LSU's Brian Kelly Says College Athletics Are at 'Crossroads' If NIL Doesn't Get Fixed

Count LSU head football coach Brian Kelly among those who believe federal regulation is needed when it comes to name, image and likeness rights in college sports.

"College athletics is at a crossroads if this doesn't get fixed," Kelly told Alex Scarborough of ESPN.

A number of SEC coaches and administrators, including Kelly, visited Washington, D.C., to push for such legislation earlier in June.

Kelly and other coaches who have spoken out about the need for change have not necessarily begrudged players the opportunities to make money off their name and image. Rather, much of the concern has circulated around realities such as different states having different NIL regulations, which makes enforcing anything particularly difficult in a sport that stretches across the country.

Scarborough noted the College Athlete Protection Act was introduced in California in January and called for money-generating college sports teams to put some of that revenue into a trust for players that would then be paid out when they finished their degrees.

"We needed to do something," Kelly said. "There needed to be some publicity behind it. There needed to be at least an education at the committee level where they had more than just what California is trying to do."

While Kelly pointed to concerns about Title IX and non-revenue-generating sports in regards to the California situation, the legislation did allow for the reallocation of funds if needed to avoid violating Title IX rules.

Kelly is not the only SEC coach to raise concerns about NIL.

Alabama's Nick Saban has done so many times and suggested to Ross Dellenger of Sports Illustrated in March that federal regulations would help stem some of the concerns.

"Maybe it needs to be changed at the federal level so you don't have different state laws and there are guidelines for what you can and can't do," Saban said. "Players should create their opportunities, and what we've done now is some schools are creating opportunities for them. I don't think that was the intent."

Ralph D. Russo of the Associated Press noted Saban and SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey were among those who visited the nation's capital with Sankey saying "Congress is the place that can fix the issues."

It remains to be seen whether the federal government will intervene in any way, but many notable figures in the SEC believe that is the answer to the NCAA's uncertainty.