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I think you raise a good point here. I have no problem with the "once it's gone, it's gone" rule. What I have a problem with is that we offer these kids a scholarship and then we naively stick our heads in the sand and say that the coach will always make an impartial judgment regarding whether or not to renew the scholarship AND we just blindly assume that a coach will not terminate one scholarship for the sole purpose of making room for another player. Measuring whether or not a STUDENT athlete meats the minimum GPA requirements of the scholarship is not difficult and, unless there is an act of fraud by his teachers, it is a relatively impartial system.

However, once we get into measuring whether the student athlete has met the requirements of the scholarship regarding athletic performance, then we have system that is heavily rigged in favor of the university rather than the student athlete. Then the question becomes how does Dooley measure things like dedication, heart, effort, etc.? Are we so naive to believe that Dooley is going to do whatever is in the best interests of the player rather than what is in the best interests of the team?

It calls into question whether or not we are going to run UT's football program like a business or as an institution where academics come first and athletics come second.

Of course, I would rather it be run as a business, but since the NCAA continues to insist that their multi-billion dollar college football enterprise is a focused on academics, then awarding four year scholarships is the right way to go. Otherwise, lets admit that college football is a profit making entity, call a spade a spade, pay the players, and allow players to use their names to endorse NCAA approved products.

If it's not a business then four year based scholarships with an emphasis on the player maintaining a minimum GPA and complying with team rules is the morally correct way to handle this football enterprise.

My point being: FBS football is either a business or it's a pastoral collegiate athletic diversion. You can't have the administration making money based on 21st century t.v. rights and keep the students locked into scholarships firmly based in the realities of the 1940s. By forcing coaches to issue four year scholarships, we are giving an assurance to a player that if he meets minimum requirements, then his scholarship will continue on during the term of his academic studies. As long as UT and other Universities continue to insist that their football players are scholars first and athletes second, then four year schollys are the correct decision.

Just my opinion.