One of the biggest differences between college and pro sports right now (other than the size of the average contract) is that in the pros, there are rules about who has a say regarding where a player can play. In the pros, a player is under contract for however many years and they, for the most part, don't have a lot of say about anything during that time period. The team has control and can trade the player or keep the player until the end of the contract. Some players have no-trade clauses that restrict trades to certain teams but for the most part, the team controls the player during the length of the contract.
Many players have contracts where they become a restricted free agent in the last year of their contract where both the player and the team have certain rights. In college sports, it's like the wild west with the player have about all of the rights. There is no contractual obligation by the player at all. They can effectively become a free agent every year. There needs to be restrictions that protect the school as well as the player. There should be contracts ranging from 1 year to 5 years (including a red-shirt year). If we go down this route, perhaps we ought to consider the ability to trade players as well. If one school has a plethora of QBs, or RBs, or whatever and finds itself thin at WR or DE, LB or any other position, perhaps they can find a school to trade a player to in order to get a player at a position of need. Academically this may not be fair to the player because the new school may either not offer their majore or it may not be as good. In that case, you build that into the contract where the players signs for a lesser amount in order to have a no trade clause so that they can make sure they can stay at the school to get the education they actually want. This doesn't seem to be too big of a deal at this point considering players are going wherever they can get the most moola!!
