAA settlement paving the way for players to be directly paid by schools has been met with mixed emotions already. Obviously, players who are in line to get a share of the $2.8 billion coffers are quite happy.
Georgia fans, however, are looking at it in a different light and see this as potentially damaging recruiting and roster building, putting unfair shackles on schools who have traditionally led the pack.
Beyond the settlement for former players dating back to 2016, current players can now be paid directly by the school, however there will be a cap on the amount allowed. That could mean that stacking a huge recruiting class of five and four-star players could be a thing of the past.
Some Georgia fans let their feelings be known.
Georgia has done a good job of keeping its best players out of the portal, but it gets harder to tamper or buy an impact player off someone else’s roster when you have a cap and no booster funded NIL. Everyone is always going to churn the bottom of its roster once it becomes…
— Graham Coffey (@GrahamCoffeyDC) June 7, 2025
There's two recruiting battles Georgia lost this offseason that will not be lost in the future after this settlement.
— The Bulldawg Report (@ReportBulldawg) June 7, 2025
That's what this changes. https://t.co/ARKCSRFfVc
Other fans voiced concern with this new model, calling it "unsustainable", "damaging to recruiting", and "forced parity".
The feelings that this will damage Georgia's recruiting are probably valid, but Kirby Smart has also been a master at navigating changes in the landscape of college football. His recruiting approach to building relationships, selling being on a winning team over being a big fish in a little pond, and NFL development will need to be adjusted for sure.
While this new system won't mean the end of titles in Athens, it may bring an end to any one team dominating the sport for an extended period of time. In other words, RIP college football dynasties.