To be honest, I've never even thought about this. However, I am a very opinionated person, so I'll form one just for arguement's sake.
Here's my half-witted thoughts:
If you make the sports a job (getting paid=job) you shift the focus of going to college from education to going to playing sports, since it's the job. As a scholarship student, they can't have the sports without the education, so they are forced to win in both areas. This IS an educational institution, after all, so that should be the focus, THEN recruiting for pro sports, not before. These are kids going in, don't forget that. 18-21 or so is not someone, in most cases, that is ready to make all of their decisions. They need direction, which is provided by the scholarship system. That's also why so many pro atheletes credit a great college coach for busting on them and making them get the grades (or bought, in some cases
) to get where they are. Also, if you make it a job, you will run into everyday employment issues: equal opportunity, overtime, equal pay since they all start out at the same level, merit and cost of living pay raises, taxes, insurance, written/documented reprimands and, being college (read: state) employees (in most cases), it will not be easy to fire them. How soon would the college get sued over that one? The result would be selective hiring, not based on talent, but all other factors that are involved in running a business responsibly. Also, coaches, under pressure, would not have to see to the kids (yes, kids) education. That means perform or get out! Putting a kid under that stress means one thing: grades will suffer big time.
Want a salary? Get a job. Join an amateur league (and still need a job
). Want to get an education, since 95% of college atheletes don't go pro? Get a scholarship and don't put all your eggs in one basket. They're kids, they aren't ready. That wouldn't be the same as waiting tables, that would become an all encompassing job. Just think about how serious boosters and other fans are--very demanding, no excuses. These kids would be 21 year old burnouts and you'd see a LOT of dropouts that wouldn't have happened otherwise. From stress, and also because they had no way to go to college other than sports, and they knew they weren't getting the education they wanted and also know they can't go pro--so what's the point?
There's my best effort at devil's advocate, with my typical long windedness. Have at.