Grambling State coach offers proposal to help small schools losing NIL transfers

College sports are in a unique place at the moment with NIL and transfer portals dictating how players can shape their futures, and one small-school coach has a way that programs like his can actually stand to compete with Power Five schools.

Grambling State doesn't receive a lot of national attention because it doesn't compete in the Big Ten or SEC, however, the school's football coach - Mickey Joseph - believes that with so many players being poached by big-time athletic programs that smaler ones deserve to benefit more when athletes leave.

Joseph suggested a buyout system that would force Power Five schools to have to pay a fee towards the university losing a player, which is only a very logical way of thinking that has worked in other sports like professional soccer for years with transfer fees.

Grambling State head coach Mickey Joseph says there should be buyouts when players transfer up to bigger programs:

"There needs to be a buyout. If they move up from me and go G5 or P4, I should get compensation for that."pic.twitter.com/UrAWGDNza1
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) April 3, 2025

As many have pointed out through the rise of NIL and constant transfers across major sports like basketball and football, there needs to be more strict rules in place that lay out when and how often players can transfer.

That's on top of the fact that legislature is coming into effect stating that schools can pay athletes directly, in addition to anything that the players will be making through NIL endorsements.

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