This just in, college football is not "just a game."

No matter how you slice it, college football is becoming a business and a rather large one at that. The mental and physical toughness, the desire and the determination winning the National Championship used to take, has taken a back seat as it appears the best way to bring home the Sears trophy is to buy it.

With last year's odyssey of former Florida coach Steve Spurrier, who resigned after his 56-23 Orange bowl victory over Maryland, the domino effect for higher coaches' salaries is continuing.

Spurrier was paid a handsome million a year, the largest salary in college football at the time, but Florida is now shelling out million for his replacement, Ron Zook. Texas coach Mack Brown whose Longhorns sit at No. 4 in the latest Bowl Championship Series rankings, received a pay hike to .7 million making him one of the highest paid in college football behind Oklahoma's Bob Stoops ( million) and now Zook. Currently, there are more than 20 Division I-A football coaches making more than million a year, but it was just 7 years ago when the million-dollar mark was broken. It was 1995 when Florida State broke the insurmountable mark, signing their coach Bobby Bowden to the first yearly millionaire. However, the saga of higher salaries goes back even further. In 1982, Texas A&M was the talk of the nation after enticing Jackie Sherrill away from the Pittsburgh Steelers with a record ,000 yearly contract.

A survey of Division I-A athletic directors conducted last spring showed the average salary for a head football coach at their schools was ,000. Even assistant coaches are cashing in on the trends. About half of the assistant football coaches in the Big 12 Conference make more than ,000 a year. Granted, one must account for various changes over time and slight inflation, but it is quite clear the salary train is heading north.

"To be honest, if you say to me, 'What's the problem?' the problem is they got a lot of lousy athletic directors," Penn State Coach Joe Paterno said. "They won't take a chance on a good young coach, so they try and buy one."

However, I believe this problem stems from an even deeper source. The pressure to win comes from the fans. This pressure, or demand to be brutally honest, is what drives athletic directors to do whatever is in their power to bring about success. Why? Success means money. A school playing in a prestigious BCS bowl game can take home a small gift of roughly million dollars. Money is and always will be the universal language, and for athletic directors it is the only dialect they speak. There is no longer an importance on fun. Winning is taking precedence and whatever comes along for the ride is irrelevant.

Vince Lombardi once said, "Some of us will do our jobs well and some will not, but we will be judged by only one thing ¯ the result."

Hence the need to bring in talented players at all cost. As the old adage goes, "You can't coach talent." This has led to more and more athletes attending schools with less than appropriate academic qualifications. Football, not academics is the focus once these 18-year-old men arrive to their new campus. Of course there are exceptions, but it is becoming clear that there is an increase in athletes attending college not for an academic experience but as a segue way for a possible professional league opportunity.

Just look at the increase in athletes leaving school early for the professional leagues. A couple of years ago critics were discussing the number of athletes leaving after their junior year.

Now we are seeing players leave after their red shirt sophomore year. It seemed just yesterday that former Virginia Tech superhuman quarterback Michael Vick sported the Hookie attire. What does all of this say? Are there signs for future change? In all honesty, as long as fans continue their strict demands for instant success then the trends are going to continue. The only hope is to stop hoping. Critics and idealistic fans have to come to the realization that college football and a majority of high-profile athletic programs are becoming minor leagues.

Sports author John Feinstein spoke to the Wake Forest community in spring 2001 on a variety of issues, one being the problem with early departures of college athletes. In his brief outline of a possible solution, Feinstein proposed that colleges should pay their athletes through trust funds. However, athletes would only be able to obtain their "salaries" upon graduation.Whether or not Feinstein's solution is worthy of installment is not the point.

Critics continue to proclaim coaches' salaries are getting out of hand and that college athletics, especially college football, is becoming something more than what it was intended to be.