KANSAS CITY - The mercurial state of college football could be summed up by listening to Big 12 coaches respond to questions Monday as spring practices draw to a close.
What was once an opportunity to discuss X's and O's, the hotshot freshman or a new starting quarterback instead became a discussion of whether players are employees, the perils and merits of transfers, and the money associated with the new format for the sport's playoff.
Perhaps nobody in the Big 12 is better able to characterize the changes to the game than Bill Snyder, who took over at Kansas State in 1988 and has been witness to the shifting landscape.
Take the issue of whether players are university employees, a hot-button issue after players at Northwestern sought to form a union. A regional director for the National Labor Relations Board has said they meet the definition of employees under federal law. The university has filed an appeal, saying it provided "overwhelming evidence" players are "students first."
Players are set to vote by secret ballot Friday on whether to form a union.
"I haven't thought about it that way," Snyder said. "I consider them to be young men going through a stage in their life where they're trying to formulate a foundation to be successful in life. I don't see it any other way right now."
Oklahoma coach Bob Stoop was even more succinct: "If they're employees," he argued, "I guess you get to fire them, and I never want to do that to a young man."
One of the arguments made by players in support of becoming employees, and thus getting paid for playing, is the significant time demands. It is no longer enough to put in practice time and film study during the season. Rather, the game has become a year-round endeavor, and players often put in longer hours during spring and summer workouts.
Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy recalled his offseason in the 1980s, when he was a quarterback for the Cowboys. There were still offseason workouts, but mostly "we hung out at the pool."
"We didn't have near the time commitment these guys have. They put in tremendous work," Gundy said.
When players are investing most of their free time, they want to see results. And that has led to an increase in the number of transfers in recent years.
Kansas coach Charlie Weis, who has accepted several high-profile transfers since his arrival in Lawrence, said it is not enough for players to engage in a "fire drill" simply because of their place on the depth chart. But he believes the NCAA should give players the freedom to move between schools when there's been a change in coaching staff or philosophy.
"I think that every situation is unique," Weis said.