The SEC fixed the paycheck and punted on the part that's actually broken

Let me get the important part out of the way, because I've been saying it since before most of today's coaches could drive: the players should've been getting paid all along. Everybody else in the stadium was. So when SEC presidents approved a uniform NIL and revenue-sharing contract this month, one standard document for all 16 schools with room for each to customize, I didn't grumble. The Big Ten already has one. Good. A kid signs something, he knows what he's owed, the school knows what it owes him. That's a job.

Then I read the rest of the news. The same presidents tabled a vote on bringing back the rule that would make a player transferring from one SEC school to another sit out a season. Yahoo's Ross Dellenger had both halves in one post, which is about the most efficient way I've ever seen a conference contradict itself. Lane Kiffin had said he "can't imagine a worse decision to make." Apparently the presidents couldn't imagine making it, either.

Here's my problem with that. You don't get to call it a job and skip the part of a job that makes it one. Every contract I've ever signed had a start date, an end date and a paragraph about what happens if somebody walks out early. College football just standardized the money and left the calendar wide open.

Look at Auburn this week. Xavier Atkins, the Tigers' standout linebacker, announced Monday night that he's leaving the program and will enter the transfer portal when it opens. Auburn took him off the online roster. He said he'd keep supporting his teammates and finish the semester, and I believe him. I can't be mad at a college kid for reading the rules and following them. I can be mad at the grown-ups who wrote rules that make October a reasonable time to quit.

And the money side isn't nearly as tidy as the press release. CBS Sports reported this month that the College Sports Commission is investigating somewhere between five and 10 Power Four programs over deals routed through third parties to get around the revenue-sharing cap, and that none of those long investigations has finished. The cap is around $21.5 million, and it's supposed to cover every sport. CBS has seven football rosters alone running into the $40 million range. I'm old, not dumb. That tells me exactly how seriously the cap is being taken.

So here's what I'd do, and I'd do it before the portal opens in January. Keep the contract. Put an end date on it that matches the season. Open one window after the bowl games when anybody can leave, no explanation needed. If a player wants out in October, that's his right, but he's walking away from the rest of the deal, same as anybody who quits a job midyear. Call that harsh if you like. My mailman calls it Tuesday.

I spent a long time arguing these kids deserved a paycheck. I'm going to spend the next few years arguing they deserve a real job to go with it, with a real season attached. Somebody in Birmingham should be taking notes. They're good at paperwork. They just proved it.

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