Rep. Chip Roy, a Republican from Texas, did not hold back Monday as he warned that Congress may need to step in and fix what he called a growing mess in college football.
His comments came during a House Rules Committee hearing on the SCORE Act, where he said the sport is drifting into something it was never meant to be.
Roy said the situation unfolding across the country, from bloated conferences to cross-country realignment, shows college athletics has lost its way.
He pointed to the latest high-profile chaos as evidence.
That example came on Sunday when Lane Kiffin left his one-loss Ole Miss team to become the head coach at Louisiana State University.
Roy used the move to highlight what he sees as a broken system dominated by money.
The drama began two days after No. 6 Ole Miss beat Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl.
The win almost certainly locked the Rebels into the playoff field ahead of the committee’s final Dec. 7 announcement, the Associated Press reported.
Kiffin wrote on social media that he wanted to stay and coach Ole Miss through the postseason. He said that he hoped to finish a “historic six season run” and lead the team through what could be its biggest moment.
— Lane Kiffin (@Lane_Kiffin) November 30, 2025
He also said Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter denied the request, even though players asked for him to remain. Kiffin argued it would help them “maintain their high level of performance.”
Instead, he left for LSU, with more money and more NIL resources waiting for him.
The Tigers reportedly promised he would have the financial firepower to build a championship roster.
Mississippi fans responded with outrage and heartbreak. Many now fear their roster could be picked apart once the transfer portal opens in January.
For Roy, the Kiffin saga highlighted major issues with college sports.
He tied it to what he said is an escalating crisis involving NIL deals, massive coaching contracts, and a transfer system that behaves like a professional free agency.
Rep. Roy on the SCORE Act and the state of college athletics: “I mean, why in the hell are we allowing coaches to walk out and be paid not to coach for years? It’s insane. I mean, what we just saw unfold with @Lane_Kiffin is just an absolute abomination…
Yes, college sports… pic.twitter.com/MrPePelxIw
— Rep. Chip Roy Press Office (@RepChipRoy) December 1, 2025
“What we just saw unfold with Lane Kiffin is just an absolute abomination,” Roy said.
He argued that college sports were never designed to operate like the NFL.
“Yes, college sports can compete with other leagues for entertainment dollars, but this is not supposed to be NFL-lite,” he said.
He questioned why Congress would step in at all without fixing the core problems. He pointed to conferences with 16, 17, and even 19 teams, as well as West Coast schools like Stanford and Cal Berkeley joining the Atlantic Coast Conference.
“If we’re going to intervene, maybe we should fully intervene,” he said.
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