Riley Gaines reacts to John Calipari’s fiery NCAA speech

Unless you've been living under a rock, you know NCAA drowning in problems. And time and time again, he managed to find himself on the wrong side of almost all of them: name, image and likeness, the transfer portal, selection rules, men competing in women's sports. The list gets longer every day and the leadership continues to lag.

Earlier this week, University of Arkansas Men's basketball coach John Calipari spent nearly seven minutes at a news conference revealing what many in college athletics already know: the system is broken. He didn't mince words. He made some recommendations to the NCAA on how to stop operating as a corrupt sports enterprise (“fugazi,” as he put it) so that college sports could truly serve the athletes who make it possible.

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After the clips went viral, Calipari doubled down on X, writing, “I will continue to use whatever influence I have to ensure the health and longevity of our game.”

I spent four years at the University of Kentucky while Calipari coached there, and I can tell you that I never saw him get excited in a press conference (and he was known for his temper). And he is far from alone. His outrage is not only understandable, but justified.

Higher education itself is facing a reckoning. The recording is slipping. Tuition costs are rising rapidly. Parents wonder if four years and six figures are worth it, especially as college campuses become increasingly engulfed in chaos, radical activism, and administrators more concerned with appeasing ideological mobs than educating students.

With private companies offering direct career and professional paths that promise real financial potential, university presidents are struggling to justify their relevance. Too often they kneel before paid liberal protesters who seek to destroy American institutions, traditions, and Judeo-Christian values ​​rather than preserve them.

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And yet, even now, universities still have one asset that has long united campuses and inspired national pride: college football.

College football is the porch of higher education. It is the marketing arm of our most recognizable universities. When someone says they went to a Power Conference school, no one asks about their economics department. They ask about the football team, opposing games, the playoff picture or whether the starting quarterback will be in uniform on Saturday. A successful football program drives student enrollment, energizes alumni and drives funding for the entire university.

But today, college athletics (especially college football) is in a dangerously unstable situation.

As Coach Calipari has emphasized, without major reforms, we face the potential collapse of the college sports model. Why do I care?

Because if college athletics fails, women's sports will pay the ultimate price. Title IX protections, Olympic development pipelines, and nonprofit women's programs will be first on the chopping block.

At a time when women's athletics is already under threat, the last thing America should do is allow the financial foundation of college sports to collapse. Women's sport deserves protection, investment and respect, not further erosion of a broken system that no longer works.

College football once represented the best of America: resilience, competition, community and a relentless pursuit of victory. Today its governance structure is fragmented, weak and unstable. Like higher education itself, it desperately needs a reckoning coupled with strong leadership to deliver it.

President Trump Returning to the White House made one thing abundantly clear: when America demands power, it delivers it. His “America First” agenda has restored national pride, brought clarity to Washington and proven that this country is not shying away from big challenges. That same kind of bold leadership is exactly what college athletics needs now.

The House settlement finally acknowledged what everyone already knows: college athletes deserve a fair share of the enormous value they help create. But it also revealed an unpleasant truth; the current system cannot survive in this form. Division I football is the economic engine that funds almost every other sport, from track and field to women's swimming, gymnastics and soccer. If football collapses, the entire ecosystem will collapse along with it.

However, conferences stubbornly cling to a failed media rights model. Each of them negotiates alone, leaving billions of dollars on the table. This is money that could support student-athletes, women's programs and Olympic projects for future generations.

Professional sports solved this problem decades ago. The NFL and NBA are collectively negotiating media rights under antitrust protections provided by Congress under the Sports Broadcasting Act. Result? Competitive balance, massive growth and long-term stability.

College football deserves the same unity and strength. President Trump and Congress have the power to make this happen.

With expanded antitrust protections, college athletics will be able to collectively negotiate media rights, schedule high-profile games that captivate the nation, and generate billions in new revenue to stabilize programs across the country. This means more scholarships, stronger women's sports and more opportunities for every athlete—male and female—chasing the American Dream.

This is more than just football. This is about preserving an American institution that instills discipline, teamwork, faith in God, hard work and love of country. It is about ensuring that universities support these values, not abandon them.

President Trump has never been afraid to confront weak leadership or a failed status quo. When the system is rigged or broken, he fights to fix it and put America first.

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With his leadership and the support of Congress, we can restore justice, protect Title IX, protect women's sports, and ensure that college football—and college athletics as a whole—is stronger, prouder, and more united than ever.

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