I am thinking the Mississippi State Bulldogs are going to have a tough year. And now with the quarterback out for the season, things are looking even more dire.

Hubby assures me this is a rebuilding year, with a new coach and lots of new players. But I am not sure that time will make a difference.

I think this new NIL rule could be an issue, as well as the transfer portal.

Obviously, I am no football expert, but I have been a parent and to wave dollar bills under the noses of 18-year-olds does not seem like a smart idea to me.

And it seems the University of Alabama’s ex-coach Nick Saban has a similar perspective.

While I have never been a Saban fan, (sorry, Blake), it does seem reasonable that for someone that has been a football coach for as long as he has to have a bit of an inside perspective on how this rule could change the game.

Earlier this year, Saban went to D.C. to share his thoughts at a Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) roundtable about these issues and, according to multiple websites, during the meeting he said, “All the things that I believed in for all these years – 50 years of coaching – no longer exist in college athletics. It was always about developing players. It was always about helping people be more successful in life.”

But that has all changed, Saban said, even noting his wife saw a difference in the attitude of players.

During the roundtable discussion, Saban shared with the others how each year before the start of the season, he and his wife had always had new recruits and their families to their home, but it seemed that after this NIL rule was enacted, players were no longer just focused on the sport.

Saban said his wife came to him and said, “Why are we doing this?” He said his reply to her was “What do you mean?” Miss Terry, as she is known to the Bama faithful, said, “All they care about is how much you’re going to pay them. They don’t care about how you’re going to develop them, which is what we’ve always done. So why are we doing this?”

Saban said his wife’s comment served as a red flag for him and that, maybe, this change could, in the long run, be detrimental to the development of young people.

I agree.

According to a journal article from the National Library of Medicine, one’s prefrontal cortex does not completely develop until the age of 25.

So, like Saban was saying: helping these young people develop is part of the process in helping them become not only good athletes, but healthy adults, which in my opinion is priceless.

And for those who yack on about how the schools are ripping these kids off, let’s not forget, colleges and universities offer scholarships — most of the time full rides. And we all know how expensive college tuition has gotten, let alone room and board.

I am willing to ride out a less-than-exciting football season with the Dawgs. I just hope these new rules don’t bury them under the house.

Terri Cowart Frazier writes features for The Vicksburg Post. She can be reached at terri.frazier@vicksburgpost.com.