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Steve Sarkisian on Matthew Sluka situation: ‘If you make an appointment, you have to keep it’

Steve Sarkisian on Matthew Sluka situation: ‘If you make an appointment, you have to keep it’

Vaseline 2 months ago

Former UNLV quarterback Matthew Sluka‘s decision to leave the program and replay three games into the season has become one of the biggest talking points of the week in college football. Alleging that the Rebels’ football program failed to maintain the NIL declarations he was guaranteed before he transferred Holy Cross this offseason.

The Texas Longhorns The football program has adapted and thrived in the evolved NIL era of college athletics. And on Thursday, the team’s head football coach Steve Sarkisian was asked for his opinion on Sluka’s situation at UNLV.

“I think ultimately when you make an agreement, you have to honor it,” Sarkisian said. “Again, I don’t know the details. I think when agreements are made, I don’t care if we go to revenue sharing, whatever it is that you have to adhere to, and that’s both parties.

There is undoubtedly a huge gulf between Sluka’s side of things and UNLV’s. With Sluka’s agent, Marcus Cromartieclaiming the program promised him “a minimum” of $100,000 and only received $3,000 to move, while UNLV’s NIL Collective claims they never finalized or agreed to an NIL offer with the quarterback.

“These days, if you agree to something and you feel like you’re playing better than what your value is. You just can’t take your ball and go home, that’s not how it works,” Sarkisian explained. “And I think those are some of the growing pains that we’re going to go through here, especially as we start to share revenue, understanding that contracts are there and they’re there for a reason, as we grow, whatever that contract is. And if you do it right, you may be able to earn more if you participate in revenue sharing.”

Revenue sharing with student-athletes has been extensively discussed as a potential solution to some of the current issues arising from the lack of structure in the NIL market. A space where rules and regulations are minimal, allowing players like Sluka and programs like UNLV to find themselves in their unfortunate current circumstances. Where the word of one party is pitted against the other and there are no winners, only losers.

“So again, I don’t know all the details of what exactly happened there, and I’m not going to pretend to. I have enough things on my plate to deal with. But the point is, whatever you agree to, you have to follow through,” Sarkisian said. “That’s a relationship, that’s what it is. If you agree to something, you should pursue it. And you know, it sounds like one of those parties, one of the two parties involved, has not fulfilled their side of the deal.”

Perhaps one day it will be revealed whether Sluka’s party retroactively pursued more NIL profits after UNLV’s hot start, or whether the rebels led him astray and failed to raise the money they once guaranteed him. But ultimately, players and programs are only bound by their word, and good faith is certainly not enough for all parties involved in today’s college sports landscape.