Roster limit uncertainty remains a source of frustration in Destin

DESTIN, Fla. — This picturesque seaside community on Florida’s Emerald Coast typically is a place to seek relaxation.

But for the Southeastern Conference football and basketball coaches who’ve ascended here for the annual spring meetings, it’s a place to vent their frustration.

The source of that frustration is the House v. NCAA settlement, which still remains unsettled.

Judge Claudia Wilken was expected to make a ruling on the $2.8 billion lawsuit that will establish operational procedures regarding revenue sharing with players, NIL deals and guidelines, roster and scholarship limits and rules enforcement.

That was three weeks ago. Still no ruling.

The wait continues. A new football season draws closer. Fall camps for football will open in just about two months. Frustration mounts.

“It’s challenging because these rules are supposedly going to be implemented if the House settlement goes through fairly quickly,” Texas A&M coach Mike Elko said on Tuesday. “The season is also approaching fairly quickly.

“I couldn’t imagine a professional sports league midway through their offseason changing the salary cap rules, but it appears as though that’s what we’re going to try to do. We’ll see how it works out.”

Roster limits are the primary issue.

TexAgs

The 2025 SEC Spring Meetings are being held at the Hilton Sandestin Beach Resort.

Currently, football rosters consist of up to 85 scholarship players and are supplemented by an unlimited number of walk-ons, who are non-scholarship players. Teams typically have approximately 120 players.

Attempting to reach a settlement, the NCAA proposed increasing scholarships to 105 but dismantling walk-on programs.

Many programs put that plan into action. Players were cut. Some left for other programs.

But Judge Wilken didn’t approve the deal. Instead, she instructed both sides to go back to the drawing board and come up with a better plan.

Coaches were put in limbo, unsure of how many players they will have. That might not seem like a big deal. A 105-player roster would seem sufficient. NFL teams manage about half that many players.

However, Elko pointed out that college teams don’t have options that NFL teams have.

“The challenge from our perspective is we don’t have access to a revolving roster situation during the season,” Elko said. “I think if it was 105, that could stay 105, it would be enough. I think the fear we have is if you have a rash of injuries in the NFL, you go to the free agent wire and you fix it.

“You get a rash of injuries for us, and there’s no option. There’s nothing you can do.”

Coaches aren’t sure how to proceed. Texas basketball coach Sean Miller offered an interesting analogy of the situation.

“The analogy that I've heard is you're flying the plane and building it at the same time,” he said. “And to some degree, in terms of sports, that's true, right?

“Where you're trying to make the best decisions for your program — most importantly, for the players that you're coaching — in real time, knowing certain things may not be the same in the future.”

Coaches often have to plead ignorance when players ask about their future at a certain program.

“We don't know what the camp number is going to be,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “We don't know who's going to get to come back when school starts, who's going to get to come back when camp starts. A lot of unknown in that.

“But we've been very honest with our guys and told them. We told them they're free to go in the (transfer) portal, and some have looked out.”

Perhaps most frustrating is that so much of this uncertainty could have been avoided with any foresight from the NCAA.

For decades, the NCAA ignored growing calls to share revenue with players. Finally, in 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the NCAA’s restrictions violated antitrust laws. That led to the players profiting from their Name, Image & Likeness (NIL).

The other issues that have brought about the current uncertainty followed.

“When NIL became a reality, I don’t know that everybody else really anticipated (current problems),” Elko said. “I think (coaches) knew what was going to happen and where this thing was going to go.

“It’s challenging. You’re trying to figure out what you can do for fall camp on July 30. It’s approaching June, and we still don’t have much of a resolution on what that’s going to look like.”