Jim Johnson spent decades as an athletic trainer at a major football program, living in the dormitory and working side‑by‑side with players.
A Trainer’s View of a Changing Game
In 1964 the head coach at LSU earned less than $20,000 annually, while athletes received guaranteed room, board, tuition and modest stipends for laundry, books and home‑game tickets.
Football was a seasonal sport then — a ten‑game schedule that concluded in late January or Thanksgiving, with players training in the winter and returning to the field in the fall.
Today the landscape has shifted dramatically. Coaches command multimillion‑dollar salaries, advertisements now appear on jerseys, and the transfer portal coupled with name‑image‑likeness deals lets athletes chase higher compensation at other schools after only a few years.
Johnson warns that the increased number of games and the pressure for immediate performance have raised the risk of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, while the commercial push has eroded the long‑term development and loyalty that once defined the college game.