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For the past two decades, former NFL star quarterback and Pro Football Hall of Famer Troy Aikman has shared his thoughts on what he saw during the game he and his longtime broadcast partner call.
The three-time Super Bowl winner is part of the “Monday Night Football” broadcast team. Aikman has regularly given his views on a variety of football topics, from the state of NFL officiating to college football.
Some of Aikman’s final thoughts on the college game centered on the growing number of players who have taken advantage of the transfer portal in today’s polarizing NIL landscape.
The former Dallas Cowboys quarterback and many others have called the current state of college sports the “Wild West.”
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Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman before a game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New York Giants at Acrisure Stadium. (Barry Reeger/Imagn Images)
“College football has become the Wild West, as everyone knows. Forget Lane Kiffin for a minute, but since NIL, there just haven’t been any guardrails. I’m on the board of the National Football Foundation, so I hear firsthand from a lot of the commissioners and athletic directors and the people involved in all of this. First and foremost, you have to clean it up,” Aikman told The Athletic.
When asked about the mobility of student-athletes in today’s world, Aikman reflected on his personal choices while competing at the NCAA level.
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“I was transferring. I went from Oklahoma to UCLA, and I always felt that if a coach was able to take over and leave, a player should have the same opportunity if he left,” he continued.
UCLA quarterback Troy Aikman runs the ball against Arizona on October 2, 1988, at Arizona Stadium in Tucson, Arizona. (Mike Powell/Allsport/Getty Images)
“What’s obviously happened over the years since I left college football is that the last few years with NIL, the players have had no accountability,” Aikman continued. “So the players come back, and now they leave all the time whereas before it was usually the coach. Before, the player had to be out for a year. Now the players can get up and leave whether they got paid or not. It’s every man for himself.”
Aikman then dove into another hot topic in college football: Lane Kiffin’s decision to leave Ole Miss in favor of LSU. The NFL analyst gave his best guess as to what prompted Kiffin to make the jump.
“Lane Kiffin’s motivation? Does he think this is a better opportunity for him at LSU? Maybe. Is it money? Maybe. Is it a lifestyle? Maybe. I can’t answer any of these questions.
Ole Miss Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin throws a football before a game against the Oklahoma Sooners at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on October 25, 2025. (Kevin Jairaj/Imagn Images)
“But whatever his motivation, he feels like LSU is the right place for him. So, I don’t blame him at all. I know there’s still hard feelings. Ole Miss didn’t want to lose Lane Kiffin,” he said. “Once he made the decision to leave, now he’s an outcast. Let’s get this guy as far away from us as possible. I understand that too. Everyone’s getting a little jaded.”
Aikman concluded that those in positions of power should ultimately take matters into their own hands and focus on making things right.
“Where I am, I think there has to be leadership at the very top that cleans this up. Starting with the players who accept money, there has to be some accountability on their part to stick to a program,” Aikman said.
“I gave money to a kid. I won’t say who. I did it once at UCLA. I never met the young man. He was there for a year. He left after a year. I wrote a large check and he went to another school. I didn’t even get a thank you note.”
Aikman is expected to be called up for a Week 15 game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Miami Dolphins on December 15.
