Everyone loves a good comeback story, The Mighty Ducks, The 2004 Boston Red Sox, Rudy, the 2019 Washington Nationals and now Phillip Florenzo.
Florenzo is “the best Clemson football player you’ve never heard of” at least according to Greenville News. Maryland native Phillip Florenzo grew up playing football his whole life, but made the switch to long snapping his senior year (of high school) with the ultimate goal of playing college football. The next fall he enrolled at Clemson as a regular student but continued training as he was motivated to pursue a walk-on spot. And not just any walk-on spot, a walk-on spot at arguably one of the best football schools in the country, and at the time just one year out from their 2019 National Championship. A self proclaimed “crawl-on,” Florenzo was finally granted a tryout going into his sophomore year. Not only did Florenzo make the roster, he became a crucial part appearing in over 30 games as their starting long snapper with a potential future in the NFL.
But as a result of the NCAA vs House settlement underdog stories like Florenzo’s may become few and far between. The NCAA vs House settlement states that starting in the 2025 – 2026 season universities can opt into a new revenue sharing agreement. Under the agreement, schools can now pay their athletes directly, with athletic departments paying athletes from an annual pool of 22 million.
However, universities that opt into the revenue sharing agreement also have to adhere to new roster size rules and limits. According to Sports Management professor Noah Henderson, “Every FBS roster will now be limited to 105 athletes, a 23-spot reduction from the current average, and every one of those spots is entitled to a scholarship,” leaving no room for walk-ons.
For most teams the choice is simple, prioritize fully funded rosters with scholarship athletes over maintaining non – scholarship, walk-on athletes. Unlike scholarship athletes, big name walk-ons such as Jason Kelce, JJ Watt, Baker Mayfield and Steson Bennet aren’t recruited or given an athletic scholarship, they simply try out.
While one could argue that since football teams have the largest rosters, and will have to make the most cuts, they are most impacted. But the issue of roster cuts will affect all collegiate sports that frequently give out scholarships, including baseball, ice hockey, lacrosse and soccer.
Take SEC baseball. “Currently, 15 of the 16 baseball programs have rosters that exceed the new 34-player roster limit, an average of 9.875 players will be cut from each roster,” Henderson said.
Meaning 148 (15 times 9.875) of the most talented collegiate baseball players will be cut forcing a domino effect down to the lower levels. From the SEC to the Big ten, from Division One to Division Three, from Division Three to junior college, lower levels will be more talented than ever.
But as talented SEC players come into smaller schools coaches are forced to get rid of existing players, when those players attempt to join new lower level teams the domino effect continues. With the transfer portal it is easier than ever for players to transfer schools and switch teams. With so much talent moving to lower levels walk-ons can be eliminated even at schools that don’t follow the revenue sharing agreement.
Student-athletes are no longer being treated as such, they are seen as professional athletes or rather objects in a money making game.
