Thought Experiment: Football (or other D1 sport) as a Major

This makes so much sense that I could see the NCAA not allowing it.

Players could choose to go this route or have football as the minor and get a major in something else if they prefer to get a more traditional degree.

Thread worthy topic. I agree. Being the ‘Leaders and Best’, we should be able to develop an innovative program to solve this.  

It's not a huge leap from a Sport Management Major either. It could easily work underneath that umbrella as a "Athletic Performance" major much like a Vocal Performance major.

I clicked on this thread expecting another in the long line of recent BS threads.

Instead, I was very pleasantly surprised. A thoughtful and insightful topic. Well done, OP. I think this is a really interesting idea, and I like the analogy the poster above mentioned regarding the performing arts.

I would encourage minors in areas that might be "typical" careers for retired athletes: journalism, coaching/leadership, business, acting.

This could be interesting. I think "Building your Brand" and "Life after Football" would also be interesting classes for athletes to have. All the above classes are also helpful in translating into a coaching or personal training career as well

I think it's also worth noting that football players wouldn't have to be a football major

That's exactly what should be done! We always think players need a fallback plan for if/when they get injured or finally cut. Why can't Football (or Basketball or what have you) still be the fallback plan? There are a myriad of opportunities around these sports for former players to carve out a living: sports agency, athletic training, coaching, management, broadcasting, etc. If they need further specialized education--an MBA, for example--they can always go to graduate school, but the game itself ought to be a prerequisite education for a whole plethora of possibilities. Recruit, coach, and educate athletes with a players-focused program. Equip them to chart their goals around the game itself rather than unrelated career pursuits (except when a specific player desires something else). It should no longer be about how a player sacrifices himself for THE TEAM! THE TEAM! THE TEAM! but rather how the team and its collective success offers the best foundation for a player to find personal success in the world of athletics over the course of a lifetime. 

Brilliant idea - overdue, but society should be ready for this now. Great analogy to vocal performers - it makes a ton of sense. Thanks for sharing. 

Not really necessary to have dedicated degrees in specific sports since there is already significant overlap with existing options (sports management, sports medicine, kinesiology, etc... as well as the general studies option in which the student can already tailor their program with specialized courses).

Not to mention that a sport does not have the same academic background and breadth as the "classical" performance arts (voice, instrument, theater, etc.)

That being said... I do believe there is probably significant room to improve the course options available within the existing structure (personal branding, negotiating, and similar courses).  These should not necessarily be limited to just the small subgroup of the student population that might go on to pro-sports.  Those skills are *widely* applicable in other fields and would be valued by other portions of the student body.

Interesting idea. The guy who came up with that sounds like an intelligent, good looking fella.

I see people making comparisons to things like music majors. I am curious if someone can help flesh this out if we make it analogous with other performing arts. Presumably music/theater/dance majors have performances as part of their course work. Would we get games for class credit? Do you fail if coach doesn’t put you in or if Brian gives you a bad number on UFR?

I think it could be made to work and be beneficial for the growth of the student athlete. I don't think you can limit the major to only those on the team, but labs like strength training and football practice count be optional 'lab' classes a credit hour for each that you have to qualify to take, in other words make the football team. Perhaps the S&C coach could run a lab or two for people not on the team. Education majors who want to be high school teachers and high school football coaches could benefit from classes.

Could be a slippery slop, would still want at least half the credit hours associated with major to be traditional university classes. 

crg makes the most relevant point, that athletics are not intellectual pursuits. They do take thought, yes, but the core component is action.

Many compare football to theater, but that comparison actually illustrates the conceptual difference. Sports use thought but focus on action. Theater tasks—acting, design, directing—use action but focus on thought.

The classes you suggest for a possible athlete major would all benefit players. Again, however, the primary task would remain the many hours playing, in practice and games.

I think the main issue here is that football already is a de facto major for these guys.  If you're an ex-college football player you can definitely land a high school football coaching job.  But there are only so many of those jobs out there.  Having to major in something outside your sport may open up other career paths to you.  

I think having a football major might help more guys stay academically eligible while they're here, but I don't know that it is great for their long-term prospects.

OSU already went this route over a decade ago, although not in a controlled environment. The players will be pissed if they now actually have to go to class. 

I think a coaching curriculum would be nice.

Sports Management, and phys ed and a bunch of other similar majors already exist.  That said, having a "football" degree is no less practical than a theater, art history, religion, political science or pretty much any liberal arts degree.  (I have a liberal arts degree.)  Being taught to think is the key to all of them.  My wife does theater and knows all sorts of people who are theater professors or were theater majors.  Theater is actually a great discipline that can be extended beyond the theater, but it is almost the same concept as a football degree.  Only a few people are going to make a living from it and everyone else is going to apply the thinking to other fields.

Sounds like OSU's "family management" major.

In the 70's I played D2 football. Every season you could take 1 credit of varsity football.  I did and it didn't help me.  I played 3 seasons(3 credit hours) then left school for a pretty good job.  I finished my degree part time.  My new school laughed at the varsity football credits as they rejected them.

Schools have degree programs already set up for the players.  It would be a disservice to dumb their educations down farther.  If they do not finish there degree they  would mostly likely lose much more than I did.  We want these young men to be able to get jobs after their careers.  

Note -  Maybe online classes would solve this issue.  I did not have that option in the day.                      

doesn't OSU, Bama and NC already do this? 

I love this idea. At least it’s a step in the right direction.  At the end of the day, I don’t think it’s fair to compensate someone for their incredibly difficult and dangerous work in classes they don’t want, and it’s unfair to virtually exclude kids not smart or experienced enough to pass college level courses from the market for their abilities as an athlete.  Why shouldn’t John Smith be allowed to play against the other best 19- and 20- year-old basketball players in the world and compete for a potential career as a star athlete? just because he is not good at academics? It’s cruel in its unfairness.