The Protect College Sports Act has been relatively quiet during the week. That changes on Saturdays when commercials supporting its passage are shoved in our faces.
And then ESPN’s College GameDay goes to a commercial break and we see more ads telling us how college sports are too chaotic and smaller sports are on the brink of collapse. (Spoiler alert: They’re not.)
The ads, both College GameDay and the ones we see in between commercials for different sports betting websites, want us to believe college sports are dying because the costs are too high.
College Sports Inc. has somehow convinced politicians across the spectrum that their athletic departments are on the brink of financial collapse unless someone steps in to control rising costs. As if there’s some outside force making athletic directors hand out guaranteed $90 million contracts to football coaches, then turn around and write blank checks to build a $50 million roster.
There should be more outrage at these politicians for thinking fans aren’t smart enough to see through the lies. But we have shiny objects to distract us every weekend now, so that outrage is directed towards fan’s favorite teams…or rival team.
That’s why we’re here, talking about a bill being passed that Nick Saban admitted it wasn’t perfect. However, there are some lawmakers trying to push the bill closer to being perfect.
According to Yahoo! Sports’ Ross Dellenger, U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) have filed an amendment to the pending bill that would cap college coaching salaries at $5 million.
Sen. Cory Booker, with Sen. Chris Murphy, has filed an amendment to the Protect College Sports Act to cap coaching salaries at $5 million a year, per a copy obtained by @YahooSports.
It is one of 35+ amendments filed. Most of them have little chance of being accepted. https://t.co/rArzKDcdE8 pic.twitter.com/md0mhPISTb
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) September 23, 2026
If the escalating costs of college sports is too much, coaching salaries must also be included in the list of guilty parties. So, it only makes sense to put a cap on coaching salaries like the PCSA would for players.
On3’s College Football Coaching Salaries database lists 46 coaches currently earning more than $5 million annually. Georgia’s Kirby Smart is the leader at $13.3 million. Both Curt Cignetti at Indiana and Lane Kiffin at LSU are earning $13 million. In all, 15 coaches are making more than $10 million annually.
If the costs of paying players is too high and putting too much of a strain on athletic department budgets, certainly the coaches’ salaries are too. If Georgia was limited to only paying Smart $5 million, it’d have an additional $8 million to spend on the “dying” sports. That’d be enough to cover the operating costs for multiple smaller sports.
So, yes, if the concern about college sports is the skyrocketing costs, coaching salaries should be included in the discussion. And if a bill is passed that’ll put a cap on what players can earn, coaches should have a similar cap.
Will this amendment be passed and attached to the Protect College Sports Act? Of course not.
Why would Saban want to limit how much money he earns when he returns to coaching? This amendment certainly won’t garner his support and it won’t gain much support from anyone else of importance.
And that’s the real tell.
If the people pushing this bill truly cared about runaway spending, they’d welcome a coaching‑salary cap.
Instead, they’re fighting to control what players earn while leaving one of the most expensive parts of the sport untouched.
It’s not about fixing college sports. It’s about protecting the people who built the mess and restoring their power.
