Miami Hurricanes Football, FSU Basketball Are Latest Examples of How College Sports Are Broken

College sports have long straddled the line between tradition and transformation, but in 2025, it’s clearer than ever that the system is no longer just evolving — it’s spiraling. Once-revered programs like Miami Hurricanes football and Florida State men’s basketball are at the epicenter of a troubling shift, embodying the chaos that now defines much of the collegiate athletic landscape.

Once considered national powerhouses, both programs are now being referenced not for their on-field success but for their off-field drama — failed coaching decisions, unstable rosters, NIL misfires, and a complete erosion of identity. These issues aren’t isolated, nor are they unsolvable. But they are undeniable symptoms of a larger problem: college sports, as currently constructed, are broken.

The NIL Era’s Double-Edged Sword

It was supposed to be a revolutionary fix. When the NCAA finally embraced the Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) model, it was marketed as a long-overdue opportunity for student-athletes to benefit from their fame. And to be clear, NIL has been a game-changer in terms of player empowerment and financial fairness.

But as the dollars have ballooned — reportedly eclipsing $250 million annually across all Division I athletes — so has the dysfunction. The lack of uniform regulation and federal oversight has created a Wild West scenario where collectives wield more power than coaches, and players chase bags more than championships.

Take Miami football. The Hurricanes were one of the earliest adopters of aggressive NIL strategies, highlighted by the now-infamous LifeWallet deals brokered by booster John Ruiz. Promising recruits were lured in with multimillion-dollar contracts, and the ‘Canes quickly surged in recruiting rankings. On paper, it looked like Miami was poised for a renaissance.

But results never followed. Despite the hype, Miami still couldn’t crack the College Football Playoff picture. The team lacked cohesion, many top players transferred after a single season, and the NIL-fueled momentum turned into a credibility crisis. Once you take the money and lose, it’s hard to reset expectations.

Florida State’s Fall: From Elite to Irrelevant

On the other side of the state, Florida State basketball has unraveled under Leonard Hamilton’s once-legendary watch. After back-to-back Sweet 16 appearances in 2019 and 2021, the program looked like it was climbing into the nation’s elite. Then came the transfer portal.

What used to be a slow rebuild with developmental talent has turned into an annual guessing game. The Seminoles have seen more than a dozen players enter the portal over the past two seasons. Even former five-star recruits like Baba Miller and Jalen Warley exited early, some citing lack of NIL support, others just lost in the program’s tactical malaise.

In a recent offseason alone, FSU missed out on multiple top-tier transfers because it simply couldn’t compete with the NIL offers thrown around by schools like Kentucky, Texas, and Arkansas. Instead of fielding a competitive ACC roster, Florida State rolled into the 2024-25 season with a Frankenstein team of JUCO players, mid-major transfers, and freshmen who never seemed to jell.

The result? A 12–20 season and growing calls for Hamilton’s resignation. FSU basketball isn’t just broken. It’s irrelevant — and that’s a stunning fall for a program that once prided itself on toughness and defensive grit.

The Portal’s Revolving Door

The transfer portal, initially introduced to give players more freedom, has morphed into something far more sinister. It’s now a second recruiting cycle — one where tampering runs rampant, loyalty is extinct, and continuity is nearly impossible.

Miami football was gutted after the 2024 season, losing key pieces on both sides of the ball, including starting quarterback Jacurri Brown and All-ACC receiver Xavier Restrepo. Both reportedly left not just for playing time or coaching changes, but for bigger NIL payouts. Meanwhile, Mario Cristobal scrambled to replace them with transfers from Western Michigan and San Diego State — hardly a recipe for success in the ruthless ACC.

Florida State basketball has fared even worse. The team entered last season with only four returning scholarship players. That’s not a rebuild — that’s a reset. With no core to build around, the coaching staff had to chase short-term solutions instead of long-term development. Predictably, chemistry suffered. So did performance.

This is the new normal in college sports: players acting as free agents every offseason, constantly reevaluating their value, and schools left playing whack-a-mole to keep a functional roster.

Coaching in Crisis

How do you coach a team that doesn’t exist for more than 10 months?

That’s the question now haunting both Cristobal and Hamilton. Even elite recruiters are finding it impossible to maintain program culture or strategic continuity in this climate. Miami has churned through multiple coordinators in just three years. Florida State’s assistant coaches have become scapegoats as Hamilton tries to adapt to the new recruiting economy.

The pressure to win is higher than ever, but the tools to build sustainable programs are vanishing. Coaches are now expected to be part-scout, part-negotiator, part-psychologist, and part-dealmaker. Gone are the days of redshirting players, developing them slowly, and expecting three- or four-year buy-in. In today’s college sports, you get 12 months — if you’re lucky.

And what about the young coaches trying to break in? Many won’t even get that window. They’re being judged not just on wins, but on their ability to navigate a system that feels more like a corporate startup than a campus tradition.

Institutional Dysfunction

At the root of the chaos lies one undeniable truth: college athletic departments aren’t equipped to handle this new era.

Miami’s NIL ambitions were undercut by lawsuits and financial questions surrounding its most visible booster. Meanwhile, FSU’s internal rift between the basketball program and its NIL collective has been well documented, with multiple former players anonymously telling reporters that they felt “abandoned” by the university after arriving on promises that never materialized.

Universities were never designed to be sports conglomerates. But now they’re being asked to operate like one — without the infrastructure, accountability, or business acumen to do it right. Some have adapted (Texas, Alabama, Georgia). Others have imploded.

There’s also a growing divide between “have” and “have-not” programs that’s reaching an unsustainable level. Miami and FSU — once proud giants — are now fighting for scraps against Big Ten and SEC behemoths who can outbid and out-brand them every step of the way.

What’s Lost in All This?

Amid all the headlines and transactions, what’s being lost is the very thing that made college sports special in the first place: community, identity, and continuity.

Miami football used to mean swagger, a defense-first mentality, and homegrown toughness. FSU basketball once represented disciplined depth, a pipeline of long, athletic players who matured into NBA-ready prospects. Today, neither program feels remotely like its past self.

Fans are disillusioned. Booster confidence is eroding. And student-athletes themselves, despite newfound wealth, often feel more like mercenaries than members of a team.

College sports were never perfect. But they were personal. You could watch a freshman develop into a senior captain, someone who grew alongside the program and reflected its values. That’s nearly extinct now. What we have instead is an endless carousel of one-year rentals, NIL chaos, and coaching carousels.

The Fix?

There’s no easy answer. But solutions must start with structure.

• Federal NIL Regulation: A unified framework — with transparency and contract enforcement — is essential. The current patchwork of state laws and private collectives is untenable.
• Transfer Portal Windows: More defined entry periods and stricter tampering penalties are needed to stabilize rosters.
• Scholarship Reform: If players are truly free agents, schools should be allowed more flexibility with scholarship limits to adapt.
• Revenue Sharing: A portion of broadcast revenue must go to athletes in a structured, legal way — removing the need for backdoor NIL promises.

More than anything, leadership is required — from the NCAA, from Congress, from university presidents. The current laissez-faire approach is unsustainable. Left unchecked, even more programs like Miami and FSU will continue to slide, casualties of a system that rewards chaos over consistency.

College sports didn’t break overnight. But the cracks that once seemed like isolated stress points are now gaping fissures. Miami football and Florida State basketball are just the latest — and most visible — examples of what happens when money, ego, and dysfunction outpace mission, culture, and continuity.

The system can be saved. But it won’t be by pretending the status quo is sustainable. It will take vision, reform, and a collective decision to choose long-term health over short-term hype.

Until then, expect more headlines — and more heartbreak — from the once-great programs still trying to find their footing in a landscape that no longer makes sense.