Discussion · Senate
Ted Cruz Republican
“Vote no on this amendment. It tries to use rules meant for student athletes on coaches. The main bill already limits when coaches can change teams and puts some limits on their pay. This amendment would put a hard limit on what coaches can earn. We do not cap pay for the athletes, and capping it for coaches will hurt college sports.”
“Mr. President, this amendment takes rules that are designed for student-athlete eligibility and applies them to coaches, and those are vastly different situations. The existing bill has significant constraints on coaches already. For example, it adopts a rule--a rule that is used in the NFL right now-- that coaches cannot be recruited away from a program during the season or during the playoff; they can only be recruited away during the offseason so that you don’t have a situation like what happened at Ole Miss last year, which I think was unfair to the players. In addition, this bill also includes a provision that Senator Lujan drafted that was adopted at markup that puts some constraints on coaches’ salaries. But Senator Booker’s amendment would put a hard cap on coaches’ salaries. This bill does not do that to individual athletes. There is no hard cap on individual athletes. So it would not work. It would put unworkable and burdensome requirements on the coaches and hurt the competitiveness of college sports. Therefore, I urge a ``no’’ vote.”
Mr. President, this amendment takes rules that are designed for student-athlete eligibility and applies them to coaches, and those are vastly different situations. The existing bill has significant constraints on coaches already. For example, it adopts a rule--a rule that is used in the NFL right now-- that coaches cannot be recruited away from a program during the season or during the playoff; they can only be recruited away during the offseason so that you don’t have a situation like what happened at Ole Miss last year, which I think was unfair to the players. In addition, this bill also includes a provision that Senator Lujan drafted that was adopted at markup that puts some constraints on coaches’ salaries. But Senator Booker’s amendment would put a hard cap on coaches’ salaries. This bill does not do that to individual athletes. There is no hard cap on individual athletes. So it would not work. It would put unworkable and burdensome requirements on the coaches and hurt the competitiveness of college sports. Therefore, I urge a ``no’’ vote.