2025 College Football Thread

[toldozer]

8 hours ago, OldhamA said:

Were you sad when Duke stole Mensah from Tulane?

He didn't have a contract in place. Don't blame the players but if they sign a 2 year nil deal other schools should be punished for trying to get them to break it especially last minute like Miami did. It was fuging dirty and so was what ole miss did to Clemson

[OldhamA]

5 hours ago, toldozer said:

He didn't have a contract in place. Don't blame the players but if they sign a 2 year nil deal other schools should be punished for trying to get them to break it especially last minute like Miami did. It was fuging dirty and so was what ole miss did to Clemson

So the answer is no. You weren't sad when Duke tampered with Mensah during the season when he was at Tulane.

[HPPantherzfan]

15 hours ago, OldhamA said:

Were you sad when Duke stole Mensah from Tulane?

Mensah was not under any NIL contract at Tulane.  There was no stealing, he entered the transfer portal free and clear of any contract.  Not even comparable to what Miami is doing 

[Davidson Deac II]

Not a Duke fan, so I hope he leaves.  That being said, I am glad Duke is suing him.  If you sign a contract, both sides should have to honor it.  And there should be penalties if said contract is not honored.  

And I don't really blame Miami that much.  This is mostly on Mensah.  

Edited Thursday at 11:51 AM by Davidson Deac II

[toldozer]

1 hour ago, Davidson Deac II said:

Not a Duke fan, so I hope he leaves.  That being said, I am glad Duke is suing him.  If you sign a contract, both sides should have to honor it.  And there should be penalties if said contract is not honored.  

And I don't really blame Miami that much.  This is mostly on Mensah.  

Dude is what, 20 years olds. The adults in the room should be held accountable not the kids. He is getting an extra 2 million dollars plus they are paying his sister and I believe he is getting a deal with adidas too. I don't blame the player one bit for taking the most money he can get. The schools should be held to a higher standard than a child.

[toldozer]

3 hours ago, OldhamA said:

So the answer is no. You weren't sad when Duke tampered with Mensah during the season when he was at Tulane.

If he was under an nil contract then yes I would have been mad.

[OldhamA]

5 hours ago, HPPantherzfan said:

Mensah was not under any NIL contract at Tulane.  There was no stealing, he entered the transfer portal free and clear of any contract.  Not even comparable to what Miami is doing 

What is an NIL contract?

These are not paid employees - and college teams absolutely don't want them to be.

[OldhamA]

5 hours ago, Davidson Deac II said:

Not a Duke fan, so I hope he leaves.  That being said, I am glad Duke is suing him.  If you sign a contract, both sides should have to honor it.  And there should be penalties if said contract is not honored.  

And I don't really blame Miami that much.  This is mostly on Mensah.  

Mensah's side have come to a settlement with Duke - as was always going to be the case.

[Davidson Deac II]

On 1/29/2026 at 8:00 AM, toldozer said:

Dude is what, 20 years olds. The adults in the room should be held accountable not the kids. He is getting an extra 2 million dollars plus they are paying his sister and I believe he is getting a deal with adidas too. I don't blame the player one bit for taking the most money he can get. The schools should be held to a higher standard than a child.

I completely disagree.  If one is 20 years old and doesn't have the sense to understand what a contract is, shouldn't be signing them. And from what I understand, these guys have agents advising them.  

Once the contract is signed, both the school and the individual signing should be bound by it as long as it follows the law.  Otherwise, what is the point of the contract?

[toldozer]

2 hours ago, Davidson Deac II said:

I completely disagree.  If one is 20 years old and doesn't have the sense to understand what a contract is, shouldn't be signing them. And from what I understand, these guys have agents advising them.  

Once the contract is signed, both the school and the individual signing should be bound by it as long as it follows the law.  Otherwise, what is the point of the contract?

I'd say to keep other teams from poaching the player. As a player I don't know why they would sign a two year deal though unless they don't think they're very good. In the NFL you have 31 other suiters in free agency and they have salary caps. Ncaa you have 100+ and no rules on how much they can spend.

[Davidson Deac II]

5 hours ago, toldozer said:

I'd say to keep other teams from poaching the player. 

And Duke had a contract and Miami poached him anyway.  

If I were this kids parent, I would be very disappointed in him for signing then breaking a contract, even if it got him more money.  

[toldozer]

47 minutes ago, Davidson Deac II said:

And Duke had a contract and Miami poached him anyway.  

If I were this kids parent, I would be very disappointed in him for signing then breaking a contract, even if it got him more money.  

If my kid turned 4 million into 6 plus an endorsement deal and got his sisters college paid for and her some nil money I can't say I would scold him.

[HeelsPanthersCanes]

24 minutes ago, Davidson Deac II said:

If I were this kids parent, I would be very disappointed in him for signing then breaking a contract, even if it got him more money.  

I think that's unfair without knowing all the circumstances.

Besides just the money, there are a ton of other variables.  I hate Dook, it's an incredible school, I'd actually send my son there to get an education over Carolina if we had those options, even as a Tarheel fan. 

But if my son was a pretty good QB and we had to choose between Dook and Miami, it's a no-brainer, even if we have to break a few eggs to make the omelet. 

Dook's schedule next year includes, @Miami, @NC State, @Illinois, @Virginia and vs Clemson.  That's 5 games where Dook will be an underdog, even if Mensah stayed.  Mix in at least one random road loss (ie. Connecticut this year) and they are staring a 6-6 or 7-5 season in the face.  Even if they went 9-3, there would be no postseason, probably one (if any) nationally televised games, and zero national media coverage of the Dook football program.  The only reason anyone knew about them this year was because the ACC was so laughably bad that a 5-loss team won its Championship game and was preposterously arguing they should be in the CFP.

Miami offers so much more...  

1) Money - not just NIL, but local endorsements, celebrities, appearances, etc.  Durham has 1/100th of opportunities he'll have to make money.  And as a kid who doesn't appear to be destined to be an NFL starter ever, if I'm his parents, I'm telling him to make as much money as he can while the iron is hot.

2) The visibility to be on TV and playing for a team that will start the season in the top 10 and be featured and talked about, because everyone agrees that college football is better when Da U is relevant, even when they stink.  The ACC will be dogshit again.  There is no reason he can't go 11-1 at Miami, with the lone game where they may be dogs is @ Notre Dame. 

3) The availability of ex-NFL players who ALL come back to Da U and can offer guidance on how to prepare for the NFL and leverage their pull with NFL teams and employees. 

4) It's also a really good school, although we're kidding ourselves if we think these kids are going to classes.

 

[Davidson Deac II]

1 hour ago, HeelsPanthersCanes said:

I think that's unfair without knowing all the circumstances.

 

 

I don't.  Unless Duke did something dirty or illegal, then I don't know what circumstances would change my mind.  Maybe if the kid had a family member in the hospital, and they needed the extra money to pay the bill, that might mitigate it.  Barring that, its just he got more money at a better football school.  

To me, this isn't about Miami or Duke (and fwiw, I am glad Duke took a hit).  Its about doing due diligence prior to making a choice, and then once the choice is made and the document is signed, you stick to it.  

I would guarantee that if some kid had done this exact same thing to Miami, most Miami fans would be up in arms about it.  

I encourage all these young men to fully explore all the options, and sign the deal that is best for them.  But once its signed, honor it.