Kirby Smart supports SEC leaving NCAA if there aren't major changes: 'I'm not afraid to break away'

Sen Eric Schmitt explains to Dan Dakich why Congress is the only entity that can save college sports as a whole right now.

As with everything else in the world of modern college football, there's debate and disagreement over how to handle NIL and other major issues around the sport.

There's the hope for more structure and consistent rules around things like roster limits, construction, spending, oversight and enforcement. The NCAA, weakened over time, has become an almost cosmetic body that primarily impacts individual player waivers.

There continues to be hope for national legislation to create some guardrails around college football. But with the difficulties in getting things done in D.C. and the compressed timeframe before the season starts, there's very little likelihood of new rules coming into effect soon. Which raises the question, what to do next?

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Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart has his opinion, and it's a surprising one: let the SEC break away and govern itself.

Georgia head coach Kirby Smart reacts during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Charlotte in Athens, Ga., on Nov. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Colin Hubbard)

"I’ve said this for a long time to our president, I’ve been a huge advocate that if we can’t find rules that everybody plays by, then we should play on our own," Smart said to reporters at SEC spring meetings in Florida this week. "I’m not afraid of that. I’m not afraid to break away and say that our conference is strong enough to go out and play.

"If we could actually function financially, it would make our programs more stable. We could support things financially. I’m talking about all the sports