Kyle Whittingham has fans shook up over strong $50 million prediction

Kyle Whittingham has fans shook up over strong $50 million prediction originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The college football landscape has been in overdrive since the NIL era took over. More programs are trying to compete with the elites, with $20 million as a basis for rosters. When will the current model become unstable?

Michigan Wolverines football coach Kyle Whittingham has a good idea of what's about to happen. This might include college football's first $50 million roster. We're close with LSU reportedly over $40 million this year with the addition of Lane Kiffin. But on a consistent basis at the standard? Try as soon as the 2027 season.

At least that's what Whittingham believes. The longtime coach knows a great deal about economics in sports and might not be far off.

“What it takes to win in college football in this day and age, in this order: great resources in the NIL area and space, outstanding players – which ties right into how much NIL you have – and then, coaching staff that’s competent,” Whittingham told On3.

“Again, it’s in that order of importance. There’s going to be several teams in this ’27 recruiting cycle that have $50 million-plus rosters. You’ve either got to keep up and embrace that or embrace irrelevance because it’s not changing, at least, right away. It’s got to be completely overhauled in the not-too-distant future."