(SP) – In a magnanimous move rarely seen in society today, the top coaches in college basketball and football announced today that they have decided to forego their multimillion dollar salaries and instead be paid in education in order to even the playing field with the athletes they coach.
“I could no longer accept millions of dollars in income and then say my players are fortunate just to have their education paid for,” said North Carolina head coach Roy Williams. “It’s not right. Education should not end at age 21 or 22. There are countless masters degrees or doctorates I can get. I actually feel robbed that I spend all these years compiling a fortune when I could have instead been getting a masters in the humanities.”
Clemson coach Dabo Swinney, who has long opposed the idea of athletes being compensated with actual money, said he is glad to “no longer feel like a hypocrite.”
“That was dirty money I was making all those years coach,” Swinney admitted today. “There’s no reason my wife can’t get a job that pays our bills. I don’t need to be paid to coach just because our program brings in tens of millions for the university. Coaching is about building the men of tomorrow. It’s about service. Coaching is its own reward. And the fact that they’re also willing to give me 12 credits a semester, when I’d do this job for free even though I previously took $6 million a year for it? That’s more than I could ever ask.”
Ole Miss football coach Hugh Freeze said he is excited to learn more about the world.
“Knowledge is power,” he said. “It’s simply and honor to be a student-coach. But I will still be handed cash from boosters from time-to-time, right? I have to eat.”
Also see … Everyone agrees college athletes shouldn’t be paid after watching North Carolina-Gonzaga game
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