Lane Kiffin had about 30 minutes at the podium during SEC media days, and when a question came up about the new revenue sharing agreement, he didn't hold back from his frustration with the new rules. He said what is being attempted is some unstructured salary cap, and it's already failing. If rule breakers want to break it, it would be pretty easy to do. "It was supposed to be fixed, and now it's not."
I just asked Lane Kiffin if college football should, and can, have a hard salary cap.
— David Rumsey (@_DavidRumsey) July 14, 2025
"That's what's being attempted," he said. "It doesn't seem like that's working very well."
Says the revenue-sharing system "isn't solid enough to prevent" teams from breaking the rules. https://t.co/8tjxTUsPZ3
Ole Miss coach says NCAA’s attempt to control NIL spending isn't working
Lane Kiffin seemed frustrated by the new system, stating that they had worked hard to follow the rules, but there were still plenty that weren't, as it wasn't working. He stated that when NIL began, there were numerous complaints, and each school could operate in different ways with varying payrolls. He says so; this revenue sharing was supposed to help clean up some of that, but it still doesn't work.
"I think that's what is being attempted [a salary cap], and it doesn't seem like it is working very well...So that was supposed to be fixed, and now it's not. We've tried to follow these guidelines...and I'm not calling anyone out, I'm not even saying they are wrong for [breaking the rules] because if the system isn't solid enough to prevent that, then we really don't have a system, which means we aren't really operating in a salary cap. "Lane Kiffin
The House Settlement vs. the NCAA was approved, but it remains entangled in numerous appeals, and the legal ramifications and path forward are still being determined. While coaches have to live in the liminal space right now, and it's going to be a mess, there is still ongoing work to make things cleaner and better. Will it be figured out this year? No, but steps will be taken to push the ball forward, answer questions, and ask new ones.
It will continue to be a place where systems are broken and rule breakers will break rules, which will frustrate coaches, but as Kiffin said, "We don't really have a system." Yet.