College football has never been short on money, but the influence of wealthy boosters is becoming harder to ignore. From funding programs to shaping decisions behind the scenes, their role has sparked growing debate about how much power money should have in the sport. Urban Meyer, who has been in this industry, has seen the ugly reality of it, which a lot of people don’t really know or talk about often.
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“I believe that there are too many hands in the kitchen,” Meyer said in the NewsNation podcast on October 26. “There are too many when you start to donate money. I heard this one night. I won’t say where or when, but I had these two really, really wealthy, drunk donors donating a lot of money, and they were buying players. You can do that now.”
“It’s—you’re not supposed to, but you do. And they said, “That son of a better play him, or, you know, I’m sitting there, and I almost got to the point where I couldn’t take it. I was going to, but I said to myself, ‘It’s not my spot. I’m not the coach. I’m not. Then I left. And they’re sitting there. One was a basketball donor, and one was a football donor. As I said, they had too many drinks. And they started screaming and yelling that they should play this player more because they donated this money, and they’ve done this.”
Earlier, colleges attracted top players by offering excellent training facilities, famous coaches, and a strong football program. Now, it has become more about which program will pay more for them to play in their program rather than getting an opportunity to play. The NIL bidding wars reach millions during recruiting.
But what is more concerning is the rise in the payments student-athletes get from so-called donor collectives. These are groups that raise money from wealthy alumni and passionate fans and use that money to pay college athletes.
Because colleges and their collectives can offer players substantial amounts of money, recruiting has become increasingly influenced by financial offers. It has also encouraged a form of free agency in college football. Players can transfer to another university, sometimes seeking a better financial deal. It is not just happening in football but in every college sport.
Meyer isn’t the only one who feels this way; even Nick Saban delivered a blunt verdict on college football and the booster money. CBS Sports counted 32 changes during the 2025 coaching cycle. According to On3, 13 coaches from the Power Four conferences were fired outright. Virginia Tech’s Brent Pry and UCLA’s DeShaun Foster were among the first coaches dismissed. Oklahoma State’s Mike Gundy and Arkansas’ Sam Pittman followed about two weeks later.
James Franklin was fired after a home loss to Northwestern left the team with a 0–3 record. Brian Kelly was also on the list after an abrupt end to his LSU tenure. The buyouts for both coaches were around $49M and $54M.
“The cause and effect of paying players is that we’re raising money from alumni who now think they should have a say in what happens, and that’s why 33 coaches got fired last year,” Saban said during the episode of This Past Weekend with Theo Von.
This is the reason why Saban has been one of the strongest advocates for the bipartisan Protect College Sports Act. It would put in place some rules and regulations for a smoother recruitment and transfer process. For Meyer and Urban, the authority of these boosters over the program is troubling.
But for Mike Tirico, there are different concerns on his mind about the booster situation. The less competitive or less well-funded teams in the Power 4 survive on wealthy alumni and boosters who are contributing money to help schools pay athletes. But what if one day they question whether their money is worth spending if the team isn’t winning enough or delivering the results they expect?
“Colleges in general are having a harder time. There’s a trickle-down to college athletics,” Tirico said. “College athletics is obviously making money with the TV rights and boosters and all that, but let’s say you’re in a 20-team league and you’re going to finish, probably, 15-20th, like Purdue in football … Do you keep writing a check for $6-7-8 million as a donor to continue supporting a team that has a ceiling of finishing 14th or 15th?”
“So, it’s challenged. I don’t think the current system is sustainable for 80-100 schools in the four or five big conferences,” Tirico continued. “Something’s going to have to happen.”