Who Killed College Football?

Steven Godfrey and Ryan Nanni
  • 4.9 (147)
  • FOOTBALL
Who Killed College Football?

College football has undergone radical, sometimes alarming changes in recent years, and this show explores the motives, history, and power behind six different suspects who have reshaped an American sport right before our eyes. wkcfb.substack.com

  1. DEC 6

    Epilogue: The Case File That Won't Stay Closed

    We’ve looked at six different parties who have shaped the direction of college football over the last fifty years (or longer): television, conferences, the NCAA, the NFL, coaches & agents, and the government. So now it’s time to ask a few tough questions. Are any of those six directly and solely responsible? Is college football actually dead or dying? And why won’t Nick Saban sit down to chat with Steven Godfrey?Producer: Michael HenahanResearcher: Alex McDaniel This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wkcfb.substack.com/subscribe

    38 min
  2. Suspect Number 6: The Government

    NOV 27

    Suspect Number 6: The Government

    From Richard Nixon to the United States Senate to the Virginia Governor’s Office to the California Board of Regents to the Supreme Court of the United States, college football has been subject to grandstanding, criticism, and scrutiny at all levels of government. But can our nation’s elected institutions (or its courts) actually solve the sport’s problems, and do they even have the ability to do so? Producer: Michael HenahanResearcher: Alex McDaniel This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wkcfb.substack.com/subscribe

    1h 9m
  3. Bonus Episode: Coaches Q&A

    NOV 23

    Bonus Episode: Coaches Q&A

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wkcfb.substack.com Steven and Ryan tackle questions from paid subscribers to the Who Killed College Football Substack community about Suspect Number Five: Coaches and Agents. A free preview of the episode is available to everyone, but if you’d like to unlock the full episode and be able to submit questions of your own for future suspects, become a paid subscriber today!

    10 min
  4. Suspect Number 5: Coaches & Agents

    NOV 15

    Suspect Number 5: Coaches & Agents

    From its earliest days, college football has had a tense relationship with players and money. But it wasn’t until the market for coaches started exploding that the gulf between what coaches earn and what players cannot really started to look outlandish. Agents, of course, helped usher the age of absurdity in, by winning contract terms that gave their clients more and more, even if they weren’t successful. As their pay skyrocketed, coaches were mostly silent about structural issues popping up in the sport, and for good reason: the status quo was entirely too good to overturn. Producer: Michael HenahanResearcher: Alex McDaniel This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wkcfb.substack.com/subscribe

    1h 10m
  5. Bonus Episode: NFL Q&A

    NOV 13

    Bonus Episode: NFL Q&A

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wkcfb.substack.com Steven and Ryan sit down once again to review questions from the paid subscriber community on Substack, this time about Suspect Number Four: The National Football League. A free preview of the episode is available to everyone, but if you’d like to unlock the full episode and be able to submit questions of your own for future suspects, become a paid subs…

    10 min
  6. Suspect Number 4: The NFL

    NOV 5

    Suspect Number 4: The NFL

    Once upon a time, the NFL shaped its Draft policies (and date) around not angering college football. The power and popularity of The Shield have increased dramatically over the last four or five decades, but the league spent many of those years keeping underclassmen out as a default, and it took years of pressure from players like Barry Sanders, Cris Carter, and Herschel Walker to eventually open up a pro pathway for juniors. Why has the NFL shied away from taking on college football, and what has it meant to the college game to keep players trapped in one system for most of the sport’s history?Producer: Michael HenahanResearcher: Alex McDaniel This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wkcfb.substack.com/subscribe

    1h 10m
  7. Bonus Episode: NCAA Q&A

    OCT 29

    Bonus Episode: NCAA Q&A

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wkcfb.substack.com As we do after every suspect is revealed and investigated, we turned it over to the paid members of the Who Killed College Football Substack community to interrogate us about the NCAA episode. Topics include why the Association and its members failed to plan for the future, the death penalty vs. just kicking a school out of the NCAA altogether, and what…

    7 min

  8. OCT 24

    Suspect Number 3: The NCAA

    The NCAA spent the better part of 70 years stamping out threats to amateurism wherever they could find them. From big scandals to seemingly minor violations, the Association was there to defend the idea that college football shouldn’t be about money, at least for the players. For a while, the courts, media, and public opinion all backed them up. But as the riches in the sport grew, the NCAA became something of a comic villain, and when the time came for college football’s relationship with labor to evolve, the NCAA never seemed ready to lead the charge.Producer: Michael HenahanResearcher: Alex McDaniel This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wkcfb.substack.com/subscribe

    1h 9m
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4.9
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College football has undergone radical, sometimes alarming changes in recent years, and this show explores the motives, history, and power behind six different suspects who have reshaped an American sport right before our eyes. wkcfb.substack.com

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