Ron DeSantis thought he had a plan to save college football from the mess it's become.
The Florida Governor spent months quietly building a coalition of governors from both parties who wanted to clean up the transfer portal and the NIL disaster that is destroying the sport.
But one Trump announcement just left Ron DeSantis fuming over college sports.
Trump Froze DeSantis's State-Led Reform Initiative
DeSantis spoke candidly in Sebring about his failed attempt to organize a bipartisan group of governors to establish a "framework" for fixing college sports.
"Honestly, you really only need 10, 12 states, right? Because, you know, if you get Florida, Texas, Georgia, Alabama, Michigan, now you need Indiana, California," DeSantis explained.¹
His strategy made sense — get the states with major college programs to agree on rules, and everyone else would fall in line.
But Trump had other ideas.
"So we're like, all right, we'll let the feds do it," DeSantis added with obvious frustration.²
Trump told reporters at a White House ceremony honoring the 1980 Olympic hockey team that he's "willing to put the federal government behind" overhauling NIL.³
"And if it's not done fast, you're going to wipe out colleges," Trump warned.⁴
That federal intervention promise brought DeSantis's state coordination effort to a screeching halt.
Now DeSantis is stuck waiting on Trump to act while college football descends further into what the Governor himself calls a "total mess."⁵
https://twitter.com/Floridianpress/status/1998859217982337528?s=20
DeSantis Created the Monster He Now Can't Control
The irony cuts deep.
DeSantis was one of the first governors in America to champion NIL legislation, signing Florida's law in June 2020.
The law took effect July 1, 2021, making Florida a pioneer in allowing college athletes to profit from their name, image and likeness.⁶
DeSantis even amended the law in February 2023 to let schools and coaches directly facilitate NIL deals, giving Florida programs a competitive edge.⁷
Fast forward to today, and DeSantis admits college football has "hit rock bottom" because of the very policies he championed.⁸
Athletes now hold programs hostage for more money mid-season.
"A quarterback will, you know, throw for four touchdowns. The third game of the season (he will) go, 'Hey, coach, any more NIL money? Oh, I'm going to hit the transfer portal,'" DeSantis said.⁹
Players bounce between four or five schools, chasing bigger paydays while programs can't build any continuity.
"Now it's like they have more rights than pro athletes," he complained.¹⁰
DeSantis stopped short of admitting he regrets signing the NIL legislation that "helped start the current cycle of professionalization of college sports."¹¹
But his frustration is obvious to anyone paying attention.
He wants a "happy medium" between athletes getting nothing and the current free-for-all where some football rosters cost $40 million per season.¹²
Problem is, with Trump in charge and DeSantis's term ending, that happy medium isn't coming anytime soon.
Trump's Executive Order Is All Talk, No Action
Trump signed an executive order back in July titled "Saving College Sports."
The order says schools can't do "pay-for-play" NIL deals and threatens to cut federal funding if they don't comply.¹³
There's just one problem.
Executive orders can't override court decisions or existing laws.¹⁴
"This may not be a binding legal framework — but it's absolutely a signal: that the federal government, and now presidential politics, are increasingly willing to intervene in the future of college sports," one legal expert told NPR.¹⁵
Translation: Trump issued a strongly-worded memo that probably doesn't do anything.
https://twitter.com/ReallyAmerican1/status/1998866764902576238?s=20
Republicans in the House tried passing the SCORE Act to give the NCAA enforcement power, but they pulled the vote before it could pass.¹⁶
So here's what Trump's big federal solution actually amounts to: an executive order courts will likely ignore and a dead bill in Congress.
Meanwhile DeSantis watches quarterbacks demand $14 million straight out of high school and Tennessee jack up ticket prices 10 percent just to afford their roster.¹⁷
Both men keep promising to fix the mess.
Neither one has actually fixed anything.
DeSantis built this system thinking it would help Florida programs compete.
Now he's helplessly watching it destroy the sport he loves while Trump's federal promises go nowhere.
And with time running out on his governorship, DeSantis may leave office with his biggest sports legacy being the NIL disaster he can't fix.
¹ A.G. Gancarski, "Frustrated Ron DeSantis waits for Donald Trump to address college sports NIL issues," Florida Politics, December 18, 2025.
² Ibid.
³ John Leuzzi, "Trump 'willing to put the federal government behind' changes to NIL," USA TODAY, December 12, 2025.
⁴ Ibid.
⁵ A.G. Gancarski, "Frustrated Ron DeSantis waits for Donald Trump to address college sports NIL issues," Florida Politics, December 18, 2025.
⁶ "Florida's Amended NIL Law: The Game Is Changing (Again)," Phelps, February 16, 2023.
⁷ "Gov. DeSantis signs Florida's NIL amendment," TheOsceola, February 17, 2023.
⁸ A.G. Gancarski, "Frustrated Ron DeSantis waits for Donald Trump to address college sports NIL issues," Florida Politics, December 18, 2025.
⁹ Ibid.
¹⁰ Ibid.
¹¹ Ibid.
¹² "The $10 million club: College basketball's portal recruiting hits unthinkable levels," CBS Sports, April 18, 2025.
¹³ "Saving College Sports," The White House, July 24, 2025.
¹⁴ "President Trump takes aim at college sports with a new executive order," NPR, July 25, 2025.
¹⁵ Ibid.
¹⁶ John Leuzzi, "Trump 'willing to put the federal government behind' changes to NIL," USA TODAY, December 12, 2025.
¹⁷ "Transfer Portal Pros and Cons | The Wild West of College Sports," Sportsepreneur, June 5, 2025.
