The Southeastern Conference’s new ruling regarding student-athlete scholarships for football could have massive implications on recruiting for the programs across the league, including the Texas A&M Aggies.
According to Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger, the SEC presidents have voted to increase the number of maximum scholarships for football rosters from 85 to 105. Last year, the conference was limited by the number of scholarships provided to athletes, but the House settlement, which cleared athletes to receive direct payments from schools through revenue sharing, addressed this issue. The NCAA also had to pay back nearly $2.8 billion to former athletes for recompensation.
The pending increase in scholarships could send shockwaves throughout the college football landscape. More specifically, the change will impact how athletic departments handle recruiting.
Ironically, Dellenger’s report on the SEC president’s vote comes during the time of year when reeling in recruits and using the transfer portal is imperative for building next year’s teams. For units, like Texas A&M, which are set to compete in the postseason, ensuring recruiting success while also preparing for the CFP becomes much more integral. Not to mention, name, image and likeness (NIL), which has shaped this era of college athletics, is another factor to be considered with this new change.
SEC athletic departments must now find ways to correctly allocate NIL funds, which will become increasingly important as they deal with more scholarships for student-athletes. Paired with the conference’s new ruling on bumping the scholarship amount, college athletic executives are finalizing a proposal that would increase the athlete revenue-share pool by $2.5 million per year. This also includes a quasi-luxury tax of 20%, per Dellenger’s report on Dec. 4.
Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes and opinions. Follow Dylan on X: @dylanmflippo.
This article originally appeared on Aggies Wire: SEC implementing new scholarship change for league’s football programs
Reporting by Dylan Flippo, Aggies Wire / Aggies Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
