About This Series
An ongoing series examining how college football should be governed in the NIL era, building toward a constitutional framework for the sport’s future.
"It has been frequently remarked that it seems to have been reserved to the people of this country... to decide the important question, whether societies of men are really capable or not of establishing good government from reflection and choice.” - Alexander Hamilton
This is an ongoing series examining how college football should be governed in the NIL era. Each paper builds on the last, beginning with the failure of the current system and moving toward a proposed constitutional framework for the sport’s future. New papers will be published regularly.
The College Football Federalist Papers — Table of Contents
(A Framework for the Future of College Football)
Paper No. 1 — The Case for Change
Why the current structure of college football can no longer sustain the system it governs.
Paper No. 2 — The Authority Problem
Why the NCAA no longer possesses the legal or practical authority to properly govern major college football.
Paper No. 3 — The Player’s Interest
Why a more structured system would better serve athletes by reducing uncertainty, raising the floor, and aligning incentives with long-term outcomes.
Paper No. 4 — The Transition Problem
Why meaningful reform must operate within existing contracts, institutional constraints, and entrenched incentives—and how a new system can emerge despite them.
Paper No. 5 — The Institutional Interest
Why the current system’s short-term advantages mask longer-term instability—and why institutions have reason to prefer a more structured framework.
Paper No. 6 — The Legal Framework
Why any durable system of college football governance must operate within, rather than attempt to avoid, existing legal constraints.
Paper No. 7 — The Mechanism
Why a durable system of college football governance will likely require negotiated structures, shared authority, and some form of collective representation.
Paper No. 8 — A Constitutional Structure for College Football
The most plausible framework for a lawful, durable, and competitive future for college football governance.
Paper No. 9 — Compensation, Contracts and Competitive Balance
Why a sustainable system of athlete compensation requires enforceable agreements, negotiated constraints, and a structure capable of balancing mobility with stability.
Paper No. 10 — Eligibility, Development and the Professional Pathway
How a coherent system for eligibility, transfers, scheduling, and professional advancement could reduce instability while improving both player development and competitive integrity.
Paper No. 11 — The Cultural and Institutional Case for Preservation
Why the traditions, regionalism, and emotional continuity of college football justify the effort to govern it more carefully.
Paper No. 12 — Economics, Alignment, and the Future of College Athletics
How football’s separation could reshape non-revenue sports, restore regional competition, and stabilize the broader collegiate model.
Paper No. 13 — The NFL and the College Game
How the relationship between professional and collegiate football shapes incentives throughout the sport.
Paper No. 14 — The Settlement Problem
Why college football’s future will require negotiation among schools, athletes, conferences, courts, Congress, and professional football.
Paper No. 15 — Implementation and the Path Forward
How the system transitions from theory to reality—and what must occur for reform to succeed.
Paper No. 16 — The New Order: College Football After Reform
What a fully realized system would look like in practice—from governance and competition to player compensation, movement, and the rhythm of the season.
The objective of these papers is not to preserve the current system unchanged, nor to professionalize college football beyond recognition. It is to consider whether the sport can develop a governing structure capable of aligning modern economic realities with the traditions and competitive characteristics that made college football valuable in the first place.