Lane Kiffin: ‘Doesn’t Seem’ Like CFB Revenue-Sharing Cap Works Very Well

ATLANTA — Ole Miss football coach Lane Kiffin wishes there were a hard salary cap in college football, but he doesn’t think the start of the revenue-sharing era is accomplishing that goal.

“That’s what we attempted,” Kiffin said in response to a Front Office Sports question at SEC media days. “Doesn’t seem like that’s working very well.”

Last week, Colorado coach Deion Sanders led calls at Big 12 media days for college football to implement an NFL-style salary cap. College athletic departments are now allowed to share up to $20.5 million with athletes, but complications around new NIL (name, image, and likeness) regulations have many coaches worried that spending at top programs will remain unrestrained.

“I think it’s obvious people aren’t staying within that cap,” Kiffin said Monday. 

Many schools attempted to front-load NIL payments to top players before new rules began July 1, to supplement limits imposed by revenue-sharing. It could be several years before the new NIL landscape is in a properly regulated state.

“We’ve tried to follow the guidelines because that’s what we were told we needed to do,” Kiffin said. “I’m not saying they’re wrong for doing it; I’m not calling anybody out. If the system isn’t solid enough to prevent that, then we really don’t have a system. So you’re not operating on a salary cap.”

The newly created College Sports Commission is leading efforts to curb “pay-for-play” NIL deals. Many Power 4 schools are expected to allocate roughly 75% of their revenue-sharing total to football programs, and it is anticipated that the $20.5 million cap figure will grow incrementally in the coming years.