While many in the college football world want to see players paid for their services, Louisiana-Lafayette head coach Billy Napier sees things differently. Napier recently told The Advocate that he would demand that his players paid at least $50 a year to become student boosters of the Ragin’ Cajuns athletic program, leading to criticism from some of the biggest figures in sports media.
what a dork https://t.co/BZp1EGvkxJ
— bomani (@bomani_jones) August 16, 2019
This is Napier’s second season in charge of the Ragin’ Cajuns. Louisiana-Lafayette finished 7-7 in his first year at the helm in 2018, and they were voted the preseason favorite to win the Sun Belt West at the conference’s Media Days last month.
Napier won’t be a popular figure after the release of this story though. Bomani Jones didn’t pull any punches with his comment on the news, and The Athletic’s Stewart Mandel pointed out that enforcing this would likely be problematic.
I’m not a lawyer, but I don’t see how you can require someone to donate money as a condition of keeping their scholarship/spot on the team. https://t.co/cr11JPVNlD
— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) August 16, 2019
The school was quick to try to lessen the impact of Napier’s comments too. While Napier stated that he would make the donations mandatory, Louisiana-Lafayette’s athletic department tamped down that sentiment in a statement:
“The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Department of Athletics is thrilled that head coach Billy Napier’s football program and its student-athletes expressed their collective desire to give back and show gratitude to the Ragin’ Cajuns Athletic Foundation,” the school’s statement said. “Members of the football program have started an initiative to demonstrate their appreciation to the RCAF, including its board of directors, staff and investors, when they are able to do so.
“Additionally, student-athletes will be encouraged to join the RCAF at the introductory level during their college careers, an initiative the program and its coaching staff supports in order to give back to the foundation that has done so much to support the Louisiana Football team and the Department of Athletics.”
Napier is sure to be in the spotlight for these comments for the next few weeks. Public opinion has slowly shifted in the favor of paying collegiate athletes over the last decade, and even presidential candidates are openly endorsing the idea.
H/T ESPN and The Advocate
