UGA president: ‘We’re running out of time’ for Congress to fix college sports

GREENSBORO, Ga. — University of Georgia President Jere Morehead says time is running out for collegiate sports reform after the latest failings of federal legislation intended to provide uniformity.

Morehead, speaking at UGA’s athletic association board of directors meeting Thursday at The Ritz-Carlton Reynolds, Lake Oconee, doubled down on comments he made in January that the SEC might need to create and enforce its own rules in lieu of federal intervention and legislation.

Morehead noted the SCORE (Student Compensation and Opportunity through Rights and Endorsements) Act, which was intended to provide regulation amid the fluid landscape of NIL and transfer portal dealings, was pulled from the floor before a scheduled vote in the House of Representatives earlier this week.

“If we don’t get federal intervention, in my opinion, we are going to have to do this conference by conference,” Morehead said.

“We can’t allow the Wild West to continue any longer, so I’m prepared to next week in Destin (at the SEC spring meetings) to be ready to vote on creating an SEC mechanism and SEC rules if that’s what we have to do if Congress isn’t going to act as they should.”

Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) continue to work on a bipartisan plan in the Senate as an alternative to the SCORE Act, per a Yahoo report.

Morehead said that’s where the focus remains, but contingency plans need to be in place if there’s no progress.

“(SEC commissioner Greg Sankey) is still hopeful, I don’t want to speak for him, that we will get something out of Washington, D.C., but we’re running out of time,” Morehead said. “If Congress doesn’t do something in the next several weeks, that window closes for this year ...

“If we don’t get a bill from Cantwell and Cruz this week, that will be another concern. I hope we do. We’re supposed to hear something as early as today on a bill from the Senate.”

Morehead’s words are not to be taken lightly, as USA Today has referred to him as “the most powerful president or chancellor in the SEC, and likely college sports,” a sentiment underscored by the UGA president’s appointment to Donald Trump’s “oversight committee” task force for collegiate reform.

Morehead suggested that if the SEC or Big Ten were to create governing rules, other conferences would follow their lead.

“It (rules) would get noticed by other conferences, and I think everybody is craving some order to this chaos,” Morehead said. “So, if the Big Ten does it, or the SEC does it, I expect other leagues will follow suit and do what they need to do to keep their league operational.

“But we cannot continue down this current path, and we have waited months after months for Congress to act and it hasn’t occurred yet.”

Morehead said he’s uncertain if the SEC will vote on establishing its own rules at the league’s spring meetings next week.

“I think we’ll have robust discussion in Destin about the future of college athletics,” Morehead said, “and that’s got to be a consideration of the SEC creating its own rules if no one else will do so.

“I think we have a commissioner capable of leading if Congress can’t lead.”

Further, Morehead said, the league would be vigilant in its self-governance should it create its own rules.