The philosophy of combine prospect meetings

For years, a significant part of this conversation revolved around certain players’ decision to transfer schools and/or sit out of bowl games. Both have become more and more prevalent as the NIL culture has implemented itself into college football. NIL allows players to enter into contracts with outside businesses, thus earning money through their “name, mmagine, and likeness.”

Chasing NIL contracts has led to more transfers, helped along by new rules allowing for easier transfers between schools. At the same time, with the introduction of the College Football Playoff in 2014, many top NFL prospects have chosen to protect their future by sitting out of what are now deemed “meaningless” bowl games, such as the ones that don’t feed into the playoffs.

But surprisingly, or perhaps naturally, as both actions have become more common, the discussion around them has decreased in the combine prospect meetings to the point of not being a topic at all with some teams.

“I’m really not going to hold it against them if they decide not to play in a bowl game or, you know, do what’s best for them financially,” Morgan admitted. “I think it’s no different than anybody else in any other job that they’re going to do what’s best for them and their situation and their family, so I don’t really hold that against them.”

The statement from Morgan makes it easier to believe players like Miami quarterback Cam Ward, who didn’t play the second half of the Hurricanes’ Pop-Tart Bowl loss to Iowa State, but said it wasn’t a talking point with teams.

“No discussion at all,” Ward told reporters of the topic not coming up in meetings. “The end of the day, it’s March, the bowl game’s in December, and at some point, you’ve got to move on. I’ve never lived my life in the past. I don’t know who would want to live their life in the past, so I take it on the chain. I just keep pushing every day.”