Dan Orlovsky might not be calling college football games anymore, but he still calls them as he sees them.
News broke over the weekend that Orlovsky turned down CBS’s overtures to be Gary Danielson’s heir apparent in the booth. The ESPN analyst said no to being the co-voice of the Big Ten on CBS alongside Brad Nessler, with that gig going to Charles Davis instead.
It had a bit of a domino effect on the network’s NFL and college football coverage, and Nico Iamaleava transferring from Tennessee is bound to have the same effect. While others have been quick to blame Iamaleava and his father for holding out and seeking more NIL dollars, a few of those at ESPN think you shouldn’t blame Iamaleava or Tennessee.
The blame should be laid at the feet of the NCAA, according to Ryan Clark.
Dan Orlovsky feels the same.
“This is on the NCAA. And the NCAA, and its leadership, should be ashamed of itself, and should be embarrassed it’s gotten to this point,” the former UConn Huskies QB said on Monday’s First Take. “Because their lack of leadership has led to this. [CBS Sports college football personality] Josh Pate actually laid this out perfectly. This is what happens when you place people in leadership roles, and they have no idea what they’re doing. And they have no ability to see the tentacles that are attached to the decisions down the line.
“I agree with you from the vantage point, Stephen A. I don’t like it for the young man because it’s contrary to everything that I’ve ever learned about the quarterback role and the quarterback position. But I’m not down for killing the young man, and I know you’re not doing that right now, but I’ve seen it happening. But this happens to people in leadership roles that the NCAA did, and then you just open the door… I understand point of ‘Well, he’s got to honor his contract.’ When you leave the opportunity for that person not having to honor the contract by allowing other doors to be opened by other places offering you more money, no one in their right mind is just going to say, ‘No, I don’t want another $1.7 or $1.8 million.'”
According to Dan Orlovsky, if you can get it, you’re going to get it.
“That’s just the reality of human beings,” he says. “And I don’t love for the young man because it’s contrary to everything I know. I don’t love it for the locker room. And [Paul] Finebaum’s right that this is the inflection point because it’s the first time that the high-leverage player has impacted the locker room, and the locker room has felt that loss. And this is the first time, at least again, a high-leverage player, the coach is like, ‘Well, go. We’re not going to bow the knee to you.’ So, this does change it, but this is such a flaw by the leadership of the NCAA.
“And the fact that grown adults allowed this to happen — because it was coming and everyone knew it — they should be ashamed that now, this young man is going to get targeted and pinpointed as the person being selfish when he’s a kid still. Whether he’s getting treated financially as an adult or not, he’s still a kid.”
Dan Orlovsky may be off the call sheet for college football, but he’s still offering the kind of insight the NCAA desperately lacks. While critics scramble to point fingers at 19-year-olds chasing life-changing money, he’s pointing his at the institution that let this chaos unfold. And until someone in Indianapolis steps up with a plan — or even a clue — don’t expect the dominoes to stop falling.
