GREENSBORO, Ga. — The problems and challenges with college sports seem to be growing every day.

No longer are the issues limited to NIL or the transfer portal, as neutral site games, sponsorship deals on uniforms and worries over sports gambling are all issues that administrators are having to deal with.

With so many topics at hand, Georgia athletic director Josh Brooks and president Jere Morehead had plenty to say when speaking to reporters at Georgia’s spring athletic board meetings this week.

Below are full transcripts from what said to reporters over the course of two days.

On the feedback on his tweet about campuses hosting NCAA tennis tournaments...JOSH BROOKS: “I think it’s mostly been positive.  You know, anytime you put something out on Twitter, there’s always going to be a few people that come back at you. But, when you talk to the student-athletes, the coaches, the fans, everyone that was a part of it, or when you talk to people on the committee at the NCAA that were here and experienced it, it’s been, yes, these things belong on college campuses. The energy, the vibe can’t be matched on a neutral site. And look, I’m not saying it’s got to be in Athens every year. I’m open to it being at Oklahoma State and other places. But, anyone that was there, I think, would agree that that was a special atmosphere.”On the feedback from hosting state track meets at the new track complex...JOSH BROOKS: “Unbelievable. Obviously, we’ve got some parking things we need to work through. We’re going to have two years to figure it out because we probably won’t be able to host GHSA next year because we’re hosting SECs during the same time frame. But, we’ve got great partners on campus. We’re already looking at some potential opportunities of where we can park individuals and have more pathways. So, you have to go through these things to learn. But, now let’s talk about the good parts. The good part is once you were there at the facility, it was amazing. And to see every high school classification get to participate, every division, right? To see kids running PRs, setting state records, the smiles on their faces, to be in a facility like that, that they may never get a chance to run in a college facility, that was really special. Then that leads to great things for Georgia athletics, the University of Georgia, because every ninth, tenth, and eleventh grader that stepped foot on this campus that maybe didn’t have a reason to be here before, now Georgia is on their mind.”JERE MOREHEAD: “We need that roundabout built, though.”

On the primary issues with the CSC and how they can be fixed...JOSH BROOKS: “Well, that’s a loaded question. There’s a lot to it, right? I think, to steal a quote from Kirby, keep the main thing the main thing, right? We’ve got to focus on the bigger deals. My biggest problem with the CSC is we don’t have a true mechanism to ensure that everyone’s reporting deals. That’s my frustration, right? We’ve had other conferences that have taken shots at the SEC and Big Ten saying that we’re trying to manipulate or work around the cap. So they’re basically complaining about how we’re filing our taxes. My problem is the ones that aren’t filing taxes, right? My problem is the schools that we have pretty good intel that are not reporting deals. Until we have a true mechanism, that very first step, a mechanism to ensure that everyone’s reporting deals, it’s a moot point to argue about what’s getting approved and not getting approved. If we can’t hold people accountable, that’s the first thing. Then we’ve got to get better into understanding what is a true deal, how we’re truly evaluating range of compensation, what is a fair market deal, what is an associated entity, those pieces.” JERE MOREHEAD: “There has to be transparency. And when the media is reporting that someone is getting $5 million to be a quarterback at a particular institution, then the CSC has to be immediately investigating that matter and determining what sort of deal took place. And we just don’t believe that’s happening across the board.”

On the University of Georgia’s thoughts on the call by the NAACP to boycott...

JERE MOREHEAD: “I think we’ve got to stay focused on the main issue here, which is we’ve got to reform college athletics, and we’re committed to reforming it through the SCORE Act, the work that Senator [Maria] Cantwell and Senator [Ted] Cruz are doing in the Senate. And that’s where our focus is going to be.”

On that being a secondary issue to what the NAACP want to accomplish...JERE MOREHEAD: "Well, you know, our focus with respect to the athletic board is our student-athletes. That’s how I’m going to respond. What would you say about, I guess, just in general, the division that we’re seeing? I mean, the Big Ten’s having their meetings, and they have their agenda."On how college sports moves forward with concerns over the CSC... 

JERE MOREHEAD: “Well, you may remember back in January, I said I thought we were headed toward having to create rules for the Southeastern Conference if we’re not going to have federal action. The SCORE Act was supposed to be voted on by the House. Because of what happened in D.C., that didn’t occur. If we don’t get a bill from Cantwell and Cruz this week, that will be another concern. I hope we do. I think we were supposed to hear something as early as today on a bill from the Senate. But if we don’t get federal legislation, in my opinion, we’re going to have to do this conference by conference because we can’t allow the Wild West to continue any longer. So I’m prepared next week in Destin to be ready to vote on creating an SEC mechanism and SEC rules, and that’s what we have to do. Congress isn’t going to act as they should.”

On if a breakaway is a possible reality...

JERE MOREHEAD: Well, I don’t call that a breakaway. I call that creating some rules that we can all live by in the Southeastern Conference."

On if there isn’t rules+uniformity with it...

JERE MOREHEAD: Oh, I think the SEC is still a player that when we create rules, it’ll get noticed by other conferences. And I think everybody is craving some order in this chaos. So if the Big Ten does it or the SEC does it, I expect other leagues will follow suit and do what they need to do to keep their leagues operational. But we just cannot continue down this current path, and we have waited months after months for Congress to act, and it hasn’t occurred yet."

On if it’s an agenda item next week to vote on the SEC creating its own rules...

JERE MOREHEAD: “You know, I think the agenda is still evolving. I don’t know that we’ll have a vote next week, but I think we’re going to have robust discussion in Destin about the future of college athletics, and that’s got to be a consideration of the SEC creating its own rules if no one else will do so. You know, I think the commissioner is still hopeful — I don’t want to speak for him — that we will get something out of Washington, D.C., but we’re running out of time. If Congress doesn’t do something in the next several weeks, that window closes for this year."

On if he believes everyone in the SEC will adhere to the conference’s rules if it forms its own rules... 

JERE MOREHEAD: “Well, we’d have an enforcement mechanism then, you know? If we do something like that, the SEC will have to create an enforcement mechanism to make sure that we’re all following the rules.”

JOSH BROOKS: “And we’ve all got to agree that we’re not going to get our state AGs involved to fight these things as well. But don’t forget: the SEC’s been leaders before. Remember during COVID when everyone was vicolating (?) on what to do, we took a stand and led and others followed. So I think it’s not too dissimilar from that.”

JERE MOREHEAD: “I think we’ve got a commissioner capable of leading if Congress won’t lead.”

On if there’s been conversation with other conferences about what they want to do... 

JERE MOREHEAD: “Well, you can’t do that under the antitrust rules. So whatever the SEC does, it’ll have to do it on its own because then you would have a problem with collusion between conferences. So we can’t have those conversations.”

On the conversations with Florida State about scheduling the neutral-site game...

JOSH BROOKS: “They’ve been great. Michael Alford’s a good friend. I got to know him through our Orange Bowl a few years ago. You know, the reality is when you go to nine conference games and Tech, the adding of that many games put us in a precarious situation with the number of home-and-homes we had scheduled. So instead of just eliminating those games altogether, we’re trying to find a way to keep as many of those on the schedule. And the simplest way to do that would be to move to a neutral site, right? Because otherwise we could have ended up in a situation where we may have only had five home games in certain years. That’s not acceptable. 

“So we’re getting creative, working very well together. We’ve been down this road before as we work great with the University of Florida on our game. So it’s nothing new. We work closely with them on trying to find an acceptable location that works for both schools.”

On the message to fans frustrated by a potential home game being moved to a neutral site...

JOSH BROOKS: “Yeah, look, we’re replacing that with a nine conference game, right? So that’s the trade-off, right? We’re still playing. We have and we still continue to play more P4 opponents than the majority of schools in college athletics. Now, we have a tradition in Jacksonville that’s always going to be a hot topic, but it’s been very successful and there’s always been a great showing. And we’ve had a great showing there, especially the last five, six, seven years.“But with the nine SEC [games] — that’s a big step — and Tech, you’ve got 10 Power Four [games] baked in every year. And now as we mix in some neutral sites, there’ll be some great opportunities as well."

On how he expects the $10 million basketball donation to work...

JOSH BROOKS: “Yeah, so a couple different ways. Had very intentional meetings with Adam. He is a tremendous supporter, a great help helping us build a vision where he believes we can go as a program. So a lot of it’s going to be into the infrastructure when you talk about staffing. It’s going to get into some of the data analytics and how we’re going to use data and basically assisting us from the, kind of a pseudo general manager perspective with some positions we’re going to be able to add. Then there’s some other monies in there that’ll help that as I’m looking to do some stuff at Stegeman. There’s opportunities there as well. As you know, I’ve been pushing for that video board that we showed a while back that I think now we’ll be able to be on a faster pace to get that up sooner than later. So a bunch of different ways and that will probably, that process will evolve a little bit over time as well.”

On if they are planning to have another field sponsor in Sanford Stadium this season...

JOSH BROOKS: “Yeah, we’re looking into it, but you know, we’re very intentional about being selective. We don’t want it just to be anyone and the value’s got to be right, right? You don’t want to just take a deal too soon. So we’ve got a couple irons in the fire, but we’ve got a few to work through. So whether it’s talking about jersey patches, whether it’s talking about field logos, we’ve got a few things in the works.” 

On how they balance what fans want with field/jersey sponsors... 

JOSH BROOKS: “Yeah, look and that’s why you try the best you can to make sure, your preference is always someone like Delta or Coke because the regionality. Those things aren’t always easy because they’re national brands and they’ve got to be respectful to every school in the country. So you try there first, but you have to get fans to understand that we’re in a new era where money is a huge piece of the competitive advantage. So I would ask the question, would you rather have a team that’s winning games with a logo or no logo, not winning? So I think, and that’s part of it. We understand that, and I appreciate the passion of our fans that would love it just to be plain and simple. But at the end of the day we’ve got to do what’s best that’s going to push us forward and give us a chance to be successful.”

On Georgia’s confidence in remaining financially competitive in football...JOSH BROOKS: “Yeah, I’m extremely confident with that. That’s why it’s so important that we’re playing by the same rules as we’re talking about what can come from the school from a rep share point and what can be done from over the cap.It’s not a question of do we have the money or can we raise the money? Right now, the issue is activating the money, and we’ve got a bunch of schools like us that are getting the money in, trying to activate it the right way, running into some challenges of how it’s being interpreted through the CSC, and that’s one battle. 

“But as I mentioned yesterday, the other [thing that] is true with the first battle is the ones that aren’t even reporting the deals. So my worry is not with getting the money in. My worry is how it’s being activated and how it’s being interpreted in some schools versus others.”

On if he and Clemson AD Graham Neff are committed to playing the 2029-30 games on campus...JOSH BROOKS: “We’re in talks right now. I’ve got to get through some other stuff first, but Graham and I have been in talks and we’ll see how that evolves over time. But right now, our primary focus is on the Florida State game and where that game is going to be played.”

On if those games could shift to neutral sites...JOSH BROOKS: “Possibly. We’ll see. Yeah, everything’s on the table right now with that. But right now, the focus is purely on the Florida State game.”

On the difference in playing those games at neutral sites and the tennis championships needing to be on campus...JOSH BROOKS: “That’s a gotcha question you’re trying to get me with right there. I see what you’re — no, you’re talking apples and oranges, and people have already asked me that question, right? Like, when we talk about tennis in Orlando, we’re talking about a neutral site where there’s not many people there except for the families of the kids, right? We’re talking about a couple hundred people watching a national tennis match at a neutral site with no energy. We talk about a neutral site where we’ve played Clemson in Charlotte, where we’ve played Oregon in Atlanta. Those stadiums have been filled with half and half. There’s still juice. There’s still energy. 

“Of course — now, look, and you’ve got to remember, when we’re talking about adding a ninth conference game at Tech, 10, we can’t — if we go home-and-home and continue this, we could be in a situation where we have five home games. So from a very logical, practical standpoint, it’s better off that we have a game like that neutral versus playing a situation where we only have five home games a year. 

“And like I said, look at those games we’ve had in Atlanta and Charlotte. They’ve been wildly successful, and it’s been energy. So it’s not a fair comparison. I know it’s an easy way to gotcha and say you said this on this end, but that’s not — it’s apples to oranges."

On Brooks’ Twitter replies making that point... 

JOSH BROOKS: “But I would expect more from you than a Twitter response. You’re speaking for the Twitter responses? Let me ask you this question: Do you judge the city by the graffiti on the subway? Twitter responses are graffiti on the subway. I would expect — you’re a journalist with high integrity. I would expect a lot more from you."

On education with regard to sports gambling...

JOSH BROOKS: “Well, if you remember, President Morehead and myself were extremely vocal a year ago when it was first reported that we were going to open up some avenues to let student athletes gamble, which we thought didn’t make sense at a time and age when we were adding $20.5 million into the ecosystem. And we know that data says that gambling is one of the most addictive things for young men and young women out there right now. And with all these simple ways that they can do it, it’s very scary. So we put a lot of education into it. We have some preventative software that hopefully – Nothing’s 100 percent, but it’s scary. I mean, look, I’ve got three boys that are 14, 16, and just seeing the way they get excited about free fantasy football and the way that they follow that, you can tell that this is something that’s scary. And as we talk about prop betting and things like that, that’s why I’m glad that we’ve held firm in this state that it’s not legal because it’s a scary proposition for a lot of young men and young women in that age demographic.”

On the job Wes Johnson has done building the baseball program...

JERE MOREHEAD: “I think he’s amazing. Josh has made a lot of great hires, but he’s got to be at or near the top. He’s done a fantastic job. Just how do you compare his record to any other record over a three-year span? So, we’ve definitely, I think, hit on a great coach with him.”

On the expectation next week for SEC spring meetings... 

JOSH BROOKS: That’s a good question. We’ve had a lot of pre-discussions heading into this meeting, and I think we’re ready to make some, I’d say, recommendations on how to move forward in this because this isn’t something where it’s like a boat that we’re pulling this lever. It’s more about how are we building or what would this new system look like in terms of, again, we said it’s not a breakaway, but how do we give ourselves the opportunity to govern ourselves on some of these issues. We were talking about implementing the settlement and things like that. So, I think it’s more of a how procedurally could we do this to protect ourselves and do what’s best for the SEC."

JERE MOREHEAD: “All we heard all week long was that there would be a bill introduced in the Senate this week, and now we’re at Memorial Day weekend, no bill was introduced. That, to me, is telling the SEC we’re going to have to come up with our own solution.”