Herbstreit calls for the whistle: Why college football needs a CBA

Any coach worth his salt knows that you cannot execute a game plan if the hash marks keep moving. You spend all week prepping for a 53-yard-wide field, and then on Saturday, someone tells you the boundaries are merely suggestions.

That is the operational reality of college football right now. It is a game played without a definitive rulebook, officiated by judges in courtrooms rather than referees on the field. It is chaotic, it is inefficient, and it creates a competitive environment where the only consistent metric is uncertainty.

Kirk Herbstreit, sitting on radio row at the Super Bowl in Santa Clara, finally called the formation that the industry has been afraid to run.

"I think we need to break away," Herbstreit told Front Office Sports. "I think the Power Four needs to break away. Create their own world, create their own governing body."

He is right. And he is right for the most unglamorous, logistical reason possible: We need a Collective Bargaining Agreement.

The litigation trap

Herbstreit’s diagnosis centers on the "laundry list of court cases" currently dictating player movement and compensation. When you look at the tape, the current model—where the NCAA tries to enforce rules that federal courts immediately strike down—is a broken play. It results in a sack for a ten-yard loss every time.

"If we don’t go there, I just don’t know how people aren’t going to threaten to sue," Herbstreit said. "So, we’re having a hard time making definitive answers that we in the sport know are for the best intent."

In coaching terms, we are trying to run a hurry-up offense while the defense is allowed to file an injunction to stop the clock. You cannot build a roster, manage a salary cap (which is what NIL collectives have become), or enforce discipline if every decision is subject to antitrust litigation.

Unionization isn't a dirty word

For years, the word "union" scared the establishment. But look at the logistics. The NFL has peace because it has a CBA. The players agree to the rules—drafts, salary caps, disciplinary fines—in exchange for a defined share of the revenue. It is a contract. It provides gap integrity for the entire league.

Herbstreit suggests a model where the Power Four (SEC, Big Ten, ACC, Big 12) operate under a commissioner, effectively unionizing the players to bypass antitrust laws.

"Allow the Group of Four to create their own world," Herbstreit added. "Much like FCS and Division II and III."

This isn't about disrespecting the smaller schools. It is about weight classes. You don’t ask a 1A high school in rural Alabama to adhere to the same travel budget and logistical constraints as a 7A powerhouse in Birmingham. They are different operations requiring different governances.

The bottom line

Right now, college football is stuck in a prolonged timeout. Agents and parents threaten litigation because there is no agreed-upon structure to stop them. Everyone backs up. The officials swallow their whistles.

Herbstreit is calling for order. A CBA is simply a way to agree on the dimensions of the field before kickoff. Until we get that, we aren't really playing a sport; we're just managing a very expensive argument.