By President Donald Trump is preparing to sign a sweeping executive order aimed at reshaping the structure of college athletics, an effort he has framed as necessary to address what he views as a growing crisis in the system.
According to sources cited by CBS Sports, the order would introduce federal oversight of name, image, and likeness (NIL) collectives, restrict athlete transfers, redefine eligibility standards, and impose new requirements tied to Olympic development and women’s sports funding. The proposal would mark a significant expansion of presidential involvement in the governance of intercollegiate athletics, a domain historically managed by the NCAA and its member institutions.
At the center of the plan is a rollback of the current transfer system. Trump has pushed for a return to a version of the NCAA’s former “one-time” transfer rule, under which athletes could transfer once without penalty but would be required to sit out a season—via an automatic redshirt—if they transfer a second time. The proposal also includes a “5-for-5” eligibility model, allowing athletes five years to compete across five seasons.
Trump has repeatedly warned that the rapid transformation of college sports, particularly in the NIL era, risks undermining the broader academic system. “The whole educational system is going to go out of business because of this,” Trump said last month while discussing the need for an “all-encompassing” executive order.
The initiative builds on months of consultation with stakeholders across college and professional sports. In May of last year, Trump met with former Alabama Crimson Tide football coach Nick Saban, a prominent critic of NIL’s effects on recruiting and competitive balance. The two met again on March 6 at the White House, joined by more than two dozen figures from across the sports landscape, including NCAA President Charlie Baker, SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, Texas Tech booster Cody Campbell, and U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee CEO Sarah Hirshland.
That meeting, dubbed the “Saving College Sports” symposium, led to the creation of five working groups tasked with examining legislative options, NCAA reforms, media rights, and athlete-related concerns. A presidential oversight committee is now consolidating those recommendations into a formal directive.
Financial strain across athletic departments has intensified pressure for reform. The University of Louisville recently warned that “the math no longer works” under current NIL and revenue-sharing models, disclosing that it had secured a $25 million line of credit to help cover athlete compensation and calling for congressional action.
At the same time, recent legal challenges have exposed growing uncertainty around eligibility rules. This week, a Virginia judge denied quarterback Chandler Morris a seventh year of eligibility—one of several high-profile cases this offseason. While some athletes have obtained temporary injunctions, others have been turned away, underscoring the unsettled legal terrain facing the NCAA.
The transfer portal has become another focal point of criticism, with coaches and administrators increasingly likening it to professional free agency. During the most recent cycle, roughly a quarter of Football Bowl Subdivision players entered the portal, with a concentrated window opening in early January.
Trump’s order is expected to be more expansive than prior federal efforts, though similar actions have historically faced legal challenges and court reversals. Lawsuits targeting the directive are widely anticipated.
Parallel to the executive action, lawmakers continue to debate a legislative solution. The SCORE Act, introduced in the House in July 2025, seeks to establish national standards for athlete compensation while preserving NIL rights. The bill has drawn support from the NCAA and the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee but has yet to advance. House Speaker Mike Johnson has described its passage as essential to creating uniform rules.
Sen. Ted Cruz warned that failure to act could dramatically reshape the competitive landscape. “If we don’t act, we are very quickly going to be in a world of 30 to 50 college football teams that are basically a mini NFL. And the rest of the schools are going to be left behind,” Cruz said, noting that the bill would require 60 votes in the Senate, including bipartisan support.
Former coaches, including Saban and Urban Meyer, have also emphasized the need to restore balance between athletics and education. “How much does anybody talk about getting an education anymore? Nobody talks about it at all, which is the most important thing any of these student-athletes can do in terms of enhancing the future,” Saban said.
College football's most decorated head coach Nick Saban spoke at the White House on Friday at a college sports roundtable hosted by President Trump.
Saban called on lawmakers to fix issues he has seen at the collegiate level, where Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deals have… pic.twitter.com/cFN4QVaT2i
— CBS News (@CBSNews) March 7, 2026
Meanwhile, spending across top programs continues to rise. Following the House v. NCAA settlement permitting revenue sharing, some projections suggest that leading SEC programs could soon approach $45 million in annual roster costs, further widening the gap between resource-rich schools and the rest of the field.
Data from the 2026 transfer cycle reflects those disparities. Retention rates for top performers were significantly higher in Power Four conferences—particularly the SEC and Big Ten—than among Group of Six programs, where fewer than one-third of all-conference players remained with their original teams.
As Trump moves forward with the executive order, questions remain about its legal durability—and whether it will ultimately accelerate congressional efforts to impose a more permanent national framework. Proponents argue that without intervention, the current trajectory will continue to concentrate power among a small number of elite programs, like the University of Michigan, reshaping the structure of college sports in ways that may prove difficult to reverse.
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